Training for Community Partners

KIDS Center is one of five Regional Childrens’ Advocacy Centers in Oregon.

As a regional Childrens’ Advocacy Center, KIDS Center provides training and technical assistance to community partners and Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) in our region (Deschutes, Crook, Jefferson, Harney, Sherman, and Wheeler counties). As experts in their fields, KIDS Center’s Medical Examiners and Forensic Interviewers train and support other professionals to ensure children in our region are receiving the highest level of service and care.

Are you interested in a training or have training-related questions?  Contact Andraya Offutt at KIDS Center.

Trainings Offered

Core Trainings

Recommended for all new DHS Case Workers and Law Enforcement. Core trainings serve as a baseline for advanced topics. Topics and durations can be customized based on the specific needs and interests of your county or agency.

  • Learn about KIDS Center’s history and the services and programs offered. Participants will learn about the case referral criteria and process as well as the MDT/CAC model. This training can be combined with any other Core training.

  • This training is designed specifically for first responders who are working with children where there is a concern of possible abuse and children need to be interviewed in the field. Participants will learn the basics of Oregon Interviewing Guidelines and how to conduct a brief forensic interview, which includes: phases of an interview, appropriate use of questions, and when/how to stop a field interview. We will also discuss the importance of documentation and how to work with other professionals who are involved with the case. Trainers will provide demonstrations of various interview techniques.

  • This training will review the signs and symptoms of child physical abuse and will include the current approach to children with skin injuries (bruises, bites, and burns) as well as a review of Karly’s law. This training is for LEA and DHS workers as well as medical providers who are involved in the care of children.

Forensic Interview Trainings

Topics and durations can be customized based on the specific needs and interests of your county or agency.

  • This training will review the difference between the chronological age and the developmental age. From three years old to late adolescence, the training will review all the factors to consider in a child’s development including: physical development, language and cognitive development, social and emotional development, and behaviors relating to sexual development. For each developmental age range, we will provide you with developmentally sensitive methods to guide you through interviewing a child.

  • During the forensic interviewer peer review, people will have the opportunity to bring recorded interviews and/or to view interviews from KIDS Center. We will critique and openly discuss ideas regarding our interviewing skills. In addition to viewing interviews, we will discuss relevant and current interviewing topics and research. Peer review can be specifically designed to meet the needs of your agency. KIDS Center also holds a bi-monthly interviewer peer review online, which is open to LEA and DHS.

    Distance peer review is available via GoTo meeting. This option is meant to give regional partners from areas where it is difficult to travel from the opportunity to participate.

Medical Trainings

Topics and durations can be customized based on the specific needs and interests of your county or agency.

  • This training session covers the basics of child sexual abuse. We will cover definitions, statistics, dynamics of child sexual abuse and the signs and symptoms that may enable recognition or detection of abuse. This talk will briefly discuss mandatory reporting issues and provide advice on appropriate responses to a child’s disclosure or caregiver concerns of child sexual abuse or sexual behavior concerns.

    This training is for LEA and DHS workers as well as medical providers who may encounter child sexual abuse issues in the course of their jobs.

  • Information regarding the care of children who are found in methamphetamine labs and in homes where methamphetamine and other drugs are used is constantly evolving. This presentation provides LEA, DHS and medical providers with an update on the current recommendations regarding detection and evaluation of children endangered by parental drug use or manufacture.

  • This training will review the signs and symptoms of child physical abuse and will include the current approach to children with skin injuries (bruises, bites, and burns), fractures, abdominal and head injuries. We will review elements of the history and factors that are concerning for non-accidental trauma. Karly’s Law will be discussed. This session may contain graphic pictures. The topic of child neglect will also be discussed. This training is for LEA and DHS workers as well as medical providers who are involved in the care of children.

  • Specific for SANE and medical providers. This training will provide the basics of the sexual abuse examination for prepubertal children. Included in this training is a thorough overview of genital anatomy, possible physical findings in acute penetrative trauma coupled with comparisons of normal anatomy. Also included will be an overview of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) awareness.

  • Learn the basics about the pediatric SANE work-up to allow more effective advocacy for both the child and caregivers.

  • Medical peer review provides an opportunity to present cases, review photographs and documentation and stimulate questions and discussions. The trainers will include some cases from the regional center of both sexual and physical abuse and provide updates and literature articles of interest.

Other Trainings

Topics and durations can be customized based on the specific needs and interests of your county or agency.

  • These trainings are available in-person and virtually for MDT members. Gain a detailed understanding of KIDS Center’s services, as well as each member's role as a member of the statutorily-required Child Abuse MDT. The following trainings will be presented: KIDS Center 101, Dynamics of Child Abuse, Karly’s Law & Cutaneous Physical Abuse, Initial Responder/Risk Assessment and Child Sex Abuse. Trainings can be presented individually or in half-day or full-day sessions and meet the basic statutory requirements of ORS 418.747 and 419B.22 – 419B.24. or aoffutt@kidscenter.org.

  • Dynamics of Child Abuse meets requirements for ORS 418.747 This training will review multifactorial aspects of child abuse. Also, a detailed explanation of the stress response axis will be reviewed, along with better understanding of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the lasting impacts of early adversity. We will also briefly discuss the history of Children Advocacy Centers (CACs) and how the CAC model benefits children and families.

  • Identify, Analyze, Prioritize, Treat and Monitor. Discussion about the value of identifying where you are assessing risk in a case and how sharing the information about risk may help the process of protection of children. This is a dynamic participant-driven training where audience participation is required.

  • This training is an opportunity to learn how to better identify and minimize the effects of being witness to other’s trauma and emotional distress. Participants will develop a personal plan to decrease impacts and increase long-term professional and psychological wellness. Contact Emily Kotaich ekotaich@kidscenter.org to receive updates on when and where this training will be held.

  • Additional child abuse trainings are scheduled throughout the year and are shared via email and newsletters.

KIDS Center Regional Training Team

Guitar Hanna, D.O., Lead Medical Examiner

Sarah Graziani, BA, Lead Forensic Interviewer

Andraya Offutt, Evaluation Coordinator

Questions? Scheduling requests?

Please call Andraya Offutt at 541.383.5958.