Interviewing Children-Freeport

 This course has been approved by ILETSB to meet the following  mandates:

Procedural  Justice 3 Hour

Civil Rights .5 Hours

Const/Proper use of Authority .5 Hours

Crisis Intervention .5 Hours

Human Rights .5 Hours

Lead Homicide Investigator 8 Hours

Officer and Youth Interaction 8 Hours

Interviewing Children

PURPOSE OF COURSE:              This one day, 8-hour program has been designed by an expert in the field of interviewing children for the purpose of providing student officers with additional methods and information for interviewing juveniles during criminal investigations.

COURSE OVERVIEW: This course has been designed to provide patrol officers, investigators, or juvenile officers with additional methods and information for interviewing children in criminal investigations. Interviewing children requires a special skillset.

This course will provide a framework for interviewing children who are victims or witnesses to crimes. Our instructor conducts over 125 forensic interviews of children per year.

EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON PRACTICAL EXERCISES CONDUCTED THROUGHOUT THE COURSE. THIS COURSE WILL UTILIZE CASE VIGNETTES FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATION.

Topics to be discussed include the following:

• Interview settings for children
• Child development and cognitive abilities – What should your expectations be for different age groups
• Cognitive evaluation
• Types of questions – from open-ended to leading
• Interviewing aides
• Stages of a child interview
• Establishing timelines with children
• Blocks to interviewing children – Disabilities and Mental Health issues

While issues of domestic violence to children and sexual assault of children will be discussed, it is not the intent of this course to teach those types of interview techniques specifically.