Project FIND

• Meet the Project FIND Team
• Common Questions

Meet the Project FIND Team

Project FIND trainings—Forensic Interviewing for Individuals with Disabilities—were developed by a coalition of stakeholders and a team of experts. The coalition included:

• Advocacy & Protective Services Inc.
• Deaf World Against Violence Everywhere
• Disability Rights Ohio
• The Arc of Ohio
• The Child Advocacy Center of West Central Ohio
• The Ohio Association of County Boards
• The Ohio Attorney General
• The Ohio Coalition for Adult Protective Services
• The Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center
• The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities
• The Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services
• The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association
• The Ohio Victim Witness Association

The team of expert contributors includes:

• Scott Modell, Founder of Collaborative Safety and President of MCG Consulting Services;
• Mark Douglas Everson, Professor, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill;
• Kathryn Homan, Full-Time Forensic Interviewer, New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center;
• Julie Kenniston, Program Manager, National Criminal Justice Training Program of Fox Valley Technical College;
• Janice LeBel, Director of System Transformation, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health;
• Chris Newlin, Executive Director, National Children’s Advocacy Center;
• Lia N. Rohlehr, Board Certified Forensic Psychologist, Superior Court of the District of Columbia;
• Stacie Schrieffer LeBlanc, Executive Director and Director of Legal Advocacy, New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center of Children’s Hospital;
• Leigha Shoup, Deputy Director, Adult Advocacy Centers;
• Dermot Whelan, Criminal Investigator, New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs;
• Staci Whitney, Forensic Interviewer, Bivona Child Advocacy Center and Director of Forensic Interviewing Training, Modell Consulting Group
• Adonna Wilson-Baney, Independent Consultant;
• Katherine Yoder, Executive Director, Adult Advocacy Centers

Common Questions

What is a forensic interview?

A forensic interview is a single session, legally sound, fact-finding interview by a specially trained professional to get detailed information about possible events that an individual with a disability may have experienced or witnessed. In having just a single interview, a victim or witness to a crime does not have to endure being retraumatized by telling the story again and again.

Who can take these trainings?

Each training is designed with different professionals in mind. The training you should take will depend on the kind of work you do and how closely you work with adults with disabilities who may be victims of crime, abuse or neglect. The description of each training describes the requirements participants must meet to take the course. Eligibility will be verified in the application process.