Child Investigative Interviewing:Everything You Need To know

Laura Merchant, MSWHCSATS

lmerchan@u.washington.eduwww.hcsats.org

Quick Overview

Counties have protocols for Child Abuse investigations

Where criminal prosecution is involved, each child will receive an investigative interview

Each county determines who gets the investigative interview and who conducts the interview

County Protocols

Each county is required to have a protocol on investigations of child abuse cases.

Protocols are developed with partners: Prosecutors, LE, DSHS, medical, advocacy, schools (optional)

Protocols are maintained by each prosecuting attorney’s office. They are required to be updated every 2 years.

Protocols address all aspects of the investigation, emphasizes a coordinated approach and specifies roles of each of the key partners

Who Interviews?

Each county follows their County Protocol, identifying expectations for interviewers LE CPS workers Child Interview Specialists hired via CAC’s or

Prosecuting Attorney’s Offices Many counties conduct initial interviews

with referrals to the official investigative interview as indicated

Differences Between Investigative Interviews and Preliminary InterviewsPreliminary Interview DSHS goal is to assess

risk/safety and find enough information to refer for Investigative Interview

LE goal is to assess if there is reason to suspect a crime.

Both gather enough information about the crime and then refer for the forensic/investigative interview

Investigative Interview Seen as the “official”

interview for children typically between the ages of 4 – 15)

CPS or DSHS interview may be considered the “official” interview in places where they clearly function in that capacity

More often, Child interview Specialists conduct these interviews

Training Requirements for Interviewers Interviewers are required to receive the

statewide multi-disciplinary Investigative Interview training that includes interview skills practice and information on developmental disabilities

Statewide training occurs about 5 times per year and is 4 days long for CPS and 5 days long for LE and child interview specialists

Statewide Interview Training Incorporates research on children’s memory and

suggestibility and on effective interview practices Emphasis on asking open ended questions that lead

to narrative/comprehensive answers from children Information comes primarily from the child, not the

interviewer Ground rules are taught to increase reliability of

information Skills practice is essential in improving practice Child interviewers in the field are used as

“facilitators” to provide expert feedback to participants in skills practice

Statewide Interview Training Training is recommended to be taken

every few years as research informs practice and training changes to incorporate best practice

Peer Review is offered 10 times per year

Booster trainings are available as “Advanced” trainings

Peer Review Meetings

Offered approximately every other month 3 hours per meeting

1 ½ hour: lecture/discussion on a related topic 1 ½ hour: DVD/transcript review with

feedback Agencies host the meeting Members identify topics and sign up to

present a case for review Local communities sometimes also do their

own peer review

The Interviews

Key Components

WA State Child Interview Guide Based on the NICHD protocol A structured forensic interview protocol that has

been shown to improve the quality and informativeness of investigative interviews with

children. Child Abuse & Neglect, Volume 31, Issues 11-12, November-December 2007, Pages 1201-1231; Michael E. Lamb, Yael Orbach, Irit

Hershkowitz, Phillip W. Esplin and Dvora Horowitz

NICHD is the most researched in the world with over 40,000 real-life interviews

NICHD guided interviews elicited more info using open-ended prompts and less info using option-posing and suggestive questions than did std. interviews

In 89% of the protocol interviews, children made their preliminary allegations in response to open-ended prompts, compared with 36% in the standard interviews

Research Results

10 Step Investigative Interview Adaptation of NICHD Protocol

Thomas D. Lyon, J.D., Ph.D. tlyon@law.usc.edu © 2005 (version 2)

Professor of Law & Psychology at USC:

http://works.bepress.com/thomaslyon

Stages of an Interview

1. Introduction  2. Ground rules/instructions  3. Narrative practice  4. Transition  5. Substantive  6. Closure

Introduction

Name Your job Anyone watching or in the room AND Explanation of documentation

“Ground Rules”

Instructions

Expectations for the Interview

“Orienting” Child to Interview

Rationale for Ground Rules

Increase accuracy Decrease inclination to guess Increase willingness to ask for

clarification Increase resistance to

suggestion

Ground Rules

One at a time Simple language

Explain and practice Early in the interview to set

the expectations Reinforce throughout

Most important, research-based ground rules

‘Don’t guess’ Don’t understand - ‘Tell me if you

don’t know what I mean’ ‘Correct me if I make a mistake’ Un-informed interviewer - ‘I wasn’t

there’

Truth/Lie Discussions

1. Promise to tell truth

2. Competency assessment

Why include the promise? Reinforces seriousness Increases honesty (decreases lies) Responses can give you valuable

info

Promise “It’s very important that you

tell me the truth.” “Do you promise that you will

tell me the truth?” “Are you going to tell me any

lies?”

