A National Review of Multidisciplinary Teams addressing Child Sexual Exploitation

Although the Multidisciplinary teams (MDT) approach has existed for decades, its application to coordinate and improve the response to victims of crime is more recent and there is limited research documenting the varieties of approaches or their effectiveness. Because child sexual exploitation is a complex issue that requires an alliance between diverse actors (e.g., child welfare authorities, police, medical examiners), MDTs are increasingly employed to coordinate responses. As a result, it is essential to understand the current landscape of MDT use and examine variations in their structure, participants, and intended outcomes to understand promising practices. The proposed project seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary team from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Northeastern University, and the University of South Florida to provide a review of the national landscape of MDTs in addressing the sexual exploitation of children.

        The proposed study will be carried out over four years and will use a multi-method approach, with an Advisory Board of six subject matter experts providing feedback throughout the project. The project is organized into six tasks. Task 1 seeks to facilitate project management across the three universities to ensure timely completion of each project stage. Task 2 is a systematic review of extant research to describe the current landscape of knowledge on MDTs that address child sexual abuse and exploitation. Task 3 will administer a national survey to stakeholders and agencies across the United States that convene MDTs for addressing child sexual exploitation. Task 4 will conduct seven in-depth case study site visits of MDTs that address child sexual exploitation—three sites are based on existing partnerships with the study investigators; four sites will be identified from the national survey. Task 5 will synthesize the findings across all data sources (i.e., systematic review, national survey, case study sites) and provide recommendations on best practices in MDTs addressing child sexual exploitation, with lessons learned or considerations for implementation across diverse racial/ethnic and other marginalized populations. Task 6 prioritizes the creation and dissemination of deliverables, including but not limited to: (1) a systematic review, (2) a national survey instrument, (3) case study site data collection tools, (4) a final report summarizing the findings across all data sources, (5) an MDT Guidebook, and (6) an interactive website summarizing findings from case study site visits. Project findings will inform best practices in the conceptual development, planning, and implementation of MDTs that respond to child sexual exploitation. CA/NCF