Pre-Conference Institute Workshops

Session 1a: ABC’s of Interviewing and Interrogation

Presenters:

Have you ever thought someone was lying to you? Have you wondered how to get to the truth? If you have answered yes to either question, this training is for you. It is designed to provide attendees with sound interviewing principles which can be adapted to a child’s cognitive and/or developmental level and be applicable to interviewing preschool children up through “street wise” adolescents. Verbal and nonverbal forms of communication, methods for detecting deception, and taking confessions, as well as visual and hands on techniques will be included. Live case examples will allow for practice opportunities during the workshop and participants will walk away with a set of skills and strategies that can be immediately applied in the workplace.

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Session 2a: Expanding Your Assessment Toolbox: Critical Measures and Methods

Presenters:

Completing an evidenced- based assessment of firesetting requires equal measure of creativity and science. The unique circumstances and characteristics of children involved in firesetting demand creativity while “best practice” standards advise the gathering and organizing of reliable information from multiple sources through multiple strategies and methods. Evaluators must be prepared to be flexible, planful, detail oriented, and thorough. This intensive workshop is designed to provide the clinician with a framework for assessment construction as well as an orientation and exposure to a number of practical and standardized measures that may be incorporated as part of firesetting assessment work.

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Featured Speaker

Just Another Boring Safety Talk

Presenter:

Throughout its history the professional fire service has functioned as a highly reactive organization and some would say one that has also been highly resistant to change. Early fire safety education efforts were largely based on talk and lecture with a liberal dose of clichés and seemingly disconnected activities. This humor filled presentation will challenge all who work in the community fire safety arena to evaluate their current fire safety education work, and personal safety behaviors, using an increasing evolving knowledge base about true behavioral change.

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Morning Breakout Sessions

Session 1: From Mythology to Typology: A Research Review

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Of the more than 600,000 fires reported every year, over 300,000 of those are started by juveniles. Historically, beliefs systems emerged regarding this behavior. As a result, early attempts at categorization developed into three types of juvenile firesetters and these children into discrete categories. Recent literature has attempted to better understand how and why juveniles set fires in order to support professional fire service personnel, investigators, mental health clinicians, and policy makers so they can make informed choices about how best to address this harmful behavior. This presentation will review the history and misconceptions, the first attempts at categorization, and recent literature regarding juvenile firesetting typology.

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Session 2: Successful Interviews and Interrogation

Presenter:

The ability to interview effectively is a primary skill for the firesetting interventionist and other related professionals. This workshop will review both “tried and true” methods as well as innovative techniques that can be used when working with both children and families in the home or office. We’ll cover preparation, hostility and reluctance, behavioral cues, life hooks, and confessions. Participants will also have the chance to complete a self assessment to identify communication styles and interviewing strengths.

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Session 3: My Child Knows Better…Confronting Parental Myths in Your Interview

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Adult caregivers can often present as one of the biggest challenges for the interventionist due to preconceived ideas about their child’s behavior and a poor understanding of fire. Yet, parents and caregivers are critical partners in the chain of events that moves from initial interviewing to successful intervention. This workshop will explore the common misconceptions parents/caregivers have about firesetting behavior and help the interventionist increase interview skills, identify your leverage points, and help attendees to build stronger partnerships with parents.

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Session 4: Juvenile Firesetting and Abuse Histories: Implications for Assessment and Treatment

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The prevalence of abuse histories among juveniles with firesetting behaviors raises a number of cautions, questions, and recommendations that will be explored during this workshop. Discussion will be encouraged to recognize the overlap of some psychological characteristics common among both of these populations as well as the implications for assessment and treatment when these issues coincide. The research which underscores the need for treatment providers to be cross-trained in the areas of childhood maltreatment and juvenile firesetting will be reviewed and attention will also be given to ethical and legal considerations that need to be taken into account.

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Afternoon Breakout Sessions

Session 5: Child Protection Protocols: When Interviewers Suspect Abuse or Neglect

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This session will provide an overview of child protection protocols, the role of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and its investigative process, and a summary of the recent changes in Massachusetts law regarding mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect. A new online training program will be previewed, and potential indicators of abuse and neglect will be discussed using case-specific examples. Although issues will be presented and discussed within the overall context of Massachusetts criminal law, attendees from other states may find the general child protection and intervention themes of this session nonetheless relevant and/or applicable to their own home states and work environments.

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Session 6: Assessing and Addressing Critical Fire Safety Risks During Home Visits

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This workshop will provide strategies for firefighters and other professionals to employ to make the most of home fire safety visits in their communities. The overwhelming majority of fires, fire injuries and fire fatalities occur at home, the very place where most families feel they are safest. Community outreach programs that involve home visits are a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of very personal teachable moments to identify and mitigate the fire risks that most families routinely and unknowingly take. The material is designed and presented in a way that allows multidisciplinary stakeholders to take ownership of the initiative for their own communities. A newly released DVD on home fire drills will be screened as well as live demonstration of a new interactive website designed to help children and families through the decision making process of emergency exiting.

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Session 7: Families Matter: Important Program Evaluation Issues

Presenter:

The families of children involved in firesetting are diverse and often faced with a myriad of struggles aside from their child’s behavior. Firesetting intervention programs that hope to be effective must be able to answer questions such as, “Are we flexible enough to meet the needs of these families?” Do we understand the impact that the culture of poverty may be having on this family?” This workshop will provide important information on the common characteristics of these families and the qualities of successful programs. The importance of attending to personal needs of interventionists will also be addressed.

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Session 8: Juvenile Firesetting in the Young Child: How to Assess and Intervene When it’s More Than Just Curiosity

Presenters:

While most children between the ages of four and eight who have set fires usually fall into the category of curiosity motivated, a noticeable trend indicates that these children also have developmental and attachment related issues that are clinically significant and require different intervention strategies. The importance that the parent-child relationship plays in supporting children through the developmental stage supports the need for intervening within the parent-child dyad. This workshop will provide suggestions for adapting assessment and interviewing techniques to this young population and their families, as well as provide an example of an industry-leading program that is evolving to accommodate the increasing number of children fitting this description.

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