MENU TITLE: Battered Child Syndrome.
Series: OJJDP
Published: October 1996
Second Printing July 1997
20 pages
35,332 bytes

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
 Prevention

Battered Child Syndrome: Investigating Physical
 Abuse and Homicide

Portable Guide to Investigating Child Abuse

------------------------------

Foreword

Battered child syndrome is a tragic and disturbing
phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is a crime that is
often successfully hidden by its perpetrators. Law
enforcement has an important role to play in
uncovering cases of battered child syndrome and
gathering evidence for their successful
prosecution.

This guide contains practical information on the
circumstances that point to the willful rather than
the accidental injury or death of an infant or
child and the specific evidence required to prove
it. It places special emphasis on obtaining an
expert medical examination, immediately documenting
the injuries through photographs, and collecting
and preserving physical evidence. The guide also
shows investigators how their interviews with
caretakers, family members, neighbors, school
personnel, and others can shed light on the
treatment the child has received over time and
produce witnesses who can corroborate or refute
suspected abuse. 

Many jurisdictions are beginning to develop
training programs to help police investigate this
crime more effectively. I recommend this guide as
an important contribution to this end and as an aid
to child protection personnel and others in a
position to identify, investigate, and prosecute
cases of battered child syndrome.

Shay Bilchik, Administrator
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
 Prevention

NCJ 161406
------------------------------

Overview

Investigators should have a working knowledge of
battered child syndrome and what it means to an
investigation. Battered child syndrome is defined
as the collection of injuries sustained by a child
as a result of repeated mistreatment or beating. If
a child's injuries indicate intentional trauma or
appear to be more severe than could reasonably be
expected to result from an accident, battered child
syndrome should be suspected. In such cases, an
investigator must do more than collect information
about the currently reported injury. A full
investigation requires interviewing possible
witnesses about other injuries that the child may
have suffered, obtaining the caretakers'
explanation for those injuries, and assessing the
conclusions of medical personnel who may have seen
the victim before. 

The issue of whether information on the victim's
prior injuries or medical conditions will be
admissible at a trial should be left to the
prosecutor. However, an investigator's failure to
collect such information leaves the prosecutor
without one of the most important pieces of
corroborative evidence for proving an intentional
act of child abuse. Evidence of past inflicted
injuries also may be the only information available
to help the prosecutor distinguish between two or
more possible perpetrators in the current case, and
may help refute claims by the child's parents or
caretakers that injuries suggestive of physical
abuse were caused by an accident.

------------------------------

Critical Steps in Investigating Battered Child
 Syndrome 

Investigators confronted with a case of possible
child abuse or child homicide must overcome the
unfortunately frequent societal attitude that
babies are less important than adult victims of
homicide and that natural parents would never
intentionally harm their own children. When
battered child syndrome is suspected, investigators
should always:

o Collect information about the "acute" injury that
led the person or agency to make the report.

o Conduct interviews with the medical personnel who
are attending the child. 

o Review medical records from a doctor, clinic, or
hospital.

o Interview all persons who had access to or
custody of the child during the time in which the
injury or injuries allegedly occurred. Always
interview the caretakers separately--joint
interviews can only hurt the investigation.

o Consider any statements the caretakers made to
anyone concerning what happened to the child who
required medical attention.

o Conduct a thorough investigation of the scene
where the child was allegedly hurt.

Interviews With Medical Personnel

The investigator must contact all medical personnel
who had contact with the family, such as doctors,
nurses, admitting personnel, emergency medical
technicians (EMT's), ambulance drivers, and
emergency room personnel:

o Talk with those who provided treatment for the
child about what diagnoses and treatments were
used. The attending physician will often be able
to express at least an opinion that the 
caretakers' explanation did not "fit" the severity
of the injury. Failure to obtain an opinion from
the attending physician should not end the
investigation.

o Speak with any specialists who assisted the
attending physician.

o Have someone knowledgeable about medical terms
translate them into laypersons' terms so that the
exact nature of the injuries is clear.

o Obtain available medical records concerning the
injured child's treatment, including records of
any prior treatment. Note: If only one caretaker is
suspected of abuse, the nonabusive caretaker may
need to sign a release of the records. If both are
suspected, most States have provisions that
override normal confidentiality rules in the
search for evidence of child abuse. Procedures for
obtaining these records must be confirmed in each
State.

o Interview the child's pediatrician about the
child's general health since birth and look for a
pattern of suspected abusive injuries.

