INterviewing Children

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.