Interviewing the Child Client: Approaches and Techniques for a Successful Interview

Interviewing the Child Client

The American Bar Association Section of Litigation Children's Rights Litigation Committee www.abanet.org/litigation/comm... has produced this 38 minute award-winning training video which provides practical guidance and demonstrations of techniques that can help lawyers work effectively with their child clients. Supplemental training materials to be used with the video are available at www.abanet.org/litigation/comm...

The ABA Section of Litigation Children's Rights Litigation Committee has collaborated with the Barton Child Law and Policy Center of Emory Law School to make this video available through the Internet. Please share this video and the training materials with colleagues who represent children so that we can all try to provide the highest quality of representation for children.

For more information about representing children or the Children's Rights Litigation Committee, contact Cathy Krebs at [e-mail]

[@cofmantownsley]

Children need a voice too and this video speaks to this.

[@chefboyardeesnuts277]

While this video does not entirely relate to my intended career, I like how it breaks down conversational techniques. As someone looking into counseling for foster youth, I can notice similarities in the care framework we will need to utilize.

[@amari248]

I like how they didn’t make the conversations go perfectly from the lawyer’s perspective (kids understand and go along with everything enthusiastically)

[@osmanvincent1975]

I helped a lot of people (couple hundred) around false accusation of child abuse; about half were messy divorces with the parents were fighting each other. Most of the children in the instances where I was involved were much younger than the children in this video. A couple times, the judge ordered a GAL (Guardian ad Litem) to represent the child. I have heard of GALs acting as mediators in the custody area, working out compromises that facilitated a good resolution. My personal experience in a couple of cases where GALs were involved, is that the GAL jumped to conclusions far too quickly, did not know anything about child psychology, were easily duped, and only added confusion. In my own case, we (Ex- & I) where sent to a psychologist. She saw the psychologist first and used her charm and tears claiming I was a child molester. He was clearly angry when I saw him immediately after her. I wanted joint custody but got essentially next to nothing. She got caught in a bunch of lie. We went back to the psychologist for a half dozen more sessions. He totally flipped his position and I ended up with total custody of our toddler daughter. If a clinical psychologist can get fooled by a sociopathic liar (his words), what chance would a lawyer have in seeing what was really going on. The daughter, now an adult, wants nothing whatever to do with her mother. Anybody else sense the gender bias in the video?

[@DaRyteJuan]

This approach should also be used older teens and adults who’ve survived abusive environments and/or suffered sexual trauma. Oftentimes, it doesn’t take much to cause us to shut down and go inward. Doctors oftentimes trample over us like a bull in a china shop.

[@MindFormula]

That’s great!!! I’m a social worker I use the same technics!

[@victoriafrank6992]

This video is amazing for future foster care social workers as well. Thank you so much.

[@divawendy]

I just loved her show judging amy

[@mutegibrenda376]

Woow... The techniques are amazing 🎉🎉

[@culturedtherapist3211]

That is why it is so fulfilling being a volunteer court appointed specialist.

[@vickicarnes6860]

Casa?

[@xrysthol922]

I'm seeing this because I want to be a Psychiatrist that works with children..

[@duaallykami5226]

yes,,,right

[@horserider422]

Hire a lawyer for your kids before cps question

[@vickicarnes6860]

You have the right to never open the door to cps or speak to them unless they have a court order the you have to allow them in but is pretty much waste of time when you still refuse to speak to them as they cannot get a court order to waive you (5th) constitutional rights!! Never signs anything as well unless you want big brother telling you how to run your life!!

[@badiahaureliawilson1707]

Informative and useful for Caseworkers as well ; )

[@nicolebrit33]

@Tee S you're ignorant

[@nicolebrit33]

@Tee S way to be professional and you would NEVER say that to my face so know your place and dont be big and bad on the internet because people have died for less. Good day.

[@tsebomoloi3410]

It's extremely sad how many kids are displaced, abused or live is disfunctional households with a toxic family dynamic

[@vaughanlockett658]

Anything your kids say will be used against you and be interpreted as such

[@victorjackson150]

These interviewing techniques would get a teacher fired in most districts!!! Shocking!!!

[@h3arty]

This woman is beautiful.

[@wenaolong]

This world, which is a damned racket, expects to be catered to as though it were an innocent child, impose its will as though it were the ultimate judge, and all while commiting crimes so systematically and severely that even devils would blush at their voracious and vicious methods and abhorrent, obscene ends.

[@mimiwolfe6297]

You got that right !!

[@noiastoneluftballoon9492]

failed kid mom justice n humanity. none of u get honest rwspwct from whom ... yeah. .. no further involvement. dont even think kids in bad conditions b4 recruitment

[@tiffanyassoci]

This video is infuriating to say the least. Manipulating , pathological lying, defamation of parental character "child abusing attorney makes my blood boil. This video is disrespectful and is the underlying source of parental alienation and severe trauma for the healthy family unit. These criminal agencies will be abolished permanently. This video is virtual unreality. Why in the fuck would a handicapped child be on probation. I never have seen 1 handicapped child in foster care because this would actually take real caregiving. Instead they prefer to kidnap non-abused and non-neglected children in order to medicate them all with psychiatric drugs leave them with strangers who collect illegal payments intended to be provided for care of the foster child. rather if its a good one or an abusive one, payments to the state, payments to the judge, payments to the guardian at litum, the CPS, DCFS, DSS, DSF, Health & Human Services, Hospitals contracted with Child Welfare, The workers which include the supervisors of the main worker and also other assistant social workers that all gain up against the biological non-abusive parents which can add up to 1-15 social workers, the original investigative child kidnapping worker and their supervisor, the police if the are there to assist in placing fear, and guns into the home, the attorney representing the parents, the governer of the state signing off on fraudulant reports and fake court orders which are corporte policies and not law to agree with and severe the parental rights , the appealant courts and all of the employees within that. of the CPS, DCF, DCFS or whatever acronym they morph into in order to hide, lie, neglect, abuse, steal and rob the families of their children and themselves. They are contracted to conceal the true and originakl identities of their fraudulent for profit agencies and use tax payers money and smear campaigns in order to rack in billions of dollars annually across the USA. They also destroy and change legal authentic records like social security numbers, birth certificates and will erase the name of the biological parents with names of strangers to the children. Then when the children turn 18 the foster care kicks the children out of the home with no money and no identity and with no real life skills to survive, The foster child becomes homeless, on drugs, sex trafficated, gay or dead or in prison. Then the were also brainwashed to hate their biological parents which cretes parental alienation and younf foster girls will also becom unwed mothers and then their children will be taken away as well. The list goes on and on. Every entity gains profits while the parents go bankrupt successfully completing parent reunification illegal contracts and visiting the child on time everytime for up to 18 months or more, doing unncecessary urinaryanylisis, parenting classes, traveling back and forth 2 times a week for micro-managed visits for 2 1/2 hours on weekdays after your child gets out of elementry school, visit from 4pm-6;30pm Monday , Wednesday, Friday for example. Simple horrific. The monitored visits are at a DCFS or CPS office with no food, no vending machines, no kitchen for the parent to cook healthy meals for the babies, no microwave, no bottled water, no plates or silverware and with only Fast food located next to these offices. These offices have no decent toys or playgounds or gated areas for the children to play with their parents. They nake the child and parent play in parking lots with many vehicles in the parking lots which is extremely dangerous. The monitor just watches like a spy like a vulture and carries no laptop or notetaking supplies to report how great visits are and all of the supplies the parent has to bring with them in order to even have any normalized