It is absolutely vital that photographs of the
child be taken as soon as possible after the child
has been brought to the treatment facility. Most
clinics and hospitals have established procedures
for photographing injuries in obvious cases of
abuse, but when the injuries are more subtle, they
may overlook the need for photographs. The
investigator should make sure that the medical
personnel take and preserve photographs or that the
investigating team takes them.

In a child homicide investigation, an autopsy must
be performed. Most States mandate that such
autopsies be performed when the death of any child
under a certain age is undetermined or suspicious.
In States without such a statutory mandate, the
medical examiner or local prosecutor often has the
authority to order an autopsy. This authority
should be used whenever there is an unexplained
death of a child. 

Other Important Sources of Information

o Interview siblings, other relatives, neighbors,
family friends, teachers, church associates, and
others who may know about the child's health and
history. People who surround the child and are
part of his or her life are sometimes overlooked as
sources of background information for a child
abuse or homicide prosecution.

o Review EMT records or 911 dispatch tapes. These
records are frequently overlooked and can be a
valuable source of information. Families with more
than one emergency may in fact be abusing children
and may not just be hit by a long streak of "bad
luck."

o Once the family history is obtained, request any
police reports that may be held by law enforcement
agencies in the jurisdiction where the family
lives. Also check the child welfare agency's files
on the family.

o Collect additional family history concerning
connections between domestic violence and child
abuse, substance abuse and child abuse, and other
such connections, even apparently unrelated
arrestor charges. These records may be helpful in
piecing together the complicated picture of what
happened to the child this time and who was
responsible.

Consultation With Experts

Identifying experts is as important to the child
abuse investigator as identifying and cultivating
street informants in other types of investigations.
If the investigator does not have a basic knowledge
of the causes of young children's injuries, experts
may be difficult to identify. Attending training
conferences can provide the investigator with a
great deal of basic knowledge and help establish a
network of experts.

Interviews With Caretakers

A major trait of abusive caretakers is either the
complete lack of an explanation for critical
injuries or explanations that do not account for
the severity of injuries. The investigation must
not be dictated solely by caretakers' early
explanations, because once they learn those do not
match the medical evidence, they will come up with
new ones.

In child homicide cases, for example, investigators
will learn quickly about "killer couches," "killer
stairs," and "killer cribs." Abusers frequently use
these items in their explanations of a child's
death. However, studies show that children do not
die in falls from simple household heights; they do
not even suffer severe head injuries from such
falls.

In nearly every case of actual abuse, the
caretakers will not be consistent in their
explanations of the injuries over time. Sometimes
the changes are apparent from statements abusers
have made to others. Additional interviews may be
needed to document the changing explanations and to
follow up on additional information that the
investigation uncovers.

------------------------------

Investigator's Checklist for Interviewing
Caretakers

Investigators should ask the following questions to
ensure a thorough interview with the caretakers.

o When did the caretakers first notice the child
was ill or injured, and what exactly did they
observe? What do they believe caused the illness
or injury?

o Who was with the child at the time of the injury
or when the child first appeared ill? (Cover as
much time as possible up to 3 to 5 days.)

o What was the child's apparent health and activity
level for the same period up to the time of the
illness? Exactly how did the symptoms develop?

o What is the child's health history since birth?

o Has the child been hospitalized or treated for
prior injuries or illnesses? If so, what treatment
was needed or what caused those injuries?

