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The Project is a coordinated effort between two government agencies (Office for Victims of Crime and Indian Health Service) to provide equipment, training, and resources to medical providers within the Indian Health Service and Tribal programs on the medical evaluation of child abuse. It is an example of a successful partnership of two federal agencies that evolved from a pilot project implemented on the Northern Ute Indian Reservation in Utah in 1995. This was the first program in Utah outside of the University of Utah (Primary Children’s Medical Center) to utilize telemedicine for the evaluation of child victims of abuse. Now this same model of care delivery is used by the state of Utah’s Children’s Advocacy Centers.
A cadre of providers in IHS and Tribal programs have been trained and continue to be trained in this intensive and comprehensive two year program. Trained providers work in the community they serve and this community linkage is critical for building this framework for primary prevention and after care. They also act as a resource for law enforcement, social services, clergy, schools, court systems. The evaluation is a billable service and the resources of the project are available during and after completion of the program. Needed medical treatment for any physical injuries or conditions and referral to the mental health, social service, or other care system can be accomplished quickly and locally, and medical evaluation is provided someone the child victim and family are familiar with and who is culturally sensitive. Consultation if needed is readily available.
Since the Project began in 2000, it has significantly impacted Indian Country through the establishment of an infrastructure of trained child abuse professionals, the elevation and standardization of the quality of medical care provided to Native American/Alaskan Native child victims of abuse (best practices), a database of child abuse statistics has been established, and the collection of cases in this project establishes the beginning of a national library for such data specific to this population.
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