Department of Pediatrics
Department of Pediatrics
The Department of Pediatrics

Child Protection Pediatrics

The Division of Child Protection Pediatrics provides comprehensive, patient and family-centered care for children who have suffered abuse or neglect, to children living in foster care, and to households dealing with complex medical and/or psychosocial stressors.


The Division of Child Protection Pediatrics provides comprehensive medical and psychosocial services to child maltreatment victims and to children living in foster care. The Division also serves children whose complex medical and/or psychosocial needs benefit from additional services that are less readily available in traditional clinics. Our program emphasizes evidence-based clinical practice, research, and education of future providers.

 

Clinical Services

The Division of Child Protection Pediatrics provides inpatient consultations of suspected maltreatment victims and children at risk at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital (CMHH) and LBJ Hospital. CMHH is a 110-bed pediatric hospital that includes a busy level I trauma center and a 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit. LBJ Hospital is part of the Harris Health System and serves the county’s large underserved population. Outpatient follow-up visits and ongoing medical and psychosocial services are provided at the CARE Center Clinic in the TMC Medical Center and at the Harris County CPS Clinic located in West Houston. The clinics are open
Monday – Friday from 9:00 – 5:00. The Division also provides expert supervision for the Harris Health Forensic Nurse Program.

The Division serves as the hub for the Texas-wide Forensic Assessment Center Network (FACN). This program provides expert consultation and education to child protection officials concerning suspected cases of child abuse and neglect. The FACN mission is to correct the disparities in Texas in the availability of quality medical assessments for suspected child abuse and neglect victims, and to improve the outcomes for all Texas child abuse victims. The FACN network includes child abuse pediatricians from UT-San Antonio, UT-Southwestern, UT-Medical Branch, Texas Tech University, and Dell Children’s Hospital.

Education

The Division of Child Protection Pediatrics offers month-long rotations for medical students and residents. Rotations include inpatient and outpatient clinical experiences, participation in multi-disciplinary case review meetings, observation of court proceedings, didactic learning, and journal club. A three-year accredited fellowship* in Child Abuse Pediatrics is available to residents who successfully complete a pediatric residency. The fellowship will participate in the Fall Match beginning in 2013.

Click here to learn about our Fellowship program.

Research

Division and affiliated faculty have engaged in competitively funded projects with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. They have published numerous original research studies and guidelines in peer-reviewed journals. Current and past research topics include questions in sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect.

Advocacy

Child Protection faculty members are current or past leaders on the Texas Pediatric Society Child Abuse and Neglect Committee, the Harris County and Texas Child Fatality Review Teams, and Prevent Child Abuse America. They are active members of multiple local and national child abuse groups including the honorary Ray Helfer Society.