Finding Words Program

Interviewing and Preparing Children for Court

Finding Words can be…

• Finding Words can be difficult for a child forced to tell a jury about abuse.
• Finding Words can be difficult for a child victimized by abuse. Conflicting emotions of fear and love for the perpetrator may cause a child to be reluctant to reveal abuse. If a child tries to speak of abuse, he or she may lack the verbal skills to adequately communicate the event to an adult.
• Finding Words can be difficult for a police officer, social worker or prosecutor who must speak to a child about abuse. In order to communicate competently with a child, the interviewer must speak in a manner consistent with the child’s linguistic and development abilities.
• Finding Words can be difficult for an investigator or prosecutor forced to defend an interview when defense counsel claims that the child was “led” into making a false accusation.

Finding Words is…

• An intensive five-day course offered by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in coordination with the National Child Protection Training Center and CornerHouse, a nonprofit interagency child abuse evaluation and training center located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• A training program where students are required to interview a child about a non-abuse event. Students also interview an actor playing the role of an abused child and are critiqued by expert forensic interviewers on their performance.
• A chance to learn the necessary skills to conduct a competent, investigative interview of a child abuse victim using the CornerHouse forensic interview process.
• The ideal course for investigators and prosecutors seeking to enhance their ability to speak to and for abused children.