“The Road We Travel: Current trends toward convergence of systems of child abuse response”

Chris Newlin and Bragi Guobrandsson

US National Child Advocacy Center & Iceland Agency for Child Protection

Chris Newlin, MS LPC, is the Executive Director of the National Children’s Advocacy Center where he is responsible for providing leadership and management of the NCAC and participating in national and international training and leadership activities regarding the protection of children. The NCAC was the first Child Advocacy Center in the world, and continues to provide prevention and intervention services for child abuse in Huntsville/Madison County, AL; and, also houses the NCAC Training Center, the Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, the NCAC Virtual Training Center, and the Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO). The NCAC is a past multi-year winner of the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Workplace Ethics, 2012 Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Non-Profit of the Year, 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation Director’s Community Leadership Award, 2017 Best Places to Work Winner, and a Private Sector Member of the Virtual Global Taskforce. Chris has provided training in more than twenty countries throughout the world at numerous international conferences, and also provides technical assistance on a regular basis to professionals working to develop Children’s Advocacy Centers throughout the world. He has worked in both urban and rural Children’s Advocacy Centers; and currently serves on the Boys and Girls Club of America National Child & Club Safety Task Force, the International Association of Chiefs of Police Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Committee, the Interstate Commission for Juveniles (Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Member), the Alabama State Child Death Review Team, Alabama Department of Human Resources Task Force, the National Center for Victims of Crime Advisory Board for State Victim Assistance Academy Training, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ Vision 21 Linking Systems of Care Steering Committee, the National Crime Victims Law Institute’s Vision 21 Victim Legal Assistance Networks Advisory Committee, Hospice Family Care Board of Directors, and the Alabama Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers Board of Directors; is a member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse, International Association of the Chiefs of Police, and the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers; and was the 2010 recipient of the Hendrix College Odyssey Medal for Service to the World, and the 2010 recipient of the International Impact Award from the International Services Council of Alabama. Chris previously served on the United States-Russian Bi-Lateral Presidential Commission Child Protection Workgroup and as co-chair of the United States-Russia Civil Society Partnership Program Child Protection Working Group. He graduated from Hendrix College, the University of Central Arkansas, and the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program.

Mr. Bragi Gudbrandsson is the Director General of the Government Agency for Child Protection Iceland, since 1995. He is sociologist from the University of Kent, Canterbury, and has been actively involved nationally and internationally in children´s rights, child abuse and neglect issues for three decades. Prior to his present post Mr. Gudbrandsson was the counsellor to the Minister of Social Affair.
Mr. Gudbrandsson is the founder of the Icelandic Barnahus which has been an inspiration for child- friendly and multidisciplinary response to child abuse in many European countries.
Mr. Gudbrandsson has worked extensively within the framework of the Council of Europe (CoE) as a consultant and expert drafting various recommendations, guidelines and conventions. He was elected Chair of the Lanzarote Committee from 2014 – 2016, the role of which includes the monitoring of the implementation of the CoE Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children from Sexual Abuse. He is the author of the CoE publication on “Children at Risk and in Care” (2006) and co-author of the CoE publication “Protecting Children from Sexual Violence” (2010).
Mr. Gudbrandsson has been a member of the Expert Group on “Children at Risk” within the Council of the Baltic Sea States from the onset of the cooperation. He served as the first Chair 2002-2003 and again 2016 -2017.
Mr. Gudbrandsson is an experienced presenter on various topics on children´s rights, child abuse and neglect at international conferences and events organised by governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGO´s and professional societies alike.