Competency Assessment

Decide if it is necessary to do it during the investigative interview

If you do it, can now be done via simpler, revised 1-card version, or through scenario example

Prior way: To do 4 T/L examples to show child knows the difference between a truth and a lie and 4 morality examples

Competency Assessment

Scenario example to demonstrate child’s

understanding of concept

“Joe ate all the cookies. Joe’s Mom asked if he ate the cookies and Joe said ‘No, the dog ate the cookies.’

What’s Joe doing?”

Rapport/Narrative Practice

Key to reinforcing the expectation of answering questions in a narrative manner rather than in short answer response.

Exploring an event from beginning to end Opportunity to practice open ended

questions, sensory focused questions, pairing forced choice or closed questions with open ended follow ups; using facilitators

Opportunity for child to practice answering in more complete sentences

Narrative Practice

More important that more typical “getting acquainted” questions where info is initially generated from the interviewer

More important than more traditional “developmental assessment” questions as narrative practice will help an interviewer assess child’s developmental ability, take less time, and gets them used to providing more comprehensive information

Pattern of Questions

Separate Separation of incidents

Invite Open-ended invitations Elaborate Request to elaborate

Open-ended follow-ups

Focus Time Time segmentation

questions Senses Sensory focus questions Key Facts Focused prompts, paired

with open-ended follow-ups

Clarify and elaborate

Transition to Substantive Information Use open ended questions Use funnel approach as needed Use pattern of questions as practiced

in the neutral narrative section of the interview

Do not introduce body drawings or touch continuum to as transitions to the substantive portion of the interview

First Transition Attempt “Tell me why you came to talk to me.”

OR “Tell me why I came to talk to you.”

“It’s really important for me to know why you came to talk to

me.”

Transitions

“What did [your mom] tell you about why I want to talk to you today?”

“Did anyone tell you anything about why you’re here today?” “What did they tell you?

“Why do you think I want to talk to you today?”

“I understand something might have happened – tell me what happened.”

Transitions

When there’s been a prior statement

“I heard you talked to ________ about something that happened. Tell me what happened.”

“I heard you saw _____ last week. Tell me what you talked about.”

Transitions

When that doesn’t work

‘Someone’s worried’

“Is [your mom] worried about something that happened? Tell me what she’s worried about.”

Transitions

When that doesn’t work

‘Bothered You’

“I heard someone might have bothered you. Tell me everything about that.”

Transitions

When that doesn’t work

‘Something wasn’t right’

“I heard someone may have done something that wasn’t right. Tell me everything about that.”

Pattern of Questions

Separate Separation of incidents

Invite Open-ended invitations Elaborate Request to elaborate

Open-ended follow-ups

Focus Time Time segmentation

questions Senses Sensory focus questions Key Facts Focused prompts, paired

with open-ended follow-ups

Clarify and elaborate

Clarify Frequency

Clarify multiple events right away

“Did [______] happen one time or more than one time?”

Ask for description of specific incidents – last time, first time, another time, “the time you remember the most”

Once a Child Reports Abuse Use “facilitators” – “okay” /“Uh-

huh” Don’t interrupt a narrative Clarify later (using notes to remind

you): “You said _____. Tell me what you

mean by _____.” OR “ Tell me who ____ is.”

Use of Tools/Media

Use only after verbal reports have been elicited

Continue to request verbal clarification & details in the child’s own words

Use least suggestive tools

Closure

Summarize, clarify Invite questions Explaining what will happen

next Discuss “safety plan” Thank the child Switch to a neutral topic Provide interviewer’s contact

information

Safety Plan “Who can you tell if you are

worried about something?” “Name 3 people you could tell if

something bad happened.” “Who can you get help from if you

are hurt, or if something bad or scary happens to you?”

“Why do you think ____ can help you?”

“What can ____ do to help you?”