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CJAC Priorities and Focus

The Children’s Justice Act Committee has identified the following priority areas of focus to enhance:

  • law enforcement’s ability to appropriately recognize, assess, and investigate child abuse and/or neglect and to identify threats to a child’s safety during police responses to suspected child abuse and/or neglect cases.
  • Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), lawyers who represent children (i.e., CINA, dependency cases), and judges handling of child maltreatment cases and court sensitivity to child victims and witnesses.
  • response to child abuse and neglect in public and privately operated institutional juvenile facilities including but not limited to: group homes, residential facilities for youth, and foster homes.
  • interventions for child abuse or neglect victims who have physical, mental, and/or behavioral disabilities, cognitive impairments, or other serious health conditions.
  • use of multi-disciplinary teams and Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) to improve training on suspected child abuse and/or neglect cases including but not limited to victims of child human trafficking, LGBTQ youth, and immigrant youth and families.
  • the recognition, assessment, screening, response, referral, and joint investigative process for suspected child abuse and/or neglect cases including but not limited to victims of child human trafficking, LGBTQ youth, and immigrant youth and families.
  • forensic interviewing training and the standardized use of forensic interviews with strict adherence to fidelity to the stipulated model of use.