Child Maltreatment Symposium 2025

Presentation

Smart Systems, Safer Kids: Harnessing Informatics to Transform the Approach to Child Maltreatment

Biography

Dr. Will Moser is a Clinical Informatics Fellow and Attending Child Abuse Pediatrician at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. He completed his fellowship in Child Abuse Pediatrics at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he continues to serve as a moonlighting attending. His work bridges clinical care and informatics, with a focus on advancing the role of informatics in the prevention, identification, and evaluation of child maltreatment.

Presentation

Preventive Legal Advocacy: Family Focused Advocacy to Reduce Child Welfare Involvement

Presentation Description

Focusing on multidisciplinary representation and meaningful community partnerships, preventive legal advocacy programs across the country provide upstream civil legal representation to address social determinants of health and help stabilize vulnerable families. In this session, we’ll introduce the nuts and bolts of preventive legal advocacy and pre-petition representation and explore how early, holistic legal advocacy has the capacity to build community resilience and reduce instances of unnecessary child welfare system involvement. Attendees will be encouraged to consider opportunities to employ preventive legal advocacy in their own jurisdictions and will be introduced to a robust set of resources to assist with program design and implementation. 

Biography

Emilie Cook is the Senior Staff Attorney at the Barton Child Law & Policy Center at Emory University School of Law and the host of the Preventive Legal Advocacy / Pre-Petition National Cohort—a national learning collective that brings together programs and stakeholders from more than thirty-five states to explore early legal advocacy and upstream support for families at risk of child welfare system involvement.

In this role, Emilie provides direct technical assistance to groups developing high-quality legal services that offer early legal intervention and holistic support to address the impacts of poverty, systemic racism, and other forms of discrimination that destabilize families and contribute to unnecessary system involvement.

Before joining the Barton Center in 2022, Emilie spent seven years representing children and parents in dependency proceedings in rural Georgia and served on the steering committee for the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit’s Family Treatment Courts.

She is a passionate advocate for preventive legal advocacy and its potential to improve outcomes for children and families.

Presentation

Forced Exercise: Creative Discipline or Child Abuse?

Presentation Description

This presentation will explore whether forced exercise is an effective form of discipline or whether the known and potential harms merit reconsideration of this subset of corporal punishment as a form of child abuse. The primary aim is to provide actionable insights to stakeholders in child advocacy in screening for and counseling against forced exercise, as well as in recognizing signs and symptoms of the most serious consequences of forced exercise and the best approach to the medical evaluation.

Biography

Dr. Keely Iannelli is a third year Emory University fellow in Child Abuse Pediatrics at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She grew up on a farm in small-town South Georgia. She survived culture shock and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Public Health from Brigham Young University in Provo Utah, then returned to Georgia to earn her Doctorate in Medicine from Augusta University. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Florida and has been a board certified pediatrician for three years. Her focus in fellowship has been exploring subsets of neglect, as well as unusual forms of punishment. Dr. Iannelli was previously an avid reader and scrapbooker who loved to travel, especially to Valencia, Spain. Now she has a rambunctious toddler and thus spends most of her time outside of fellowship hosting playdates and planning trips to Disney World.

Presentation

Foundations: Youth with Problematic Sexual Behaviors

Presentation Description

This training covers general information on youth problematic sexual behavior, including definitions, statistics, continuum of sexual behavior, risk and protective factors, important myths vs facts, and current research.

Biography

Joan (Jonie) Lewis, MSW, is a master’s level social worker with over 15 years of experience providing direct service to children and families in outpatient and school settings. She graduated with a Bachelor’s from California State University, Northridge and received a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Southern California. She is passionate about supporting youth and families impacted by trauma and marginalization. She currently wears multiple hats as Georgia Center for Child Advocacy’s Leaps and Bounds Program Manager and Psychotherapist to youth and families impacted by trauma. She is certified in Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & certified in Problematic Sexual Behavior-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy School Age Model with Adaptations up to age 14.

