12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
The Racine County Multiple Disciplinary Team in partnership with the local Child Advocacy Center in Racine (CAC) will present a case study involving controlled buys in a home that ended with a warrant execution with children at the scene. How did the MDT partners collaborate for a safe outcome, transport children to the CAC and complete forensic interviews and medical evaluations? Outcomes, lessons learned, collaborative practice and protocol revision opportunities will be discussed during this session.
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1.Identify opportunities for cross-collaboration with MDT (multidisciplinary team) members & local Child Advocacy Centers responding to "drug endangered children" & DEC needs
2.Identify where roles & responsibilities of MDT partners may be in conflict and how to overcome those barriers in DEC investigations
3.Identify DEC protocol opportunities for implementing best practice and collaboration meeting the needs of children & MDT partners
Presenters:
Rita Ventura – DNP, FNP-BC, Children’s Wisconsin
Dr. Ventura is a certified family nurse practitioner who has been working in the Children’s Wisconsin Child Advocacy and Protection Services program since 2001 predominantly in the Kenosha and Racine Child Advocacy Centers. Dr. Ventura has presented on child maltreatment issues at both state and national conferences and has extensive training and clinical experience in child maltreatment. She routinely evaluates drug endangered children in her clinical practice. She is also a member of the Wisconsin Drug Endangered Children steering committee.
Kimberly Serpe – CPS Supervisor, Racine County Human Services
Kim has been a supervisor in Child Protective Services with Racine Cty HSD for six years & has over 25 years’ experience in child welfare. She is a founding member of the Racine County DEC Team created in 2009–one of the first teams established in the State of WI. In her role as a supervisor her duties include being the on-call supervisor for DEC joint responses with law enforcement.
Neil McGrath – Special Agent, WI DOJ
Neil has been a Special Agent with the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation for over 26 years. For most of that time, Agent McGrath investigated drug trafficking throughout the State of Wisconsin, working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Agent McGrath has been a member of the Racine County DEC Team since 2010. Currently, Agent McGrath is assigned to the Major Crimes Bureau out of the Milwaukee DCI Office, focusing on solving cold cases in Wisconsin utilizing investigative genealogy, however, continues to assist in drug investigations.
Nila Grahl – Manager, Racine/Kenosha CACs
Nila is the Manager of the Racine and Kenosha County Child Advocacy Centers as part of Children’s Wisconsin and has been in this role since 2014. Nila started her career as an attorney with the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian in Chicago, IL. Nila was also the Director and oversaw the creation of the Family Visitation Center of Lake County, IL working with children and parents navigating custody and visitation arrangements when faced with the realities of intimate partner violence. She serves on the DEC and MDT teams in Racine and Kenosha Counties and has assisted in creating and revising protocols relevant to DEC processes and collaboration.