The Child Protection Team is hospital-based and has a three-fold mission:
- Reviewing cases of suspected child abuse and neglect (approximately 1000 a year) that present to Children's Hospital and clinics;
- Providing professional consultation about child maltreatment to individuals and agencies across the state of Oklahoma; and
- Providing education and training in child maltreatment.
As a teaching hospital we recognize the fundamental importance of providing the most advanced education and training possible. CPT members from law, child welfare, forensic interviewing, and medical staff attended a recent Finding Words training in order to be able to personally evaluate this program. In reviewing and comparing other forensic interviewing programs with Finding Words, we feel that we have found the most comprehensive, nationally recognized, state of the art, defensible forensic interviewing training available at this time. While Finding Words faculty (specifically Victor Vieth) has stated that APRI would have no problem with other forensic interviewing training taking place in any state where Finding Words is being utilized, it is the opinion of the Children's Hospital Child Protection Team that Oklahoma front-line professionals would greatly benefit by having access to the Finding Words training - and the children of Oklahoma deserve no less.
OKC Metro
Our location in a major metropolitan area gives us access to a wide variety of professionals in addition to those mandated members. For example, in addition to the physician members of the CPT who are board certified in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine, a physician's associate, with special expertise in evaluation of child sexual abuse, is also a member of the CPT. Medical consultation is readily and regularly available from experts in over 20 medical specialties including:
Cardiology Ophthalmology
Dentistry Otology
Endocrinology Nephrology
Gastroenterology Neurology
Genetics Psychology
Hematology and Oncology Pharmacology
Infectious Disease Psychiatry
Intensive Care Pulmonology
Surgery Radiology
Rheumatology Urology