o Which caretaker normally disciplines the child,
and what form of discipline is used?

o What is the health of other children in the
family?

o Who is the family doctor or the child's
pediatrician?

o Does the child attend school or day care? Who is
the child's teacher (or teachers)?

o Has the child shown any recent behavioral changes
that are otherwise unexplained?

o If the nature of the current injuries is known,
how do the caretakers explain what caused such
injuries? If no explanation is given, were there
times when the child was unsupervised or in the
company of others?

o What is the child's developmental level?
(Children who can barely crawl around cannot
injure themselves by falling from a two-story
building.)

------------------------------

Crime Scene Investigation

Caretakers' changes in explanations often mean
investigators must visit the home or the scene of
the injury more than once. The ideal time to obtain
such evidence is immediately after the child's
injury is reported, before caretakers have an
opportunity to tamper with the scene. 

If the caretakers do not consent to a search of the
scene, a search warrant may be necessary. The
strongest evidence of the need for such a warrant
will be the medical evidence of what probably
happened to the child and the caretakers'
inconsistent or absent accounts of the events.

Whatever explanation caretakers offer for the
child's injury or injuries, it is vital that the
investigator secure physical evidence. Be thorough
in obtaining photographic evidence of the location
where the injury took place. Physical evidence and
records that must be preserved include:

o The crib from which the child allegedly fell.

o The child's "environment," including bedding
within the bed or crib and other beds in the home.

o Any toys or objects the child allegedly landed
upon.

o In cases where the child was apparently burned, a
record of any sinks, bathtubs, and pots or pans
containing water. In addition to testing the
temperature of the standing water, test the
temperature of water from the water heater and
from each tap. Check the temperature setting of
the water heater. This may help disprove an
allegation that the child accidentally turned on
the hot water. Other sources of heat in the home
should be documented, regardless of the
caretakers' initial explanation of what burned the
child.

o A complete photographic or videotaped record of
the home or other location in which the injuries
allegedly occurred. Focus on areas that the
caretakers already have identified as the site of
the particular trauma (i.e., stairs, beds or crib,
or bathtub).

Investigators should be trained by their local
crime laboratory personnel on the types of evidence
that can and should be processed and preserved in
these cases:

o If the child apparently suffered cigarette burns,
collecting cigarette butts found in the home may
facilitate analysis of the burn patterns.

o If the case involves a combination of sexual and
physical abuse, collecting the child's clothing
and bedding may allow identification of what
happened and who was involved.

o If the child shows evidence of bite marks, saliva
swabbing should be done to allow positive
identification of the biter.

o If the child has suffered a depressed skull
fracture, any objects the approximate size of the
fracture should be seized for appropriate
analysis.

Investigative Guidelines for Child Homicides

It is not always readily apparent that a child's
death was the result of homicide. In some cases,
homicide is evident: 

o It is fairly obvious that the child's death was
caused by an abusive injury.

o The person who had custody of the child at the
time the abusive injury was inflicted is known.
Most infant deaths occur when the baby is in the
care of known individuals.

o The injuries themselves are obviously the result
of a deliberate intent to do harm--that is, there
is really no debate that someone abused the child
and that the abuse caused the child to die. Such
cases include strangulation, beating, severe
inflicted burns, such as scalding, and the use of
a weapon. 

Unfortunately, the more careful and planned out the
killing is, the less likely it is that a medical
explanation for the death will be found. Most fatal
injuries resulting from abuse are much more subtle
than poisoning, beating, bludgeoning, shooting, or
strangulation. Suffocation, for example, often
leaves absolutely no medical sign of the cause of
death. Most infant deaths are related to head
injuries, some of which leave no external sign of
trauma. 