Presentation

Ethical Considerations For Child Maltreatment Professionals

Presentation Description

The presentation will discuss basic concepts of ethics as it pertains to professionals who interact with children and families who may have experienced child maltreatment.  Attendees will learn about factors that can affect objectivity and the importance of trying to mitigate those factors in order to decrease bias and improve objectivity.  The presentation will include ethical considerations related to confidentiality, consent, assent, mandated reporting, medical evaluation and diagnosis/recommendations, documentation, advocacy, investigative process and determination of recommendation/services, testimony, and research.

Biography

Dr. Vinod Rao is a Board Certified Pediatrician and Board Certified Child Abuse Pediatrician employed by Rady Children’s Health of Orange County Medical Group as the newly appointed Division Chief of the Child Protection Team. He is also Affiliated with the University of California Irvine, School of Medicine where he holds the title of Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. He received his medical degree from the Northeast Ohio Medical University, completed a General Pediatrics residency training at Vidant Medical Center/The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, and completed a Child Abuse Pediatrics fellowship training at Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College. Dr. Rao’s clinical practice involves evaluation and referrals regarding children presenting with concerns for possible child maltreatment, including but not limited to sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, and neglect. He also participates in hospital-based and local/community-based meetings and multidisciplinary teams that serve children and families for whom there are concerns related to possible child maltreatment. Additionally, Dr. Rao has presented on various topics related to child maltreatment at hospital-based, regional/local, national, and international settings.

Presentation

Misuse of Science in Court

Presentation Description

The cases of child maltreatment often end up in a judicial setting. The courtroom then becomes a venue for the presentation of medical and scientific principles and theories. Most lawyers, judges and juries do not have extensive expertise in science and medicine, which can create challenges. The science and medicine which underpin abusive head trauma can be quite complex and nuanced. While the courts do have a process to filter the quality of the science being presented in the court, it is unclear how effective this process is.  This discussion will explore how science and medicine interface with the court process, and some gaps will be highlighted. 

Biography

Christopher Greeley is Chief of the Division of Public Health Pediatrics at Texas Children’s Hospital. He is Professor and Vice-Chair for Community Health in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1992 and completed internship and residency in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University. He received a Masters in Clinical Research from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, with a special concentration on Comparative Effectiveness Research. He is board certified in General Pediatrics as well as Child Abuse Pediatrics, and is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Council on Community Pediatrics of the AAP and chairs the Policy Committee. Dr. Greeley is Co-director of the Violence and Injury Prevention and Research Center (VIPR); a CDC-funded Injury Control Research Center (ICRC). He was elected to the American Pediatric Society in 2017.

He also served on the Board of Directors of Prevent Child Abuse America from 2005-2014 and was Chair for 2009-2013. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for TexProtects; the Texas Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America. He has chaired Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Task Force for Texas from 2009-2017 and is a past-president of the Ray E. Helfer Society; the international society for physicians working in the field of child maltreatment. Dr. Greeley was the 2006 Ray E Helfer Award winner. The Ray E Helfer Award is an annual award jointly presented by The AAP and The National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds “to a distinguished pediatrician for his or her contribution to the prevention of child abuse and neglect.” In 2021 he received the Helfer Society Award from the Ray E. Helfer Society for his “distinguished contributions to the field of Child Abuse and Neglect”.  

Dr. Greeley is Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Applied Research on Children (JARC). He has written more than 70 articles and 10 book chapters on child abuse recognition and prevention, mimics of Abusive Head Trauma, and child well-being and adversity. He is an external peer reviewer for 46 scientific journals.

He lectures locally, regionally, nationally and internationally on various topics regarding child maltreatment (in particular Abusive Head Trauma and its mimics), childhood adversity, social drivers of health, inequality and vulnerable populations and the evidence-based medicine.

Presentation

Cognitive Errors in Child Abuse Medicine

Presentation Description

This session will review studies characterizing variability and errors in medical diagnoses of possible child abuse and the resulting confusion and potential negative outcomes from such errors.  Thought processes and diagnostic approaches that result in errors in general and specific to child abuse medicine will be covered.  General approaches to reducing errors and variability will be discussed.  Finally, specific approaches to reducing errors and variability in child abuse will be explored.

Biography

Dr. Anderst is a Child Abuse Pediatrician, the Division Director of the Division of Child Adversity and Resilience, and Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO.  Dr. Anderst has published over 60 peer reviewed research articles primarily focused on child abuse and neglect. He is a Medical Editor for the American Board of Pediatrics Sub-board of Child Abuse Pediatrics.  He has also worked collaboratively with governmental and non-profit agencies to create sustainable funding for child maltreatment programs and home visiting prevention programs in Missouri.

