Child Abuse Pediatrics

The Division of Child Abuse Pediatrics provides clinical evaluation services through the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) program at Connecticut Children’s. Consults are provided on an inpatient and outpatient basis at the Hartford campus of Connecticut Children’s, and they include comprehensive expert medical evaluation and psychosocial assessment for children who may have experienced maltreatment. Program staff members offer support to caregivers throughout the evaluation process. We seek to collaborate with multidisciplinary partners in the service of the child and family, and strive to improve community response to child maltreatment through education, research, prevention and advocacy.

In 2020, with funding received from the Connecticut Office of Victim Services to improve sexual abuse medical services in northern Connecticut, the SCAN program: • Established three new satellite medical services in Children’s Advocacy Centers in Waterbury,

Torrington, and Hartford • Provided subcontract support and regular peer review for established regional examiners in

Danbury and Putnam • Provided regular education for sexual abuse examiners statewide using the ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) telementoring model Beyond clinical work, 2020 activities of division staff included the following: • Teaching medical students, residents and fellows with didactics and block rotations • Teaching statewide multidisciplinary partners, including child protective service workers, members of law enforcement, and attorneys • Participation in nine regional community multidisciplinary teams: Hartford MDT, MDT 14,

Central Connecticut New Britain MDT, Central

Connecticut Bristol MDT, East Central MDT,

North Central MDT, Tolland MDT, Torrington MDT,

Waterbury MDT • Provision of regular expert testimony in Connecticut courts • Participation in statewide initiatives focused on child abuse prevention, human trafficking and domestic violence • Provision of national training to attorneys on medical evaluation of abuse and neglect • Participation in research • Participation in quality improvement initiatives including ongoing work on a clinical pathway for suspected physical abuse, development of a new clinical pathway for suspected sexual abuse, and suicidality screening in SCAN outpatient clinic • Provision of national medical peer review to other medical providers

PUBLICATIONS

Hunter A, Livingston N, Divietro S, Schwab Reese L, Bentivegna K, Bernstein B. Child maltreatment surveillance following the ICD-10 CM transition, 2016-2018. Inj Prev. 2020 Apr 1;injuryprev-2019-043579. doi: 10.1136/ injuryprev-2019-043579. Epub ahead of print.

STAFF

Medical Nina Livingston, MD, Division Chief Rebecca Moles, MD Laura Caneira, APRN Audrey Courtney, APRN Sarah Dean, APRN Sierra Sweeney, MA Crystal Vasquez, MA

Family Advocacy/Social Work Sara Goldstein, LMSW Rebecca Maston, LMSW

Administrative Wanda Vasquez, CCSG Manager Lisa Parris, Administrative Assistant