Zero Abuse Project

Several experts at Zero Abuse Project have authored chapters within the textbook, including Director of Education and Research Victor Vieth, who served as an Editor in Chief. Numerous chapters focus on child maltreatment and child welfare, and the book’s emphasis on violence across the lifespan allows for a great resource for CAAST (Child and Adult Advocacy Studies) programs, as well. This publication could be considered as a textbook to adopt for one’s course, as a supplemental resource for readings in the field, or as a source to pull content and make an open education resource textbook for one’s CAST/CAAST courses.

ChildFirst® is an intensive five-day course in which students learn the necessary skills to conduct a competent, investigative interview of a child abuse victim using the ChildFirst® Protocol. Students will be required to interview a child about a non-abuse event and be critiqued by an expert forensic interviewer. Students will also conduct a 30 minute interview with an actor/actress playing the role of an abused child and will be critiqued on their performance. ChildFirst® is the ideal course for investigators and prosecutors seeking to enhance their ability to speak to and for abused children.

Protecting children from child abuse and maltreatment requires that everyone understand how to recognize, respond and report any form of maltreatment a child may experience. The training combines both lecture and practicum giving participants the tools and practical skills to better communicate with a child during the initial outcry of maltreatment. Your FIRST Response to Child Maltreatment training teaches participants how to listen to children who have experienced maltreatment and gather the correct information needed in a way that puts the child’s needs Training is also available as a Train-the-Trainer model with a licensing agreement to teach the material in your own community.

This course empowers faith communities to recognize and respond to cases of sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Included are discussions detailing the impact of child abuse on a victim’s sense of spirituality and offering concrete suggestions for working with medical and mental health professionals to assist a child in coping with maltreatment. The course also discusses ideal child protection policies for a faith-based institution, including handling a situation in which a convicted sex offender seeks to join a congregation. A review of various child abuse case scenarios and a discussion on appropriate and inappropriate responses allows for real-life problem-solving and feedback.