One of the unfortunate side effects of increased awareness of child sexual abuse is increased stereotyping of men who work in early childhood education. I have lost count of the many times that clients have told me, “I never hire men to work with children because the risk is too high.” That attitude is understandable,…

Numerous mental health studies suggest that one of the best ways to help children develop resilience and recover from adverse childhood experiences is for them to have a trusted confidante outside the family. Yet we also are told that to protect children from sexual abuse, we need to stay alert to signs that a sexual…

A pattern that shows up very often in studies of resilience is a high correlation between resilience and self-esteem. It would be very easy to conclude that, if we help children develop self-esteem, we can also increase their resilience. These studies, however, only measure correlation, not causation. Furthermore, other studies of self-esteem indicate that it…

One of the better trends in the last decade of caring for children is the recognition that children need to develop resilience. In spite of our best efforts, all children will face setbacks and conflicts. They will be much better off if we spend our resources not on preventing all life difficulties but helping them…

I have been seeing a lot of advice like this suggesting that mandated reporters should report directly to child protection rather than going through the chain of command. I understand the impulse, as every system of reporting has its weaknesses, but on balance, I believe that involving an institution’s chain of command is the best…

One new fashion in public policy is to screen all children for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). California is leading the way with an expensive and ambitious initiative to screen all adults and children covered by the state health plan. The idea is that screening will allow adults to better care for children and avoid negative…

In my last post, I discussed the 20+ years of research on the possible effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on children. Fortunately, we are seeing more research into how we can help counter the ACEs that the children in our care have suffered. None of these studies is definitive — even the original ACEs…

One of the most active areas of mental health studies these days is the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on long-term health. The term stems from a groundbreaking study from 1995-1997 by the Centers for Disease Control and the Kaiser Permanente Foundation. That study found that children who experience ACEs have increased risk of…

I often find myself in a case opposing a party who has designated his or her or a child’s treating therapist as an expert witness on various forensic issues. This arrangement is rarely, if ever, a good idea. I understand the temptation to save money by hiring one person instead of two. However, a treating therapist…

A military court of appeals recently made headlines when it dismissed child abuse charges against a Marine colonel. The very thorough opinion provides a good case study in the difficulties of interviewing young children. In both my experience as a civil lawyer defending youth organizations and my past life as a criminal prosecutor, I have…