Foundational Skills For Child And Adolescent Interviews Training Held In Guam And The CNMI

United States Attorney ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), announced that U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands sponsored the training entitled, Foundational Skills for Child and Adolescent Interviews Training, which was held in Guam on April 18, 2013, with participants from the NMI via video teleconferencing. The main speaker for the training was Karen R. Blackwell, MSW, LCSW, Child/Adolescent Forensic Interviewer, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Denver Division. Ms. Blackwell is a licensed clinical social worker and has conducted in excess of 2500 forensic interviews with children, adolescents and persons with developmental disabilities. Ms. Blackwell teaches and trains both locally, nationally and internationally and is the recipient of the prestigious “2002 Excellence in Practice Award” presented by the Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare. Ms. Blackwell covered the topics, Understanding Child Interviewing Memory and Suggestibility; Adolesent Victims and Interview Guidelines. U.S. Attorney Limtiaco and Arlene T. Gadia, Social Services Supervisor from the DPHSS Child Protective Services spoke on Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting Requirements.

Participants at the training in Guam were from the Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Guam Police Department, the Department of Public Health and Social Services-Child Protection Services, FBI, Healing Hearts Crisis Center, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Participants from the NMI were from the Department of Public Safety, Attorney General’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office