The Anna Crawford Children’s Center is pleased to partner with the National Child Protection Training Center, Georgia Department of Human Services and the Georgia Public Safety Training Center to provide ChildFirst™ Georgia. ChildFirst™ Georgia is funded, in part, through a grant from the Children’s Justice Act.

Overview: ChildFirst™ Georgia, formerly known as Finding Words, is an intensive five day course in which students learn the necessary skills to conduct an investigative, forensic interview of a suspected victim of child abuse. This interactive course includes lectures; skill-building exercises; the review of recorded interviews; homework reading assignments; and a written examination at the end of the course. Participants also must conduct a 40-minute interview of a professional actor portraying the role of a sexually abused child. Upon completion of the mock interview, the interviewer receives constructive feedback from a professional forensic interviewer and a group of fellow students. Participants will receive a class manual and flash drive containing current and relevant literature and research.

In order to be eligible for consideration for acceptance to a ChildFirst™ training, applicants must be currently employed in the field of child abuse and must be actively serving on their local multidisciplinary team.