NCJ Number
171848
Date Published
1996
Length
70 pages
Annotation
This report describes the goals, activities, and achievements of the Broken Feathers Program, a Michigan project designed to address child abuse on Trust/Reservation Lands in a seven-county area.
Abstract
The primary purposes of the project were to develop a structured system to manage severe physical and child sexual abuse cases and to provide community education and awareness regarding severe physical and sexual abuse. These major objectives have been met, and although funding has ended, the work continues. A multidisciplinary team has been established to review all child abuse cases on Trust/Reservation Lands. Additionally, each of the three offices that service the seven- county area have a child protection team that reviews all child abuse cases and networks with the multidisciplinary team when necessary. Through the work of a subcommittee of the Governor's Task Force on Children's Justice, a Tribally Specific Model Protocol has been developed and adopted. A conference scheduled for July 1995 will feature a nationally acknowledged trainer in the area of interviewing and treating child sexual abuse victims. Tribal Social Services caseworkers regularly attend the State Department of Social Services Child Protection Team meetings, and there is a supportive network of State and local social services agencies in all seven counties. Appended project protocols