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Prof. David Finkelhor joined us to discuss a recent one-year uptick in rates of child sexual abuse in the U.S.—and the longer-term reduction in rates of abuse and neglect (down more than 60% since 1992). What might have caused the uptick? And why are we so quick to spot bad news when the bigger news of a substantial decrease gets so little attention? Does child abuse prevention education in school...

Prosecutor Mat Heck is our guest today. Amid a pandemic, public health experts are urging us to stay home and stay away from each other to avoid spreading the deadly virus. At National Children’s Alliance, our entire staff is teleworking—and in fact, you’ll hear that this interview was conducted over the internet. Our criminal justice system, however, is built around in‑person interactions. Now, v...

Two guests join us to discuss the overwhelming number of images of child sexual abuse online. First, we spoke to Lieutenant Veto Mentzell with the Harford County (Md.) Sheriff’s Office . How has technology changed producing and distributing these images? What’s the impact on survivors? Who are these predators in our midst? We discussed the role of Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces and h...

Episode 204, “Mending the Tears of Violence.”  Adversity and violence are common in kid's lives. The cumulative burden creates a lifelong vulnerability to physical and psychological issues. So how do we help kids thrive? What strengths are most important in overcoming adversity? Sherry Hamby, research professor of psychology at the University of the South, discussed trauma's cumulative i...

Episode 203, “The Child-Trafficking-to-Adult-Prostitution Pipeline.”  Multiple states and jurisdictions are considering full decriminalization of adult prostitution. On the surface, it seems like a way to help an exploited population. But the potential for harm is real—especially for children. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and we spoke to Yasmin Vafa of Rights4Girls about...

Episode 202, “The Hidden Cost of Resilience.” The ability to bounce back from trauma is a good thing. But, increasingly, research is uncovering signs that all may not be well with the kids who look like they’re doing just fine. We spoke to Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King about resilience—and its hidden costs. How can we help kids and families cope with trauma? What factors put children at higher risk? A...

Episode 201, “Gender Bias and the Myth of Parental Alienation.” Everyone’s heard of the vengeful ex-wife who accuses her ex-husband of child abuse just to get back at him during a divorce. There’s even a scientific-sounding term for it: parental alienation. But is parental alienation real? And are judges taking allegations of abuse seriously enough? We spoke to Professor Joan Meier from George Was...

Season 1, Episode 12, “The Family-Focused Advocate.” One barrier to improved outcomes for children is getting families to participate in and complete mental health treatments. We have the services available at Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), but not enough families take advantage of them. This is a family engagement problem. How do we change that? We spoke to Libby Ralston from Project BEST ab...

Episode 111: “Beyond ACEs.” In 1998, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study showed that traumatic events in childhood were common and could have lasting effects—on everything from SAT scores while we’re in school to long-term physical health issues as adults. But are all ACEs created equal? We invited Dr. Lisa Amaya-Jackson from the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress to discuss the...

Episode 110: “Radically Vulnerable: Achieving Justice for Survivors.” The legal landscape has started to change for survivors of child sexual abuse. Are we headed in the right direction? And what do we need to do to keep more children safe? We talked to legal scholar Marci Hamilton from CHILD USA about the progress that’s been made—and what needs to happen next. Topics in this episode: ·         M...

Episode 109: “ Housing Instability and Child Welfare .” Housing instability has an out-size impact on family well-being. What we can do to help children dealing with trauma retain a sense of roots and resilience? And what less-talked-about issues related to housing should we be aware of? The Urban Institute’s Maya Brennan joined us to discuss the deep cycle of cascading instabilities that has its...

Episode 108: “The Edge of Compassion.” We know that compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and burnout can take a heavy toll on people in the field of child protection. Children’s Advocacy Center staff, law enforcement, prosecutors, medical providers, case workers, and others deal with this every single day. How do we stay hopeful and resilient in the face of such suffering? We invited Françoise Ma...

Episode 107: In “ Prediction as Prevention ” we ask the question: Can big data help us determine which children are most at risk of foster care placement? And how do we direct resources to those children to ensure they’re safe? We examine the way in which predictive modeling sheds light on the impact of implicit bias in our nation’s child welfare system. About 50% of African-American and black fam...

Episode 106: “Treating the Smoke and Not the Fire” is a conversation about a new documentary, Cracked Up —an emotionally arresting, trauma-informed look at the lifelong consequences when we fail to protect a child. In Cracked Up , filmmaker Michelle Esrick chronicles Saturday Night Live star Darrell Hammond’s journey from childhood trauma, through decades of misdiagnoses of its effects, toward hop...

Episode 105: “ The Science of Storytelling ” features Nat Kendall-Taylor, CEO of the FrameWorks Institute, which works to change the conversation on social issues. We discussed how to get people to engage in conversations about an uncomfortable topic—child sexual abuse. What should we change about our own messaging to give people hope that they can do something about it? We also discussed a new re...

Episode 104: “ The Failure That Leads to All Others ,” features Mary Graw Leary, a former prosecutor and a professor at The Catholic University of America School of Law. Why does child sexual abuse seem to flourish in institutional settings? How can institutions prevent abuse? And when prevention fails, how must institutions respond? Link: The Catholic University of America School of Law Support t...

In Episode 103: The Bystander Effect—Why People Don’t Report Child Abuse , Wendy Walsh, a research assistant professor of sociology at the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, talks about why people shy away from reporting suspected child abuse—and how we can overcome those barriers.   Links: Crimes Against Children Research Center Support the show Did you li...

In Episode 102, “Faith, Trauma, and the Problem of Evil,” Teresa talks to renowned writer and trainer Victor Vieth from Zero Abuse Project about the intersection of faith and child protection. How do we respond when children struggle to understand what happened to them in the context of their faith? How can we help survivors and frontline professionals who wrestle with the human need to make sense...

Research indicates that 15-20 percent of girls and 5-10 percent of boys in the United States are affected by child sexual abuse. Those are numbers that should make everyone sit up and take notice, and yet one of the biggest funding gaps we see in our field is the lack of government support for research on how to prevent this abuse. Instead of a public health issue, child sexual abuse is still seen...