The Child Care and Protection Agency is planning to implement a “one-stop” approach so that abused children will only have to tell their stories once to social workers and law enforcement officers.
The Agency held a workshop yesterday with over 25 social workers and law enforcement officers who interview abused children. The objective of the workshop was to establish a coordinated approach and “one-stop” centres for children who are abused, Director of Child Services Ann Greene said.
Greene said that the “one-stop” approach is intended so that children will only have to tell their stories one time in the presence of social workers and law enforcement officers, rather than recounting their hurt multiple times.
She said that this approach is known to be effective in the successful prosecution of child abusers and it also helps with the healing of the victim.
Greene also said that the core of the investigation in child abuse cases is getting the information out of the child and when this information is relayed once, it decreases the risk of inconsistencies.
The involvement of non-governmental organisations to assist in the project is also being sought and the workshop is only one of a series of activities that have to be done to complete the project, Greene added.
Participants were taught about a developmental approach to interviewing children by overseas-based Guyanese social worker Michael Fraser, who volunteered his service. Fraser said that he hoped at the end of the workshop participants are able to develop effective interviewing strategies when conducting investigation with children who are abused.
