Advanced Topics Webinars
Join First Witness Child Advocacy Center and grow your understanding and knowledge of advanced topics within child advocacy.
First Witness’ Advanced Topics Webinars brings out nationally recognized trainings in forensic interviewing, advocacy, child abuse prevention, and MDT development to child advocacy center, multidisciplinary team, and child maltreatment professionals across the United States.
Each 90-minute webinar is held virtually and presented live by our team of nationally-recognized trainers. Each session is $50 and you will be invoiced after registration. Certificates of completion are available after successfully attending each webinar.
Scholarship Opportunities – Forensics and MDT related webinars ONLY
**Scholarships are available for Minnesota multidisciplinary team members through the Minnesota Children’s Alliance. See information here: Minnesota Children’s Alliance Scholarship Opportunity
Questions? Contact our training team at training@firstwitness.org.
Advocacy
Centering Empathy In Your Work: A Strengths-Based Approach To Working With Parents & Caregivers
February 16, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
This session highlights the importance of leading with empathy and understanding when working with caregivers whose families are now a part of systems. We will be taking a closer look at how professionals can use a strength-based approach to successfully assist families who are navigating a disclosure of child maltreatment. Attendees will learn how to understand their biases, as well as other common barriers to empathy, when working with caregivers of different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Lastly, we will explore different techniques that can be used to mitigate bias and break past the identified barriers, so that we can successfully lead with empathy in our work.
Advocacy Practices in Rural Areas
April 27, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
This session will guide advocates through discussions about barriers caregivers have when living in a rural community and how that affects family advocacy. We will discuss the prevalence of child abuse in rural communities, and how rural communities respond to child abuse, and ways in which advocates can educate communities on child abuse dynamics. Additionally, this training will explore the barriers marginalized communities face in rural areas through time and in the present. Participants will learn about the importance of collaboration, mobile and anonymous service delivery, and community education.
Supporting Children with No Non-Offending Caregiver: Advocacy to Forensic Interview
July 20, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
This presentation will speak to the prevalence of children with no NOC who come to the child advocacy center, and how we provide individualized advocacy and forensic interview techniques to these children. Systems change will also be discussed when systems or policies do not serve these children well, and starting points to facilitate these conversations.
Forensic Interviewing
Reading the Room: The Importance of Understanding Body Language in Forensic Interviews
November 9, 2026 10am-11:30am CT
$50
In this webinar, participants will learn about the importance of being able to recognize body language cues in forensic interviews and to what extent they happen subconsciously. We will discuss how body language cues may be dependent on a child’s age, culture, and experiences. Paticipants will learn neutral interview statements that can be made when seeing certain body language cues with different age groups. Lastly, we disscuss subconscious interviewer body language and the possible implications this body language could have on the child being interviewed. Throughout the training, we will discuss case examples looking at prominent body language cues.
It’s a Spectrum: Forensically Interviewing Children with Autism
January 21, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
In recent years, there has been more awareness surrounding Autism Spectrum Disorder; however, this awareness has also brought about some harmful stereotypes and biases. This webinar will look at the basics of what Autism is, what symptoms are seen in children, and how it has progressed through history as a diagnosis. We will discuss how nuances play a role in how we prep for and conduct forensic interviews with autistic children including topics of communication, question types, memory, and suggestibility. Lastly, we will discuss considerations for law enforcement, social workers, and attorneys as part of a multidisciplinary team investigating these cases.
Interviewing & Working with Queer Youth: Understanding the Cultural Context
May 4, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
This session will cover the dynamics of interviewing and working with queer youth who are potential victims of violence or abuse. Topics discussed will include dynamics of abuse and violence in the queer community, barriers to service, historical context and power dynamics, risk factors, and suggestions for building inclusion into your practice, both on the individual level when interviewing queer youth, as well as the organizational level when working with queer youth in general.