In case after case of suspicious deaths of
children, the caretakers' explanation is: "She fell
off the couch (chair, changing table, or bed, or
down the stairs)." Investigators must be aware that
children do not die of simple falls. When
investigating whether a child's death was a
homicide, investigators must ask themselves the
following questions:

o How do we find out what actually did happen to
the child?

o How do we make sure we are talking to the right
expert about what could have caused the child's
death?

o How do we know we have talked to everyone who
might be able to shed light on a difficult case? 

When presented with a child who has died under
suspicious circumstances in which there is no
obvious sign of abuse, investigators should ask an
experienced pediatrician to help locate a
specialist whose medical expertise can help make
sense of a confusing picture. However, everyone who
handles child fatalities must have a basic
understanding of the following conditions:

o Shaken baby syndrome.

o Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

o Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Shaken Baby Syndrome

The classic medical symptoms associated with infant
shaking are:

o Retinal hemorrhage (bleeding in the back of the
eyeball), often bilaterally (in both eyes).

o Subdural or subarachnoid hematomas (intracranial
bleeding, most often in the upper hemispheres of
the brain, caused by the shearing of the blood
vessels between the brain and the dura mater or
the arachnoid membrane).

o Absence of other external signs of abuse (e.g.,
bruises), although not always.

o Symptoms including breathing difficulties,
seizures, dilated pupils, lethargy, and
unconsciousness.

According to all credible studies in the past
several years, retinal hemorrhage in infants is,
for all practical purposes, conclusive evidence of
shaken baby syndrome in the absence of a good
explanation. Good explanations for retinal
hemorrhage include:

o A severe auto accident in which the baby's head
either impacted something with severe force or was
thrown about wildly without restraint during the
crash.

o A fall from several stories onto a hard surface,
in which case there are usually other signs of
trauma, such as skull fractures, swelling,
intracranial collection of blood, and contusions.

Simple household falls, cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR), and tossing a baby in the air
in play are not good explanations for retinal
hemorrhage. There simply is not enough force
involved in minor falls and play activities to
cause retinal hemorrhage or the kinds of severe,
life-threatening injuries seen in infants who have
been shaken.

In most cases of shaken baby syndrome, there are no
skull fractures and no external signs of trauma.
The typical explanation given by the caretakers is
that the baby was "fine" and then suddenly went
into respiratory arrest or began having seizures.
Both of these conditions are common symptoms of
shaken baby syndrome.

The shaking necessary to cause death or severe
intracranial injury is never an unintentional or
nonabusive action. These injuries are caused by a
violent, sustained action in which the infant's
head, which lacks muscular control, is violently
whipped forward and backward, hitting the chest and
shoulders. The action occurs right in front of the
shaker's eyes. Experts say that an observer
watching the shaking would describe it as "as hard
as the shaker was humanly capable of shaking the
baby" or "hard enough that it appeared the baby's
head would come off." In almost every case, the
baby begins to show symptoms such as seizures or
unconsciousness within minutes of the injury being
inflicted. The baby may have difficulty in
breathing, or breathing may stop completely. Often,
but not always, when shaking causes death or severe
injuries, it has been followed by sudden
deceleration of the action caused by throwing the
child down onto a surface that may be either soft
or hard.

Shaken baby syndrome occurs primarily in children
18 months of age or younger. It is most often
associated with infants less than a year old,
because their necks lack muscle control and their
heads are heavier than the rest of their bodies. An
infant cannot resist the shaking, but a toddler
can, to some extent. Although the collection of
injuries associated with shaken baby syndrome is
sometimes seen in toddlers, it is rare and is
always a sign of extremely violent and severe
action against the child.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

Munchausen syndrome is a psychological disorder in
which the patient fabricates the symptoms of
disease or injury in order to undergo medical
tests, hospitalization, or even medical or surgical
treatment. To command medical attention, patients
with Munchausen syndrome may intentionally injure
themselves or induce illness in themselves. In
cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a parent or
caretaker suffering from Munchausen syndrome
attempts to bring medical attention to themselves
by injuring or inducing illness in their children.
The parent then may try to resuscitate the child or
to have paramedics or hospital personnel save the
child. The following scenarios are common
occurrences in these cases:

o The child's caretaker repeatedly brings the child
for medical care or calls paramedics for alleged
problems that cannot be medically documented.

o The child only experiences "seizures" or
"respiratory arrest" when the caretaker is there--
never in the presence of neutral third parties or
in the hospital.

o When the child is hospitalized, the caretaker
turns off the life-support equipment, causing the
child to stop breathing, and then turns everything
back on and summons help.

o The caretaker induces illness by introducing a
mild irritant or poison into the child's body.

