Multidisciplinary Team

What is a Multidisciplinary Team?

Multidisciplinary teams (MDT) are groups of professionals from diverse disciplines who come together to provide comprehensive assessment and consultation in child abuse cases. While their primary purpose is typically to help team members resolve difficult cases, teams may fulfill a variety of additional functions. They can promote coordination between agencies and provide a "checks and balances" mechanism to ensure that the interests and rights of all concerned parties are addressed. They also enhance the professional skills and knowledge of individual team members by providing a forum for learning more about the strategies, resources, and approaches used by various disciplines.

Who serves on teams?

Partners’ Children's Advocacy Center enables the community to work through a MDT to ensure that no child victim falls through the cracks. This collaborative approach coordinates diagnostic and treatment services in one location. Often the pediatric diagnoses and the forensic interview results are used by law enforcement to determine whether or not an offender can be charged.

Partners’ CAC collaborates with a number of organizations to meet its goals of child safety and justice, including:

  • Law enforcement agencies;
  • Children's Administration / Child Protective Services;
  • Community medical providers, primarily Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, as well as local pediatricians;
  • Hospital social workers;
  • Prosecutors, Assistant Attorneys General, and public defenders;
  • School teachers and counselors;
  • Social and health treatment providers;
  • Lutheran Community Services Northwest