Drawn to the Facts: Utilizing Drawings in Forensic Interviews
November 2, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
Many tools can be used during forensic interviews such as anatomical diagrams, anatomical dolls, and things children draw during the interview. Utilizing drawings during forensic interviews can help the interviewer gain more information and understanding regarding what the child is discussing. The presenter will speak on multiple ways to use drawings during the interview and discuss what research says regarding utilizing drawings in forensic interviews. Real-life examples will be given, and participants should walk away from this presentation with a better understanding of how children’s drawings during the interview can help provide the team with more information.
MDT Development
Effective Case Tracking Processes for CACs and MDTs
December 10, 2026 10am-11:30am CT
$50
The National Children’s Alliance requires that all accredited CACs collect and document specific case information and investigative outcomes to inform ongoing continuous quality improvement, and for the betterment of cross-MDT communication. This training describes how CACs and MDTs can develop and maintain effective case tracking processes, tracking essential information from the day of the interview through final potential criminal convictions. This training will review what case-tracking best practices are for Child Advocacy Centers and their MDTs, and different options to achieve those best practices as a cohesive team.
Pornography and Youth: Understanding and Responding to Current and Changing Trends
March 23, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
With a national increase in access to the internet and AI, teens and adults now have more exposure to violent and harmful pornography. This increase in access not only creates harm to youth but is, at times, used in child sexual abuse as a method of manipulation and further abuse. As professionals, it is important to communicate effectively with youth and caregivers about the internet and its relationship to personal safety. This session will discuss the impact of porn/AI on youth, the role of porn/AI usage in the process of victim manipulation and grooming, and harm reduction for youth access to porn/AI.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Investigating Female Sex Offenders
September 7, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
While female sex offenders are less prevalent than male sex offenders, they very much still exist; therefore, it is vital for multidisciplinary teams to understand what to look for when investigating these cases. In this webinar, participants will learn the truths behind common misconceptions and stereotypes regarding female sex offenders. Participants will also learn about common themes of female sex offenders including offense types, motivations, and generational effects. We will look at nuanced dynamics including nurturing bias and societal beliefs which further perpetuate underreporting. Lastly, we will discuss considerations for multidisciplinary teams to investigate these cases while pushing past biases.
Don’t Panic: Lessons Learned from Child Abuse Investigations and the Satanic Panic
December 7, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
The National Children’s Alliance requires that all accredited CACs collect and document specific case information and investigative outcomes to inform ongoing continuous quality improvement, and for the betterment of cross-MDT communication. This training describes how CACs and MDTs can develop and maintain effective case tracking processes, tracking essential information from the day of the interview through final potential criminal convictions. This training will review what case-tracking best practices are for Child Advocacy Centers and their MDTs, and different options to achieve those best practices as a cohesive team.
Prevention
Is This Normal? Problematic Sexual Behaviors in Youth
June 29, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
Historically, the presence of sexual behaviors in children was societally met with judgment, fear, and misunderstanding. Realistically, sexual play is common for children, with 66%-88% of children exhibiting some form of sexual play in the course of their childhood. As professionals working with children, it is important to understand how to distinguish between developmentally normal sexual behaviors and developmentally problematic sexual behaviors in children. This presentation differentiates between sexual behaviors that are more typical than sexual behaviors that are more harmful and uses this foundation for considerations on responding to problematic sexual behaviors.
The Spiral of Abuse and the Process of Victim Manipulation
October 7, 2027 10am-11:30am CT
$50
This session will provide participants with an in-depth discussion and breakdown of each step in the spiral of abuse, as well as further exploration on the process of victim manipulation, in-person and online. This webinar reviews research based on the motivations and mechanisms that perpetrators use to justify child abuse. Throughout this training, we will observe childhood sexual experiences, atypical socialization, exposure to neglect, physical violence, and emotional abuse. This training was created to educate those on the warning signs and characteristics of those who decide to perpetrate children, and ways we can keep children safe.
Meet Your Training Team