Investigative guidelines in suspected cases of
Munchausen syndrome by proxy

o Consult with all experts possible, including
psychologists.

o Exhaust every possible explanation of the cause
of the child's illness or death.

o Find out who had exclusive control over the child
when the symptoms of the illness began or at the
time of the child's death. 

o Find out if there is a history of abusive conduct
toward this child.

o Find out if the nature of the child's illness or
injury allows medical professionals to express an
opinion that the child's illness or death was
neither accidental nor the result of a natural
cause or disease.

o In cases of hospitalization, utilize covert video
surveillance to monitor the suspect. Some cases
have been solved in this way.

o Determine whether the caretaker had any medical
training or a history of seeking medical treatment
needlessly. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is often
a multigenerational condition.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is not a
positive finding; rather, it is a diagnosis made
when there is no other medical explanation for the
abrupt death of an apparently healthy infant. When
a baby dies from shaking, intracranial injury,
peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum, that
is, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity),
apparent suffocation, or any other identifiable
cause, SIDS is not even considered a possibility.
SIDS rarely occurs in infants older than 7 months
and almost never is an appropriate finding for a
child older than 12 months.

A SIDS death is not a homicide, and apparent SIDS
cases must be approached with great sensitivity.
However, before SIDS can be ruled the cause of
death, the investigator must ensure that every
other possible medical explanation has been
explored and that there is no evidence of any other
natural or accidental cause for the child's death.

An investigator's suspicions should be aroused when
multiple alleged SIDS deaths have occurred under
the custody of the same caretaker. Statistically,
the occurrence of two or three alleged SIDS deaths
in the care of the same person strongly suggests
that some degree of child abuse is involved.
Whenever there is evidence that the child who has
died was abused, or that other children in the
family have been abused, SIDS is not an appropriate
finding.

Even when there is no affirmative medical finding
of the cause of death, prosecution may still be
possible. In some circumstances, experts can
explain what occurs when a child is suffocated and
can render a medical opinion that suffocation is
one of the ways someone could cause the child's
death without leaving obvious medical signs.

------------------------------

Conclusion

Both the medical and legal professions have made
great strides in identifying nonaccidental trauma
inflicted on children. This progress accounts for
what appears to be an increase in the number of
identified child abuse homicides. Sadly, however,
there will always be some children who die of abuse
that is never discovered. Children and society
deserve investigators' best efforts to turn over
every stone in cases involving any suspicion of the
abuse of children. 

------------------------------

Author

Rob Parrish
Senior Child Abuse Counsel
Children's Justice Division
Office of the Attorney General
236 State Capital
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
801-538-1941

------------------------------

Supplemental Reading

Child Fatalities

Anderson TL, Wells SJ. Data Collection for Child
Fatalities: Existing Efforts and Proposed
Guidelines. Chicago, IL: American Bar Association,
1991.

Combs DL, Parrish RG, Ing R. Death Investigation in
the United States and Canada, 1995. Atlanta, GA:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, National Center for Environmental
Health, Division of Environmental Hazards and
Health Effects, August 1995.

Current Trends in Child Abuse Reporting and
Fatalities: The Results of the 1995 Annual Fifty
State Survey. Chicago, IL: National Committee for
Prevention of Child Abuse, April 1996.

Granik LA, Durfee M, Wells SJ. Child Death Review
Teams: A Manual for Design and Implementation.
Chicago, IL: American Bar Association, 1991.

