National Association Of Certified Child Forensic Interviewers

 

Dr. Michael Haney, Past President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), Victor Vieth JD. Executive Director of the National Child Protection Training Center (NCPTC),  Hector M. Campos  MSW  LCSW,  Chairman of the (NACCFI) Board of Governance.

 

 

The Executive Summary

Child maltreatment is both a public safety concern and in many cases a criminal matter. Effectively questioning a child suspected of being abused, exploited or a child who witnessed a crime is perhaps the most challenging and critical task facing the first responder. Safety planning, risk assessment and collecting physical and testimonial evidence are only a few of the critical task associated with an effective first response. For this reason it is critical that all first responders and all child protection services professionals be properly trained and credentialed in the basic core knowledge competencies, tasks and functions associated with effective child forensic interviewing. Properly trained and credentialed child protection professionals provide child victims and the general public reasonable assurances of credibility, objectivity and  unbiased professionalism.

  

Online Credentialing Training Course

This 40 hour evidenced based online forensic interview training webinars are designed to teach the basic entry level core knowledge competencies associated with effective child forensic interviewing.  The course covers 40 hours of online knowledge competency instruction. The empirical evidence from two practice job analysis was used in the construct of this curriculum. The course covers the core knowledge competencies, tasks and functions identified as critical to effective practice. All course participants are required to complete an end of course exam. This exam is simply to measure how much of the course content was retained by the student,  it is not a pass or fail exam. This course qualifies the applicant to apply for the, Registered Child Forensic Interviewer (RCFI) credential at no cost. (To Apply for forensic interview training). Learn more about NACCFI Child Forensic Interview Structure.                    

 

 

The Practice Standards

 

The NACCFI multi-tiered credentialing standards include; current work experience in the profession, specialized evidenced based forensic interview training, evidence of good moral and ethical conduct and a commitment by the credentialed practitioner to the pursuit of continues learning and skill building in the practice of child forensic interviewing.  The credentialing standards were developed in a consensus driven process that included; Victor Vieth JD, Executive Director of the National Child Protection Training Center (NCPTC), Dr. Michael Haney, past president of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and over 720 practicing child forensic interviewers who participated in a National Consensus Standards Survey.  A professional paper detailing this process, entitled; The Case for Credentialing of Forensic Interviewers,  was published in the: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse the APSAC Alert and the NCPTC Newsletter.

 

 

The Credentialing Board

The primary mission of the NACCFI Credentialing Board is protecting the welfare and safety of the clients we serve and the public’s trust and confidence in the professional practice of child forensic interviewing. Professional credentialing boards are responsible for regulating the evidenced based practice requisites that an applicant must meet in order to qualify for the programs professional credential. The NACCFI Board is responsible for investigating any allegations of harmful or unethical practices by any of its credentialed members.  Currently the credentialing program and the Board’s authority and function to carry out its regulatory mission is voluntary.