Ogden-area child interview center highlights trauma-informed design, school partnership

A newly outfitted child interview center that partners with Ogden-area agencies is designed to reduce trauma for children who undergo forensic interviews and medical exams, speakers said during the Ogden City School District work session.

The center’s organizers said they designed the space to be bright, colorful and welcoming so children remember calming details rather than the interview itself. "They remembered coloring something. They remembered a little table and some little chairs," a center representative said. "We did...to make it inviting, make it full of light, make it colorful." The representative added that survivors who were interviewed as children later recalled the colors in the room decades later.

Board members and district staff described a multidisciplinary team (MDT) model that brings child protective services, law enforcement, health providers and school liaisons together in one meeting so children visit the center once and professionals coordinate follow-up. "We have our multidisciplinary team where we have everyone that's there working together and they only come in that one time and they tell their story, and then everyone's there and we start working on it together," a law-enforcement-background staff member who said he will emphasize school collaboration said. "It's all about the best outcome for the child, whether that's counseling, or what can their school do for them..."

Speakers emphasized steps taken to minimize additional trauma during interviews: no uniformed officers inside the center, plainclothes staff at check-in and no marked police cars parked prominently at the site. "We don't have police officers there with uniforms and badges and guns," the center representative said.

School-district involvement includes a weekly MDT meeting attended by a school liaison, Danielle Nelson, who the board said serves as a link between the center and school administrators or counselors. The district representative said the county attorney sometimes asks during MDT meetings where the school people are, highlighting the routine role district staff now play.

Design and construction details also drew praise. Speakers credited a contractor and an architect for attention to detail and said the site team made small adjustments to furniture and finishes to meet the needs of children. District and center staff invited board members and survivors to return for a ribbon-cutting and to see artwork planned for the space.

Board members and district officials thanked center staff for the work. One board member, identifying as a survivor, said she was "very grateful" that district students will have access to the facility and that the district placement will reduce trauma because students are already familiar with the area.

Speakers noted the center is already collaborating with schools on follow-up plans: school staff attending MDT meetings take notes about a child's school and share only the information needed for safety and academic supports. The center representative said in 25 years of practice they had not seen misuse of information shared in MDT meetings.

The district did not vote on actions related to the center during the portion of the meeting recorded in the transcript.

Board members said they would invite center staff back for additional updates and a tour once artwork is installed.