Introduction
The Institute serves as an international resource for interdisciplinary education and multidisciplinary professional consultation and training in child abuse and family violence. In its fourteenth year of operation, the institute and its activities have forwarded the mission of “Intervention with and prevention of child abuse and family violence through professional education and training” on an even broader scale than previous years.
Offered by the School of Health and Human Services, this program provides individuals from various disciplines with expanded knowledge and formalized education in the area of child abuse and domestic violence, training and field experience in serving this population, and opportunities to qualify for career positions in which multidisciplinary training is required or is essential.
The course work includes theoretical, conceptual, and practical experiences leading to a multidisciplinary view of the relevant issues, processes, and systems involved. The goals of the program are to prepare individuals to better serve the needs of abused children and violent families, and to qualify for career positions in which multidisciplinary training is essential. The program requires 24 units of upper division course work, including 16 units of required courses, 4 units of electives, and 4 units of field experience. Admissions to the program requires upper division standing (completion of 90 quarter untis), formal application to the school, application to the certificate program, and approval by the program director.
The Institute is also the home of the CSULA - Juvenile Court Partnership, under Dr. Friend’s direction. This Partnership seeks to provide educational and training exchanges between our neighboring institutions. Every year we collaborate on the New Beginnings for Partnership Conference, under Dr. Hershel Swinger’s leadership. Dr. Mitchell Eisen is the Liaison who facilitates the conducting of research with Juvenile Court populations and data. Now that CSULA is the home of the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab (under construction) the University is in a unique position to recruit and educate students who are interested in building a career in court related systems.
The Institute also offers training to the community and is currently involved in research projects with New York’s University’s Center on Violence and Recovery and Juvenile Court’s Parents Beyond Conflict Program.
CSULA Child Abuse and Family Violence Institute
King Hall, Rm 109B
- The Child Abuse and Family Violence Institute has many components including:
- The Child Maltreatment and Family Violence Certificate Program
- The CSULA Juvenile Court Partnership This is a collaboration of the LA County Juvenile Court and the entire CSULA. It is dedicated to promoting joint opportunities for research, education and service learning. From its inception in 1988 it has grown to encompass:
- Formal internship opportunities
- Service learning opportunities
- The New Partnership Beginnings Conference (11th year) – (Brochure)
- An information/resource center
- Expert Speaker List
- Exchanges between training and guest lectures, Juvenile Court experts and CSULA Faculty
- Two Summit Meetings
- The Child Abuse and Family Violence Institute participates in ongoing research and training in collaboration with:
- The Inter University Consortium (http://iuc.sppsr.ucla.edu/iucmain/)
- Los Angeles County, Juvenile Court’s Parents Beyond Conflict Program
- And the California Forensic Science Institute
The California Forensic Science Institute (CFSI) is the career development and applied research, for the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab (LARCL). The LARCL is a partnership among the LA County Sheriff, the LA Police Department and CSULA. The facility is now being built on our campus. Between the Juvenile Court Partnership and the California Forensic Science Institute and its new Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, this University is a unique position to recruit and educated students who are interested in building a career in Court related systems. In conjunction with the Child Maltreatment Certificate, students can pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees in: Forensic Psychology, Forensic Social Work, Criminal Justice and Criminalistics.
* Co-sponsors of the Forensic Forum on Child Abuse: Recognition, Reporting, and Risks [Child Abuse Save the Date Brochure]. Here experts will present to a dozen key decision policy makers. The goal is to examine what we are currently doing and consider how we might approach it differently. This will be on October 10, 2008, at the CSULA Golden Eagle.
Please review our Top 10 reasons to get a Child Maltreatment Certificate and our FAQs. Please click here to view statements from students who are either enrolled or graduated from our program.
If you have further questions, or simply want to discuss your own situation, please call us at (323) 343-4696.
2005-2006 Highlights
- Dr. Denise Herz (CSULA, Criminal Justice and Crimininalistics) recently collaborated on a “cross-over youth” study, which has been applied in a substance-abuse program that tracks the dependency-to-delinquency phenomenon. [Herz Ryan Research Update]
- Dr. Mitchell Eisen (CSULA, Psychology) and Tom Lyon (USC, Law) collaborated on a presentation at the 10th Partnership New Beginning for Partnerships Conference. They summarized the recent research on the forensic interviewing of children. Colleen Friend presented Research on Interviewing Parents in the Child Welfare System.
- Dr. Colleen Friend (CSULA, COMD) and the Juvenile Court Bar Association (JCBA) collaborated on an Interviewing Service Learning Project. CSULA students were mentored, observed and rated on their interviewing skills with Juvenile Court clients. Students reported that this was an invaluable learning experience.
- Dr. Karen Nielson-Menicucci (CSULA, Nursing) is developing Public Health Placements for her nursing students in the LA County Mental Health Unit, which is an integral part of the court.
- Dean Beatrice Yorker (CSULA, J.D., R.N., M.S., F.A.A.N.) as the president of the California Prof. Soc. on the Abuse of Children (CAPSAC) has arranged to hold a joint CAPSAC Board Meeting this summer. CSULA Court Partnership will be exploring opportunities for collaboration. Dean Yorker presented her research on Hospital Based Homicides at the CSULA DNA Awareness Day, September 14, 2006
- Dr. Mitchell Eisen is moving forward with a proposal to establish a Guardian Scholar’s Program as part of the CSULA Juvenile Court Partnership. We now have an active Court Scholar’s Program at CSULA. This program offers assistance to any young adults who have emancipated from the child welfare system.