Objective: To develop a standardized training program for the team workers of child protection centers in Turkey to provide qualifications for them in order to evaluate abused children in an interdisciplinary and holistic way.
Method: As a first step, a working group was established with 36 members experienced in the area of child abuse and neglect. A professor from the department of medical education acted as an advisory member in this group. Working group was composed of different disciplines such as child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatrics, pediatric surgery, forensic medicine, clinical psychology, nursing, social work and law.
In the workshops, roles and responsibilities of each member of a child protection team was defined emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary approach. Finally competencies needed to perform the duties of each team member were defined as follows: (1) Integration of the knowledge, critical thinking and decision making (2) Communication skills, interpersonal relations and team work (3) Using computer based technologies for keeping the patients’ information (4) Preparation, first interview, preliminary evaluation (5) Psychological examination and evaluation, (6) Forensic interview, examination and evaluation, (7) Interdisciplinary evaluation and reporting (8) Professional attitudes and values. The program was developed in a task and competency based approach.
Results: Three levels of education programs were developed in the light of these competencies. These programs and their methods of education were:
1. Basic Education Program: Presentations of the experts, case/critical situation discussions, group studies, role playing, psychodrama, reflection session.
2. First Level Certificate Program: webinar, forum/webforum, case discussion, work-based observation and assessment, electronic supervision, reflection session.
3. Second Level Certificate Program: Research and development projects and consultancies.
Conclusion: This standardized training program has been prepared as a manual and put in action. Implementation of such a training will improve the quality of child protection centers’ function in Turkey.
Systems and workforce related responses to allegations of abuse and neglect
