Govt moving to establish Forensic Interview Unit for faster processing of child abuse cases

As part of a comprehensive national strategy to address child abuse, the Government is moving to establish a dedicated unit to conduct forensic interviews (FI) with victims. This is according to Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, who noted that FIs of the victims are currently being done by non-Governmental organisations, ChildLink and Blossoms Inc, with support from the Child Protection Agency (CPA).

“We are moving to have our own FI unit pretty soon as a State, to be able to have better access and faster resolution of these things,” the Minister said during the Starting Point programme.

The forensic interview is a crucial step in the investigative process following a report of child abuse. Minister Persaud emphasised that it is a sensitive undertaking.

“If children are not in the emotional state, or they refuse to give a forensic interview, or something happens, we have to cater for all of that, but it should be done in the shortest possible time. Sometimes you want the child to do the FI…but the child is not saying a thing, the child just sits there. And you have to realise the trauma inflicted on the child has a mental impact. The child may have been threatened, intimidated…That’s what you’re dealing with, it’s children of all ages,” the Minister explained, noting that sometimes, follow-up interviews may be necessary.

“The idea is not to cause further trauma on the child, and not to have that child say the same statement to ten different people, that’s why it’s done in a protective environment, that’s why Government heavily subsidises Blossom and ChildLink, they are the providers of the FIs,” she explained.

Once the FI is conducted, the case file is handed over to the police for submission to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). At that stage, the Minister explained the DPP could request further information, at which point, a further forensic interview can be conducted with the child victim.

Case reports

Dr Persaud stressed the need for a system that functions effectively, ensuring children feel safe and confident in reporting abuse.

“I want a child to know, if this [abuse] happens to you one time, it shouldn’t happen to you at all. You should be able to have the confidence that the system will respond. And so, we have been doing capacity building with our own officers, where we have been training them,” the Minister noted, explaining that a crucial part of the process is the case report writing.

“What you write is how a case can go left or right. So, we are working to do more of that, because I see some gaps there. Once in a while, I will pull the case reports, and I say, ‘what is this? Who wrote this?’ I’m not a legal person, but you see gaps,” the Minister highlighted.

“You have to be thorough. You have to be meticulous. You have to be detailed in everything you do. Once that case report is written, it’s written by the police, it’s written by the Child Protection Officer, then it goes. And then, of course, the interview is recorded by either Blossom, or ChildLink. So, you have three versions of this thing. When it goes to the DPP, you can’t undo what you’ve written there,” she added.

State care

In most cases, the abused child is removed from the home and either placed into State care, foster homes or with other family members. She emphasised that that child protection is everyone’s business and all must play a role in ensuring the perpetrator is kept at bay from the victim.

“Remember, children got to go to school. The agency is not in school with the children. So, I’m saying this because child protection is everybody’s business,” she noted. Meanwhile, Dr Persaud spoke about the importance of creating safer environments for children, reminding that most cases of child abuse occur in their homes. “Most of the instances of child abuse happened in the home. Somebody they knew…Relative, father, stepfather. The highest incidence is negligence,” she explained.

Counselling

While that child is awaiting the outcome of the case, systems are put in place for them to undergo trauma-focused counselling, which is conducted by ChildLink and Blossom.

However, Dr Persaud said the Government is working on building its own capacity to provide such services.

Tracking

Another key component is the authorities’ ability to track the progress of the case.

In this regard, the Minister announced that the Government will develop and implement a digital tracking system. “We’ve started that process and we will be improving on it this year and next year so that every case that comes to our attention is tracked,” she noted.

Dr Persaud said currently she often finds herself personally following up on certain cases.

“I want to know, who took the report. When was it taken? What happened next? When was the medical report done? When was the FI completed? When did the report go to the DPP? At the DPP, how long did it take before anything happened? Because there is, like gender-based violence, there’s a process. If there is a report of child abuse, let’s say child sexual abuse, you need to have a medical done in a timely way. I’ve been visiting all the regions and leading from the front on this, and saying to the hospitals and doctors, you cannot put it off, even with an adult. When there is any kind of sexual abuse, there is a timeframe where you need to gather evidence, or your case will not hold any water,” she explained.

Rapid response

Last year, the Ministry started the Rapid Response Programme to deal with child abuse cases but the Minister noted that a limitation is the lack of Child Protection Officers. “At one time, some regions had none. That’s what I came and I met. And we have been trying to populate the child protection agency in all regions. And, even if you put one Child Protection Officer in a region, that’s not sufficient. Let me be frank with you. That is a serious limitation,” Dr Persaud noted.

Nevertheless, the programme is underway in Regions Three; Four; Five, Six and 10.

“So, this is a programme we are building out to fill a gap that existed when I came in, in that after work, into the next morning, there was no one going to deal with these. So, we started the programme, and we now have persons who can respond all through the night. And so, they can address these cases as they come in. Because when it comes to children, police cannot remove a child alone. A Child Protection Officer must always be there with the police,” the Minister explained.