Kaplan SR. Child Fatality Legislation in the United
States. Chicago, IL: American Bar Association,
1991.

Kaplan SR, Granik LA (eds). Child Fatality
Investigative Procedures Manual. Chicago, IL:
American Bar Association, 1991.

Shepherd JR, Dworin B, Farley RH, Russ BJ, Tressler
PW, National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children. Child Abuse and Exploitation:
Investigative Techniques. 2d ed. Washington, DC:
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, 1995.

U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. A
Nation's Shame: Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect in
the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Advisory
Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, April 1995.

Child Fatality Laws

The following statutory publications are available
from the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and
Neglect Information, 800-FYI-3366, 703-385-7565.
Each contains State and territory laws on the given 
topic.

Child Abuse and Neglect Crimes: Child Homicide.

Child Death Review Teams/Mandatory Autopsies.

Reporting Suspicious Deaths.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Clearinghouse. Death Investigations and Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome: A Selected Annotated
Bibliography. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, Health Resources
and Services Administration, Maternal and Child
Health Bureau, September 1991.

National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Clearinghouse. The Professional's Role in Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome: A Selected Annotated
Bibliography. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, Health Resources
and Services Administration, Maternal and Child
Health Bureau, September 1991.

National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Resource
Center. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research: A
Selected Annotated Bibliography for 1993. McLean,
VA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, Health Resources and
Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health
Bureau, May 1994.

National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Resource
Center. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Risk Factors:
A Selected Annotated Bibliography for 1989-1993.
McLean, VA: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, Health Resources
and Services Administration, Maternal and Child
Health Bureau, May 1994.

National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Resource
Center. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Trying To
Understand the Mystery. McLean, VA: U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Public Health
Service, Health Resources and Services
Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau,
February 1994.

National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Resource
Center. What is SIDS? (Information Sheet). McLean,
VA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, Health Resources and
Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health
Bureau, May 1993.

Willinger M, James LS, Catz C. Defining the sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS): Deliberations of an
expert panel convened by the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development. Pediatric
Pathology 11:677-684, 1991.

Death Certification and National Death Statistics

The following three references are available from
the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS),
Division of Vital Statistics, Registration Methods
Branch, 301-436-8815. General information on
mortality statistics is available from NCHS,
Division of Vital Statistics, Mortality Statistics
Branch, 301-436-8884.

Funeral Directors' Handbook on Death Registration
and Fetal Death Reporting. Hyattsville, MD: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Service, National Center for Health
Statistics, September 1987. (DHHS Publication No.
(PHS) 87-1109).

Medical Examiners' and Coroners' Handbook on Death
Registration and Fetal Death Reporting.
Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Public Health Service, National
Center for Health Statistics, October 1987. (DHHS
Publication No. (PHS) 87-1110).

Physicians' Handbook on Medical Certification of
Death. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service, National
Center for Health Statistics, September 1987. (DHHS
Publication No. (PHS) 87-1108).

Organizations

American Academy of Pediatrics
141 Northwest Point Boulevard
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098
847-228-5005
847-228-5097 (fax)
http://www.aap.org

The American Academy of Pediatrics publishes the
following resources for professionals who come in
contact with abused children: The Visual Diagnosis
of Child Physical Abuse, a study guide and teaching
slides that provide medical information about
identification of physical child abuse and neglect;
A Guide to References and Resources in Child Abuse
and Neglect, a comprehensive manual on the medical
diagnosis and treatment of child abuse and neglect;
and the CD-ROM Focus on Child Abuse: Resources for
Prevention, Recognition, and Treatment.

Missing and Exploited Children's Training Programs
Fox Valley Technical College
Criminal Justice Department
P.O. Box 2277
1825 North Bluemound Drive
Appleton, WI 54913-2277
800-648-4966
414-735-4757 (fax)
http://www.foxvalley.tec.wi.us/ojjdp

Participants are trained in child abuse and
exploitation investigative techniques, covering the
following areas:

o Recognition of signs of abuse.

o Collection and preservation of evidence.

o Preparation of cases for prosecution.

o Techniques for interviewing victims and
offenders.

o Liability issues.

