Interviewing Youth Using National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Protocol

On-Demand Webinar Title: Interviewing Youth Using National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Protocol

Live Webinar Date: August 16th, 2024

Duration: 87 minutes

Moderator: Katie Jerstad, Senior Attorney, NDAA's Juvenile Justice Program

Presenter: Dr. Wendy Dutton, MA, PhD, LPC, Phoenix Children's Hospital

Summary: Originally presented live on August 16th, 2024, this webinar teaches attendees a simple approach, backed in science, to forensic interviewing children. How an investigator/forensic interviewer asks questions of or talks to children and adolescent witnesses, victims or suspects can make or break a case. Minor suspects are more likely than adult suspects to provide a false confession or be suggested or coerced into providing bad information during law enforcement interrogations or interviews, according to recent research. Child and adolescent interview techniques have been modified over the years to take into account what is known from science about human development, the brain, memory, suggestibility and eyewitness recall, informing the interview environment, interviewer's choice of questions, and even word choice. Dr. Wendy Dutton will discuss the National Institute of Child Health and Development Protocol (NICHD Protocol), and its use for both youth witnesses and suspects. Dr. Dutton will discuss suggestibility, false confessions, and how the NICHD protocol is a research-grounded protocol that improves the interviewee's ability to provide information and reduces any likelihood of error due to interviewer suggestion. This webinar covers how investigators/forensic interviewers use research-grounded protocols that emphasize open-ended and cued recall questions and minimize the use of option-posing and suggestive questions to gather solid, rather than false or erroneous, information from child and adolescent witnesses, victim and even suspects. This technique allows interviewers to use similar protocols for witnesses and suspects. Attendees learn how the NICHD modified technique for suspects was shown to not elicit false confessions and gives youth witnesses, victims, and suspects an opportunity to tell their story in their own words. 

Learning Objectives: 

(1) Attendees will learn about the NICHD protocol generally, the protocol's six stages of a witness or victim interview and the four stages for a youthful suspect interview.

(2) Attendees will learn the research-grounded reasons for using the NICHD protocol and about a study involving the use of the NICHD protocol for youthful suspects.

(3) Attendees will learn about gathering solid information through open-ended prompts, cued recall questions, option posing and in certain circumstances suggestive questions, techniques for coping with denial, and other interview elements provided for under the Protocol.

CLE: This course, originally a live webinar on August 16th, 2024, was recorded for on-demand attendance. The live webinar was approved for CLE credit in certain states; however, NDAA does not apply for CLE approval or renewal of approval for recorded content or report on-demand CLE attendance for this webinar. NDAA is not responsible for applying for CLE approval or reporting CLE credits for this on-demand webinar. Attendees are responsible for ensuring their state accepts their applications for self-study CLE credits. Upon completion of your on-demand course (video, quiz and survey), you will be able to access a CLE Uniform Certificate of Attendance. If your state accepts self-study credits, you can submit this Certificate and other required materials directly to your state bar.  Attendees must self-submit this course for approval in their home state. All attorneys are responsible for any fees associated with CLE filing. Attorneys seeking CLE credit should contact their state bar associations for more information. General questions or additional information regarding CLE credit can be directed to cle@ndaajustice.org.

[States that previously approved CLE credit for this course:  MT, MO, NV, PA]

Cost:

Members: Free

Non-Members: Free

If you would like to become a member, please join here!

On-Demand Access: This webinar was originally recorded on August 16th, 2024, and made available On-Demand by NDAA with the help of OJJDP's NTTAC.

Attribution & Disclaimer: 

This project is supported by Grant #2019-MU-MU-K002 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

OJJDP Priorities

•Treating Children as Children 

•Serve Children at Home, with their Families, In their communities 

•Open Up Opportunities for Young People Involved in the Justice System