Kids’ FIRST Forensic Intervention Response & Support Team

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Kids FIRSTForensic Intervention Response
Support Team
Tina J. Morgan Director Kids FIRST
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Mission
The mission of Kids FIRST is to help lessen the
trauma experienced by children who have alleged
physical or sexual abuse or witnessed domestic
violence and are involved in the investigation
and judicial processes.
Kids FIRST strives to make sure the childs
well-being is the top priority.
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History
The nations first childrens advocacy center
was created in Huntsville, Alabama in 1985 in an
effort to change the way cases involving child
abuse victims were handled by investigators and
the court system. The program was the first of
its kind to provide comprehensive support and
services for abused children in a child-friendly
environment. Kids FIRST was established as the
Child Advocacy Center in 1994, a private
non-profit working in partnership with the Lane
County District Attorneys Office. The Center is
a charter member of the National Childrens
Alliance and among the first 100 centers in the
nation. Over 8,000 children in Lane County have
been seen at Kids FIRST since 1994, nearly 700
of those in 2008.
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Services

• Forensic Video Interviewing

• Medical/Colposcope Exams

• Grand Jury Hearings

• Victim Assistance

• Parent/Guardian Educational Support Group

• Domestic Violence Witness Project

• Lane County Multidisciplinary Child Abuse
• Intervention Team (MDT)

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Forensic Video Interviews

• Specially-trained interviewers

• DVD-recorded format to limit the number of
  times a child
• victim must talk about his or her experience

• Video control room allows law enforcement and
  DHS to
• monitor interview progress without
  interrupting

• No secrets children know they are being
  recorded and watched
• from the control room

• Two age-appropriate interview rooms

• Conversational interview between interviewer
  and child only

• Limited access to recorded interview DVDs of
  interviews are
• generally provided to law enforcement only
  the defendant
• receives a copy through discovery once he
  is charged

The recording does not eliminate the need for a
child to testify in court!
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Medical/Colposcope Exams
When a child discloses sexual abuse
including penetration, a colposcope exam is
recommended to

• Check overall health and well-being of the child

• Document any physical evidence

• Document additional disclosures to medical
• personnel (medical hearsay)

• Screen for sexually-transmitted diseases

• Establish a baseline for use against subsequent
  
• offenders

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Grand Jury Hearings

• Kids FIRST houses Lane Countys specially-
• convened grand jury for child abuse cases
  (Panel C)

• The Panel C grand jury is on call to Kids
  FIRST to hear
• all child victim and potentially child
  witness cases

• The grand jury consists of a 7-member panel of
  citizens
• who review evidence presented by district
  attorneys to
• determine whether or not a defendant should
  be indicted
• (true bill or not true)

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Victim Assistance
Volunteer victim advocates provide support and
guidance to child victims and
their non-offending family members throughout the
investigative and judicial processes. Services
include

• Crisis intervention

• Explanation of each step of the process

• Access to counseling referrals for children as
  well as Crime
• Victims Compensation and other resources
  for parents

• Criminal justice support

• Transportation to interviews, medical exams and
  grand jury

• Witness preparation

• Court accompaniment

• Notice of victims rights and how to assert
  them

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Parent/Guardian Education Group
Kids FIRST has a free 12-week educational
support group for parents of children
who have been sexually abused. Center advocates
provide childcare at no charge while parents
attend group meetings. Topics addressed include

• Grief, loss and self care

• Legal system

• Reality of child sexual abuse

• Non-offending caregivers experience

• Anger and forgiveness

• Victims and survivors

• Family systems

• Adult and juvenile offenders

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Domestic Violence Witness Project
The Domestic Violence Witness Project began in
1999 as a 60-day pilot project created
in response to changes in Oregon laws and
practice that upgraded domestic violence from a
misdemeanor to a felony if witnessed by a child.
The Project was so successful that it is now a
permanent component of services at Kids FIRST
and includes

• DVD-recorded interviews of child witnesses to
  domestic violence, Monday-Friday, 130 p.m. (or
  as scheduled)

• Crisis intervention

• Information and referral resources

• Criminal justice support and advocacy

• Assistance with Crime Victims Compensation

• Safety-planning assistance, restraining order
  advocacy

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Multi-Disciplinary Child Abuse Intervention Team
(MDT)
Functions

• Standardize child abuse investigations

• Case review

Members

• District Attorneys Office

• Parole and Probation

• Public Health

• Lane County Mental Health

• Department of Youth Services

• Local hospitals and schools

• Kids FIRST

• Victim Services Program

• Womenspace

• EC Cares

• Department of Human Services Child Welfare
  Program

• Law enforcement agencies (EPD/SPD/LCSO/OSP)

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Statistics
Kids FIRST 1995 - 2006 Statistics
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Other Services

• Child Fatality Review Team

Reviews all traumatic child deaths in Lane
County, determines preventability and makes
recommendations to the state.

• Professional Training

Center staff provide general and specific
training regarding interviews, medical
examination, victim services, MDT issues and
other legal information to police, social
services, mental health providers, medical
providers and school personnel.

• Public Education

Center staff provide prevention education to the
general public, service clubs, university and
community college audiences, and other interested
groups.
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Kids FIRST Staff
Paid Staff Positions

• Director Tina Morgan

• Interviewer (contract) Ray Broderick

• DV Witness Coordinator/Case Manager Nell
  Brown

• Volunteer/PESG Coordinator Erica Shawan

• Administrative Aide Anne Ziller

• Office Assistant Eileen Morin

Volunteer Positions

• Victim Advocate
• Childcare Volunteer

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Funding
Kids FIRST is not funded by county taxpayer
dollars. We are funded solely through

• CAMI Child Abuse Multidisciplinary
  Intervention dollars,
• derived from offender fines collected
  within the county and
• distributed by the State of Oregon
  Department of Justice

• Grants Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) and Natl
  Childrens Alliance

• Fundraising Activities and Local Private
  Dollars Center
• supporters include the Active 20/30 Club,
  Emerald Valley
• Quilters Association, Kiwanis, The Great
  Rotary Duck Race,
• Springfield Lions Club, and numerous
  private donors

• Volunteers Help alleviate the need for paid
  staff

Kids FIRST receives no state or local government
dollars!
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Affiliations

• National Childrens Alliance

• Oregon Network of Child Abuse Intervention
• Centers (State Network)

• American Professional Society on the Abuse of
• Children (APSAC)

• Crime Victim Assistance Network (CVAN)

• National Organization of Victim Assistance
• (NOVA)

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Contact
Kids FIRST 2675 Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd. Eugene, OR 97401 [phone] (541)
682-8743 (fax)
Tina J. Morgan, Director tina.j.morgan_at_co.lane.or.
us