Fox Valley also offers intensive special
training for local child investigative teams. Teams
must include representatives from law enforcement,
prosecution, social services, and (optionally) the
medical field. Participants take part in hands-on
team activity involving:

o Development of interagency processes and
protocols for enhanced enforcement, prevention,
and intervention in child abuse cases.

o Case preparation and prosecution. 

o Development of the team's own interagency
implementation plan for improved investigation of
child abuse.

National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse
American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI)
99 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 510
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-739-0321
703-549-6259 (fax)

The National Center for the Prosecution of Child
Abuse is a nonprofit and technical assistance
affiliate of APRI. In addition to research
and technical assistance, the Center provides
extensive training on the investigation and
prosecution of child abuse and child deaths. The
national trainings include timely information
presented by a variety of professionals experienced
in the medical, legal, and investigative aspects of
child abuse.

------------------------------

Other Titles in This Series

Currently there are 10 other Portable Guides to
Investigating Child Abuse. Additional guides in
this series may be developed at a later date. To
obtain a copy of any of the guides listed below,
contact the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention's Juvenile Justice
Clearinghouse by telephone at 800-638-8736 or e-
mail at askncjrs@ncjrs.org.

Recognizing When a Child's Injury or Illness Is
Caused by Abuse, NCJ 160938

Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Child Sexual
Abuse, NCJ 160940

Photodocumentation in the Investigation of Child
Abuse, NCJ 160939

Diagnostic Imaging of Child Abuse, NCJ 161235

Interviewing Child Witnesses and Victims of Sexual
Abuse, NCJ 161623

Child Neglect and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, NCJ
161841

Criminal Investigation of Child Sexual Abuse, NCJ
162426

Burn Injuries in Child Abuse, NCJ 162424

Law Enforcement Response to Child Abuse, NCJ 162425

Understanding and Investigating Child Sexual
Exploitation, NCJ 162427

------------------------------

Additional Resources

American Bar Association (ABA) 
Center on Children and the Law
Washington, D.C.
202-662-1720
202-662-1755 (fax)

American Humane Association
Englewood, Colorado
800-227-4645
303-792-9900
303-792-5333 (fax)

American Medical Association (AMA)
Department of Mental Health
Chicago, Illinois
312-464-5066
312-464-5000 (AMA main number)

American Professional Society on the Abuse of
 Children (APSAC)
Chicago, Illinois
312-554-0166
312-554-0919 (fax)

C. Henry Kempe National Center for the Prevention
 and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Denver, Colorado
303-321-3963
303-329-3523 (fax)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit and Morgan
 P. Hardiman Task Force on Missing and Exploited
 Children
Quantico, Virginia
800-634-4097
540-720-4700

Fox Valley Technical College
Criminal Justice Department
Appleton, Wisconsin
800-648-4966
414-735-4757 (fax)

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC)
Rockville, Maryland
800-638-8736
301-519-5212 (fax)

National Association of Medical Examiners
St. Louis, Missouri
314-577-8298
314-268-5124 (fax)

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
 (NCMEC)
Arlington, Virginia
703-235-3900
703-235-4067 (fax)

National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse
Alexandria, Virginia
703-739-0321
703-549-6259 (fax)

National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect
 Information
Washington, D.C.
800-FYI-3366
703-385-7565
703-385-3206 (fax)

National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse (NCPCA)
Chicago, Illinois
800-CHILDREN
312-663-3520
312-939-8962 (fax)

National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers
Washington, D.C.
800-239-9950
202-639-0597
202-639-0511 (fax)

National SIDS Resource Center
Vienna, Virginia
703-821-8955, ext. 249
703-821-2098 (fax)