A few of these alums have played a role in bringing those ideals and leadership back to campus, creating an opportunity for WSU to provide expertise and guidance to the entire nation in the name of ending child abuse. Largely through the efforts of Victor Vieth, '84, and Terry Lierman, '69, WSU is now the home of the National Child Protection Training Center (NCPTC).

In 1999, child protection leaders throughout America issued a National Call to Action to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, child abuse over the course of a century. As the Director of the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse (NCPCA), a program of the American Prosecutors Research Institute, Victor became increasingly convinced that if more resources were used to prevent child abuse, less time and money would have to be spent prosecuting offenders. He said $120 billion is spent annually dealing with the aftermath of child abuse and if a few million was spent on the front-end for prevention programs, the amount spent on prosecution would drop significantly. Victor's connection to Winona State provided an opportunity to take action. During a visit to Winona, Victor spent time with a college friend, WSU Vice President for University Advancement Jim Schmidt, '86, and his wife Kim, '02, who is a nurse. Kim talked about a patient who began experiencing flashbacks of child abuse during her baby's delivery.

Kim said WSU prepared her to deal with that situation, which began a discussion of the need for similar training for all social workers, police officers and other professionals who investigate these cases or otherwise work with child abuse victims. Because it is common for national organizations to partner with universities for training, resources and curriculum development, Victor and Jim wanted to see a partnership created between WSU and the NCPCA. Jim and WSU President Darrell Krueger visited Washington, D.C., to conceptualize the partnership. A pledge of support from the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone was gained and Terry Lierman, with his lobbying experience and legislative connections, was approached to help secure federal funding. Terry is a manager/partner of Health Ventures, a D.C. firm providing consulting and financial services to companies, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies in the health and life science fields. What resulted was an NCPCA plan to end child abuse in America within 120 years. There are several key features of this plan that address the five biggest obstacles to end child abuse. WSU's involvement is an integral factor. First, abused children must be reported into the system. At the present time, most mandated reporters (civil servants whose work will likely expose them to vulnerable populations) do not report when they suspect a child is being abused. NCPCA plans to partner with WSU to develop a model curriculum for the mandated reporters of tomorrow that will enable them to do a better job of recognizing abuse and making quality reports. This curriculum will be marketed to every public and private university in America so that, by 2040, no one leaves college ill-equipped to recognize child abuse and to respond appropriately. Second, children reported into the system must be competently interviewed. The NCPCA, in partnership with CornerHouse, a child sexual abuse evaluation and training center in Minneapolis, has presented quality forensic interview training at the national level in the form of a course entitled Finding Words. In a related initiative, known as Half a Nation by 2010, the NCPCA is helping states develop their own version of the course. Eventually, every state will have quality forensic interview training for front-line workers and, by 2040, every child reported into the system will be interviewed by someone competent to perform this function. Third, a goal is to do away with on-the-job training for social workers, police officers and other professionals who investigate these cases, or otherwise work with child abuse victims. WSU, in consultation with the NCPCA, will design a model undergraduate curriculum that will turn out graduates well-equipped to respond to reports of child abuse. By 2040, front-line workers will no longer be dependent on on-the-job training as their only preparation for an extraordinarily challenging responsibility. Fourth, civil child protection professionals must have the same resources as those handling the criminal side of child abuse. A prosecutor handling a criminal case of child abuse can access ongoing training, technical assistance, and publications through the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse in Washington, D.C. A similar program for civil child protection professionals is being developed and will be housed at WSU. Fifth, prevention efforts must come from the ground up. Beginning at their own colleges, WSU's methods will teach front-line child protection professionals the art of becoming community leaders so they can advocate for prevention in each community. What will work in a small, rural town may be very different from an urban center. As front-line workers grow in their advocacy skills and begin to articulate the needs of children to governmental leaders, the level of support for child protection efforts may also change. The goal for 2120 is to radically alter the culture that permits child abuse. It is hoped that the incidence of child abuse will decline dramatically. To complete the job, though, succeeding generations must duplicate and build on any successes and learn from and correct any failures. This is the child protection community's mandate for the years 2040-2120. WSU's contributions are critical to the success of this monumental plan and will establish a large presence for the university in the child protection community. "WSU will serve as the model for undergraduate curriculum and further professional training," Victor said. "This project will be held in high regard and recognized throughout the nation because the work done at Winona State will do more to reduce child abuse than any other single inititive in the history of this country."

To implement the program, WSU will need to receive funding from U.S. Congress to develop the curriculum and Center. Through Terry Lierman's help, and the late Senator Wellstone's support, Congress passed the project as an earmark. WSU alumna Rita Lewis, '83, Vice Chair & COO of the Washington Group, was instrumental in maintaining Congressional support through her contact with Wellstone's surviving sons, who wrote letters to re-affirm their father's backing of this project. In addition, Dana (Schneeberger) Wood, '81, Government Relations Director at Collier Shannon Scott, provided her influence to gain Congressional support from the Republican side, as well as from Senator Wellstone. The center will be staffed by five people at Winona State. Victor Vieth relocated to Winona and serves as director. He also continues to direct the NCPCA in Alexandria, VA. Victor supervises the staff of both programs and ensures that both programs work together for the common goal of combating child abuse on all fronts.

Also on staff will be an experienced child protection attorney who will assist in the development of the national courses that will eventually be hosted on campus. The senior attorney will also assist in NCPTC writing projects and handle complex technical assistance calls from front-line child protection professionals.

A Forensic Interview Specialist will conduct training on forensic interviewing issues and will assist in overseeing our national forensic interview training course, Finding Words, and its companion project, Half a Nation by 2010. The national Finding Words course will be conducted on campus in November 2003.

A Staff Attorney will develop case law and statutory law summaries and other databases essential to providing quality technical assistance on emerging legal issues in the field of child protection.

Finally, the Program Assistant will provide administrative support for the project.

Although not based in Winona, the personnel and resources of the American Prosecutors Research Institute (in excess of 60) and the NCPCA (15) will also be available for assistance.

Excitement for the Center is already building around the country. Victor has been contacted by seven universities who want to be spin-offs of the WSU project. They plan to model their undergraduate curriculum after the new courses that will be developed on campus.

As the National Child Protection Training Center gets underway at Winona State University, alumni can be proud of the important steps being taken at their alma mater, essentially through the efforts of a number of caring alumni. No matter how busy they are in Washington, D.C., these WSU alumni remain connected to their university and take positive steps to help WSU reach the main goal of its mission: to improve the world.

Last Modified: Monday, December 06, 2004 14:02 by