NEW PRIMER ISSUED ON CHILD ABUSE AGENCY TEAMWORK, VICTIM CARE STRESSED.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Los Angeles County officials on Monday released a new 200-page primer for dealing with child-abuse cases, including better coordination in law enforcement efforts and efforts to minimize trauma to the victim.

The new child-abuse protocols recommend better training for law enforcement officers and coordinating their response with social workers, who advise whether to place children in foster care. Officials also suggest limiting the number of interviews with the victim, and holding the conversations in ``friendly'' locations.

``The best action we can take to stop this crime is to have more prosecutions,'' said Dr. David Saunders, head of the county Department of Children and Family Services. ``Anything that can help us do that is welcome.''

Officials said more than 162,000 reports of abuse, neglect or child exploitation were received last year. Of the 5,700 referred for criminal prosecution, more than 2,560 felony and 833 misdemeanor cases were filed.

Sheriff Lee Baca, who also serves as chairman of the Inter-agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, said the report - drafted by representatives from nearly 50 departments and agencies - will go a long way toward improving response to child-abuse cases.

``This is an amazing document,'' Baca said. ``Child abuse is one of the worst crimes our officers have to deal with, and we need to see a coordinated response by the system to deal with this crime.''

One of the main goals of the new protocols is to recognize the difficult position of its young victims - who could be forced to testify in court against a relative, friend or other adult.

``In the past, a youngster might be interviewed 10 or 15 times,'' Baca said. ``We want to reduce that to make it less of an ordeal for them.''

Bill Hodgman, a deputy district attorney who heads the sex-crimes unit and oversaw drafting of the report, said it also deals with ways to conduct interviews with victims, where they are held to be more ``kid-friendly'' and to have better coordination among the different agencies.

``Just putting this report together was a learning experience for all of us, from the police officer who takes the initial report, to the social workers and the nurses who have to treat victims,'' Hodgman said. ``I think we all learned a lot more about how the system operates and what we can do to make it more effective.''

Hodgman said copies of the report will be sent to all law enforcement and social service agencies as well as schools, hospitals and others who are in contact with children and required to report suspected incidents of child abuse.

``This is a living, breathing document and will be changed as events warrant,'' Hodgman said. ``The goal is to have training begin as soon as possible so people recognize what their role is and adapt it as is needed.''

Hodgman said officials do not believe adopting the new protocols will cost any additional money since it is dealing with professionals who are already involved in such cases.

ICAN Executive Director Deanne Tilton Durfee said the new protocols were needed to give priority to caring for the victims.

``What happens if each agency meets all of its requirements and expectations, but a child's life is compromised because the agencies didn't work together or they didn't know the requirements of the other agencies?'' Durfee said.

``An abused child doesn't come to us with needs and problems that fit into separate pieces, and none of us can effectively respond alone. These guidelines are intended to help our child protection system do what they need to do.''

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com