Presentation

The Cost of Caring: Attending to Self in the Wake of Secondary Traumatic Stress

Presentation Description

In the service of caring for youth and families who have experienced adversity, including poverty, community violence, and trauma in their home environments, helping professionals are at risk for experiencing our own emotional health struggles, simply because our jobs require that we hold onto the pain and suffering of others. Similarly, the systems responsible for caring for hurt people are also at risk for becoming trauma-impacted, which can ultimately contribute to job dissatisfaction, professional mistakes and inefficiencies, and burnout in the workforce. This interactive workshop will address what happens to us, as helping professionals, when we are charged with the task of caring for youth and families who have encountered adversity. Participants should attend prepared to reflect on their journey as helping professionals. Preventative strategies for attending to personal wellness will be introduced and participants will leave with the start of a Personal Care Plan to promote wellness and vitality in their own lives.

Biography

Dr. Chrisy Schmidt is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive training and expertise surrounding the assessment and treatment of children who have histories of prenatal substance exposure and complex trauma. Over the course of a long tenure at a nonprofit medical and behavioral health clinic, Dr. Schmidt lead the child adolescent psychology program, coordinated the student and postdoctoral training program, directed several foundation and federal grants, and provided numerous local and national trainings regarding pre- and postnatal trauma. In addition to her direct clinical work, Dr. Schmidt served as a consultant to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, where she provided consultative psychological services to administrators, caseworkers, and other professionals involved with the Department. In her private consulting work, Dr. Schmidt continues to train agencies and communities across the country regarding the treatment and assessment of youth who have histories of pre- and post-natal adversity. Each summer, Dr. Schmidt and her family appreciate the additional opportunity to help run a two-week overnight camp for children who have special needs, Camp SOAR.  

In all professional endeavors, Dr. Schmidt is committed to helping individuals and systems understand and address the impact of the work on one’s personal and professional well-being. After many years of working alongside colleagues who were suffering both personally and professionally by virtue of holding onto the pain of others, Dr. Schmidt founded H3 Wellness: Holding Hope for Helping Professionals. With an overarching mission to assist helper organizations take better care of their clients by taking care of their workforce, it is the hope of H3 to promote vitality, engagement, and excellence in the work of caring for others. Dr. Schmidt is honored to have worked with a variety of helping organizations in service of this mission, including schools, mentor organizations, social service agencies, child welfare systems, and a child welfare legal organization.

Presentation

The Intersection of Nutrition, Food Insecurity, and Mental Health

Presentation Description

Roughly fourteen precent of Americans suffer from food insecurity, and one in five children in the USA are food insecure. This problem is detrimental on many different levels, and in this talk, we will explore how the effects can be particularly disruptive for mental health. We will discuss the epidemiology of food insecurity, the brain-gut-microbiome axis and its importance to neurotransmitters, nutrition that optimizes mental health, and how to screen for food insecurity.   

Biography

Dr. Verena Brown, MD is a triple-boarded physician certified in Pediatrics, Child Abuse Pediatrics, and Lifestyle Medicine. She is also a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach with the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches and a Certified Sexuality Educator with the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. 

Currently, Dr. Brown’s focus is working as a pediatrician and educator who specializes in cases of child physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Dr. Brown spends most of her time seeing patients, both in inpatient and outpatient settings, at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

As the Lead Child Abuse Pediatrics Educator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Dr. Brown runs the National Child Abuse Fellowship Echo Program at CHOA. It is a national curriculum for physicians in training to learn about child abuse pediatrics and prepare for the Child Abuse Pediatrics board exam. The only Echo program of its kind, it offers didactic training and mentorship to fellows and early career physicians across the United States and Canada. 

Dr. Brown has been published in journals such as Pediatric Emergency Medicine and The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. She regularly lectures regarding child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, the trauma response, nutrition, and wellness. In July 2022, she was elected to the American Academy of Pediatrics Executive Committee of the Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, helping to write policies to advocate for children’s safety.