Child abuse/assault can be one of the most traumatic events or series of events in any child’s life. Most
children never tell anyone about what happened. For the children who do tell someone, their
experience can be confusing, scary and emotionally difficult each time they talk about it. 

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In the past, a child who came forward with allegations of abuse and/or assault or witnessed a violent
crime was routinely questioned in numerous, separate interviews over the course of several weeks or
months by many professionals involved in the investigation. In a response to the challenges this created
for children in Armstrong County, child abuse professionals developed a more child-friendly, victim
sensitive, multi-disciplinary approach.

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Our approach helps to reduce the emotional trauma for children, while at the same time collect
information for the investigation. Through Armstrong County’s MDIT (multi-disciplinary investigative
team) a trained forensic interviewer talks with the child about what happened.

 

Our forensic interviews are conducted in our Child Advocacy Center. This is a child friendly facility
named “Kay’s Cottage”.