Forming a Multidisciplinary Team To Investigate Child Abuse

When a child is the victim of abuse or neglect, it is the responsibility of each member of the child protective service and criminal justice communities to provide a timely and appropriate response. To promote the coordination and teamwork needed to ensure such a response-and to minimize additional trauma to children-a growing number of jurisdictions have establishedmultidisciplinary teams (MDT's) comprising professionals from law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, medicine, counseling, and related fields. Forming a Multidisciplinary Team To Investigate Child Abusedelineates the benefits that an MDT offers and provides advice on forming and operating an effective team. Diverse MDT models are described and keys to making the team a success-confidentiality policies, conflict resolution practices, and periodic review-are discussed.It is my hope that this guide will be a valuable resource to current and potential MDT members and that it will enhance coordination among these professionals and improve the timeliness and effectiveness of their investigations. Only through such improvements can we fulfill our duty to protect children and bring those who abuse and neglect them to justice.