Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Teams : Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Teams

Multidisciplinary Teams

Multidisciplinary teams that address child maltreatment typically include professionals from law enforcement, child protective services, attorneys (from a District Attorney’s office and/or Family Court), mental health counselors and advocates in addition to healthcare professionals with specialized training in child maltreatment. This collaboration enhances:

• Coordination of care and services to address the child’s safety and well-being. This approach also has the potential to reduce trauma that the patient and their family experiences
• Medical and mental health evaluations and treatment, with reassurance when appropriate
• Investigation and prosecution, when applicable

Interdisciplinary Teams

Interdisciplinary teams are present, for example, in hospital systems that take care of suspected victims of child maltreatment. These professionals represent different disciplines (e.g. CAP, Emergency Medicine, Radiology or Pediatric Intensive Care physicians, APPs, nurses, phlebotomists, etc.).

They all have a common goal of the patient’s safety and medical well-being. Medical IDTs facilitate comprehensive medical evaluations and shared decision-making.

Interagency Agreements

Interagency agreements play an important role in coordination of care for children who are suspected to be victims of child maltreatment. These agreements serve to:

• Clarify roles and responsibilities of each agency and ensure accountability
• Facilitate communication by establishing protocols for information sharing, including addressing the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act
• Promote trauma-informed responses by preventing duplication of efforts (e.g., forensic interviews)