What Questions Should I Ask? What Questions Shouldn’t I Ask?

A Guide to Interviewing Children About Suspected Abuse and Neglect

WHY ask questions?

Because your work brings you in contact with children and their families, you are in a unique position to help protect children who are being abused or neglected. This is why state law requires that you report any reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect. A child may be willing to show or tell you more than he or she would tell anyone else.

How can you gather the information you need to form a reasonable suspicion in the most constructive, positive, and responsible manner possible? Use the question sample links to the left to help you interview children or parents.