Incidence of Child Sexual Abuse
Various incidence studies prepared by Federal governmental agencies, the National Crime Victimization Study, and individual researchers are reported in the literature. Estimates that have held steady over the past 30 years are that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 8 boys are sexually abused in the United States. Given the incidence of child sexual abuse, every county or consortium of counties needs to have trained child sexual abuse forensic examiners.

The Child Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet prepared by Emily M. Douglas, PhD and David Finkelhor, PhD, University of New Hampshire Crimes Against Children Research Center provides an excellent review of major incidence studies, their strengths and limitations. This can be found at www.unh.edu/ccrc/factsheet/pdf/CSA-FS20.pdf

Child Sexual Abuse Forensic Medical Examination Teams
Large counties such as San Diego, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Sacramento and Alameda have at least one specialized child sexual abuse evaluation team in major cities. Los Angeles County has several. Smaller counties and communities with more limited resources train the SAFE or SANE Teams to provide examinations for children, adolescents and adults. Communities with specialized child sexual abuse assessment teams use acronyms such as CAST (Child Abuse Services Team), Child Protection Center, and CARE (Child Abuse Referral and Evaluation) Team. Teams serving all ages use the broader acronym SAFE or SANE. This approach is similar in other states as well.

Vision
Our plan for the child sexual abuse program is to continue to build scientific evidence based curriculum with a range of courses; to provide leadership and training in the development and sustainability of child abuse examination teams; to establish the value and need for teams in every California county or consortium of counties; and to develop and expand the child sexual abuse telemedicine network for mentoring and coaching examiners. CCFMTC also welcomes inquiries from other states and countries.

List of Courses
Pediatric SAFE Training Program
Forensic Photography
Basic and Advanced Courtroom Communications

To provide participants with an understanding of:

• How the information and skills learned in this course will meet the needs of children and teens who have been acutely or non-acutely sexually victimized as well as the needs of law enforcement and Child Protective Services (CPS);
• How to gather relevant information about the victimization to guide the forensic examination;
• How and why victimization of children and adolescents occurs and how these dynamics impact the evidentiary examination process;
• Anogenital anatomy of children and teens;
• How to conduct a medical forensic examination of an acutely or non-acutely sexually victimized child or adolescent;
• How to collect relevant evidence according to the California Medical Protocol for examining an acutely victimized patient;
• The types of acute injuries likely to have occurred in the process of victimization;
• The types of residual injuries that may present non-acutely;
• How to document findings and procedures in a forensically defensible manner;
• Guidelines for medical care and treatment following sexual assault and non-acute sexual abuse;
• Guidelines that may be used in formulating forensic medical conclusions; and
• The California judicial system to prepare examiners to respond to subpoenas and to testify in cases of child and adolescent sexual abuse.

• Cal EMA 2-925 Forensic Medical Report: Nonacute (>72 hrs) Child/Adolescent Sexual Abuse Examination
• Cal EMA 2-930 Forensic Medical Report: Acute (<72 hrs) Child/Adolescent Sexual Abuse Examination
• California Medical Protocol for Examination of Sexual Assault and Child Sexual Abuse Victims
• Forensic Examination Forms

For more information, please see the Events Calendar and Training Products section of this website.

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