This resource, a collection of resources for community-based agencies and investigators to better serve the complex needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) and was developed in partnership with community leaders and Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) directors. It is a joint project between National Children’s Alliance and the Midwest Regional CAC, supported by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention (OJJDP).

It is our hope that CAC directors will use the resource, in partnership with their community, to understand and explore the unique needs of child sexual exploitation investigations. The resource features leaders from across the country and from a variety of disciplines and includes a video series on a variety of topics including; the role of an MDT in responding to child sexual exploitation cases (CSEC), victim identification, legal considerations; resources to respond to the needs of exploited children and their caregivers; and features of promising programs to help victimized children in place at Children's Advocacy Centers. The resource also includes articles, fact sheets, and protocol examples related to responding to child sexual exploitation in your community.

Acknowledgements

Our sincere thanks goes to the following individuals:

Laurel D Edinburgh, APRN, CNP, is the Associate Clinical Director at the Midwest Children’s Resource Center. For a decade, Laurel has created and refined assessment protocols to identify sexually abused runaways. She founded and now directs the Runaway Intervention Program. Since RIP’s inception, Laurel has been involved in multiple research projects and have published and presented the programs short-term outcomes. She also served as a co-investigator for SARYVC an international research project examining risk, resiliency, and stigma in sexually abused teens.

Kelly Kinnish, Ph.D.,is the Clinical Director at the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, a Child Advocacy Center serving sexually abused and traumatized youth in Atlanta, Georgia. She has been with the Georgia Center since 2007 and has over 20 years working with maltreated and a-risk youth in research, clinical, and administrative capacities. Dr. Kinnish is also the Director of Project Intersect, a SAMHSA-funded initiative of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. The focus of Project Intersect is the implementation of trauma-focused evidence-based practices to meet the complex mental health needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children. Project Intersect provides clinical services to CSEC-identified clients at the Georgia Center and also supports the training of a network of providers throughout the state of Georgia to serve commercially sexually exploited children and adolescents utilizing trauma-focused evidence-based practices. She received her PhD in Psychology (Clinical-Child), from the University of Utah and completed her internship and post-doctoral training at the University of Miami (FL).

Susan Goldfarb, M.S.W., L.I.C.S.W. is the Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County (CAC) in Boston, MA.   In 2004, the CAC initiated the Suffolk County Support to End Exploitation Now (SEEN) Coalition, a multidisciplinary collaboration with the goals of improving services and safety for commercially exploited youth and increasing accountability of the adults who exploit them.  SEEN has developed “Responding to Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC): Guidelines for a Multidisciplinary Intervention” and has identified and assisted over 1000 exploited and high risk youth in the Greater Boston community.  In 2011, together with the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, SEEN spearheaded Safe Harbor legislation in Massachusetts to ensure that child victims of commercial sexual exploitation receive services and are not treated as criminals. Susan received a BS in Psychology from Brown University, and MSW from the Boston University School of Social Work.   She serves as Chair of the Support to End Exploitation Now (SEEN) Coalition.

Trudy Novicki, became the Executive Director of Kristi House, Inc. in February 2003.  Before joining Kristi House, Trudy was a Chief Assistant State Attorney for the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office.  She began her employment with the State Attorney in 1978 after graduating from Vanderbilt Law School.  During her years as a prosecutor Trudy specialized in complex litigation.  As Chief Assistant, she supervised the Sexual Battery/Child Abuse Unit, the Forensic Interview Unit, and served on various boards relating to child abuse, including the Interagency Task Force for Sexually Abused Children, the Florida Committee for the Establishment of a Sexual Predator Protocol Handbook, and the Kristi House Advisory Board.  She has served on the adjunct faculty of the University of Miami Law School since 1989 and is a faculty member of Florida International University. Trudy, mother of five children, was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dawn Thompson, MA, has been an Educator with special needs populations and has worked for Kristi House, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Miami Dade County for 16 years and is currently the Assistant Executive Director. She has designed programs and develops presentations on topics of Sexual Abuse, Reporting, Boundary Safety, Teen Dating Violence, Sexual Harassment, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and more recently Children and Traumatic Stress. Currently the program provides presentations to thousands of Miami Dade students, parents and community agencies annually. In addition to her Education and Outreach work she has guided the agency through accreditation, expansion of therapeutic and case management services, quality assurance and supervises Staff training and the Volunteer Program.

John Pizzuro, MA, is a Lt. in the New Jersey State Police, and is the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander for the State of New Jersey. his 22 years of experience in the New Jersey State Police has provided him with a unique perspective on human behavior, and a deep understanding of the pressure that is experienced by law enforcement, their families and the public.

Becky League, is the Executive Director of the Family & Children’s Place Kosair Charities Child Advocacy Center in Louisville, KY and the Family & the Family & Children’s Place Child Advocacy Center in New Albany, IN and a satellite CAC in Jeffersonville, IN.  Becky has been a forensic interviewer for 11 years with over 4,500 interviews conducted in all arenas and has provided expert testimony across various court jurisdictions. She is a licensed clinical social worker in KY and IN since 2008 and has provided mental health crisis work with homicidal/social youth and youth at risk of hospitalization and of losing placements, sexually reactive children, and trauma focused work with youth and their families, and other youth related mental health issues.   Becky has worked with MDT’s for 11 years and is involved in the work of sexually exploited children by serving on various local and state task force groups and committees.

Disclosure Statement

It is our intent that any potential conflict should be identified openly so that the listeners may form their own judgments about the presentation with the full disclosure of the facts. It is not assumed any potential conflicts will have an adverse impact on these presentations. It remains for the audience to determine whether the speaker’s outside interest may reflect a possible bias, either the exposition or the conclusions presented.

Planning committee members and presenter(s) have disclosed they have no significant financial relationship with a pharmaceutical company and have disclosed that no conflict of interest exists with the presentation/educational event.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this course are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.