Who We Are
The Child Protection Program (CPP), founded in 1972, consists
of the AWAKE (Advocacy for Women and Kids in Emergencies) project, an outpatient
child protection clincial services program (CPCS), and a child protection
team (CPT) of hospital consultants. The Program includes a multidisciplanary
group of professionals from the Departments of Medicine, Social Work, Nursing,
Psychology, Office of General Counsel and AWAKE (the domestic violence project).
Child Protection Team members, representing all of the above departments,
are available on a twenty-four hour basis to consult on cases of child abuse
and neglect. Consultation with the CPT is strongly encouraged.
Advocates from the AWAKE Project provide domestic violence intervention services
for patients and their families, as well as hospital employees. In a unique
partnership with the Massachusetts
Department of Social Services (DSS), the Child Protection Program has
a nurse at Childrens
Hospital Boston who functions as a liason with DSS. CPCS provides a range
of multidisciplinary evaluation services for children who are suspected of
having been maltreated, as well as research and training. They also offer
referrals to a variety of community resources.
Each member of the CPP plays a vital and integral role in the mission of the
Program to evaluate and provide care for patients at Childrens
Hospital Boston who may have been abused or neglected and to implement
child protection and safety. The Child Protection Program seeks to increase
the awareness, knowledge, and prevention of child abuse within the hospital,
and the community.