ChildFirst™ Virginia is an intensive five day course in which students learn the necessary skills to conduct an investigative, forensic interview of a suspected victim of child abuse. This interactive course includes lectures; skill-building exercises; the review of recorded interviews; homework reading assignments; and a written examination at the end of the course. Participants also must conduct a 25-minute interview of a professional actor portraying the role of an abused child. Upon completion of the mock interview, the interviewer receives constructive feedback from a professional forensic interviewer and a group of fellow students. Successful participants will receive a Certificate of completion.
This program is specifically designed for investigative teams of law enforcement officers, social workers, prosecutors, child protective attorneys, and forensic interviewers.
ChildFirst™ brings the field into the classroom to enhance the education of front-line child abuse professionals.
CACVA offers three trainings annually across the State. Remaining dates for 2024 are July 15-19 in Winchester and September 9-13 in Richmond. Each training is limited to 40 students and is conducted by esteemed ChildFirst™ faculty, many of whom have been volunteering their time and expertise for nearly a decade.
Online applications and additional information will be available approximately 3 months prior to each training date and are accessible via link here or requested by email from Maggie Cullinan, CACVA Program Coordinator, at maggie.cullinan@cacva.org.
CACVA appreciates the dedicated professionals working with victims of child abuse and looks forward to assisting all those professionals by providing ChildFirst™ Virginia training in partnership with Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Department of Social Services. Our children deserve our best efforts.
ChildFirst™ is developed by the Zero Abuse Project
