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Kapi'olani Child Protection Center

The Kapi’olani Child Protection Center was established in 1969 in collaboration with the State of Hawaii to assist in the early identification, treatment and prevention of child maltreatment. Since that time, KCPC has become one of the leaders in the diagnosis and treatment of trauma related to child abuse and neglect. As part of Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children, an affiliate of Hawaii Pacific Health, KCPC also has access to the most sophisticated medical equipment and most qualified child health care specialists in the Pacific Rim and Basin Area. KCPC uses a multidisciplinary approach to address the problem of child maltreatment through assessments and consultations, medical and mental health treatment, multidisciplinary training, research, and advocacy. Services are provided on Oahu, West Hawaii, East Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Lanai. KCPC was also the recipient of the 2008 Non-Profit Psychologically Healthy Work Place Award given by the Hawaii Psychological Association.

Multidisciplinary Teams

The Child Protection Team consists of Pediatrician Consultants, Nurse Consultants, Psychologist Consultants, Social Work Consultants and Team Coordinators from the staff of KCPC. The Team consults with the Hawaii State Department of Human Services on issues of Child Maltreatment. All service providers involved with the family are also invited to participate in the team process. The follow assessments are often requested by DHS:

  • Etiology of injuries
  • Services needed for Reunification
  • Risk assessment for further abuse or neglect
  • Needs and vulnerability of children
  • Strengths and needs of their families
  • Services needed to prevent foster placement
  • Need for Permanency

Assessment and Consultation

KCPC provides assessment and consultations in the following areas:

  • Medical, Nursing, Psychological and Social Work Consultations
  • Psychological Trauma Evaluations
  • Caretaker/Perpetrator Psychological Forensic Evaluations
  • Diagnostic Medical Forensic Evaluations
  • Comprehensive Health Assessments
  • Pre-Placement Physical Examination
  • Developmental Assessments
  • Mental Health Assessments
  • Substance Abuse Assessments
  • Expert Witness Court Testimony

Treatment

KCPC provides an array of treatment services for victims of child maltreatment and their families.  These include:

  • Individual Psychotherapy
  • Play Psychotherapy for Young Children
  • Group Therapy for Children & Adolescents
  • Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
  • Crisis Counseling and Family Therapy
  • Behavioral Management Counseling
  • Parenting Classes and Counseling
  • Substance Abuse Treatment Services
  • Nursing Care Needs Instruction for Special Needs Children

Special Programs

The Kapi’olani Child Protection Center has developed various specialty programs geared toward prevention of child maltreatment and strengthening of child and their families.

Counseling and Supportive Living Project-West Hawaii/Title IVB Assessments

The Kapi’olani Child Protection Center has a special Federal Title IVB grant that provides counseling and supportive living services to high risk families in rural and remote area of the Island of Hawaii.  This program provides the following services:

  • Individual and Family Counseling
  • Substance Abuse Assessment and Treatment
  • Anger Management Assessment and Treatment
  • Substance Abuse After Care Groups,
  • Parenting for Substance Abusers in Recovery
  • Home Visits
  • Case Management
  • Service Coordination and Linkage,
  • Medical and Psychiatric Treatment Care Coordination,
  • Substance Abuse Treatment Care Coordination,
  • Substance Abuse Recovery Supportive Living

Parent-Child-Interaction Therapy

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidenced based program developed to treat families with children ages 2-8 that exhibit behavioral problems that are interfering with the child’s healthy development. The treatment is designed to help parents manage their child’s behavior more effectively by building a warm and responsive relationship with their child. Research has shown that improving the parent child interaction will result in improvement in both child and family functioning. The Kapi’olani Child Protection Center serves as the PCIT training center for Hawaii.

Foster Care Groups

This program provides group therapy to reduce the psychological Trauma due to abuse/neglect and separation from parents. This program also works on developing psychological strengths in these children to assist in healthy development.

Peer Counseling Training Program

This program provides the opportunity for teenagers who experienced child maltreatment and foster care placement to overcome any trauma relating to their past experiences, develop the skills necessary to assist other children to address and resolve issues relating to their past abuse and foster care experience and to become Mentors in the Kapi’olani Peer Mentoring Program.

Peer Mentoring Program

The goal of this program is to provide support, stability, and enriched social experiences to young children entering foster care to help them overcome their past traumas, take control of their lives and prevent the cycle of abuse and neglect.   Each child is mentored by a teenager in foster care or a young adult who was formerly in foster care. The Mentors are supervised by the KCPC Mental Health Staff.

Survivors Offering Support (SOS)

The SOS program is an information and support "Warm Line" for children in foster care.  The SOS telephone is line managed by former foster youths that provide support and information to children entering foster care or support to foster youth transitioning to adulthood.  The SOS telephone line is able to refer people to other organizations that may provide assistance with specific needs of a youth in foster care.

KCPC Training and Research Institute

Through its Training and Research Institute the Kapi’olani Child Protection Center serves as a training center for various professionals. The Center currently has training programs for Clinical Psychology Interns, Post-Doctoral Psychology Residents/Fellows, Psychology Practicum Students, Social Work Interns, Nursing Students, Law Students and participates in the University of Hawai’i Pediatric Residency Training Program.

The Training Institute also sponsors several statewide conferences on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of child maltreatment and conducts research to improve the assessment and treatment of children and their families.

APPIC Listed Post-Doctoral Psychology Residency and Fellowship Training Program

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:  The KCPC’s Post-Doctoral Psychology Residency and Fellowship Training Program was started in 1992 to provide specialty training in child psychology with an emphasis in child maltreatment. The program is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and received the 2006 APPIC Award for Excellence in Psychology Postdoctoral Training. The training program provided 2,000 hours of supervised training within a full year period. The Resident/Fellow is provided with a yearly taxable stipend with Medical and Dental insurance coverage and sick and vacation leave.

APPLICATION:  The applications deadline is February 1st of the year that the residency begins. All applicants are required to complete all of the professional doctoral degree requirements before the beginning of the training program in September. The applications are reviewed by a selection committee and applicants who pass the first screening are required to interview with the committee. Selection is usually made within a month of the last interview. The program currently accepts three (3) postdoctoral training positions each training year.

TRAINING EXPECTATIONS:  The training program provides the resident with a planned programmed sequence of supervised training experience in psychological evaluations and various forms of individual, group and family psychotherapy treatment including the Parent Child Interaction Therapy model. The resident will also participate in Multidisciplinary Teams and Family Court testimony when necessary. The residents are provided with increasingly complex cases through their progressive training. The resident will receive a minimum of two hours per week of direct supervision with the resident’s clinical supervisor.  Additionally the resident is required to attend 2 hours a week of group supervision and at least once a month formal training seminars or workshop/conference.  The residents are also required to participate in the training of Psychology Graduate Students, who will assist the residents in their psychological evaluations. If time permits, the residents may also participate in the Center’s research activities.

TRAINING RESOURCES AND SUPPORT:  The residents have full access to the on site licensed clinical psychologists on a daily basis.  They can also reach their respective supervisor by cellular phones 24 hours a day for emergencies. In addition, they can consult with KCPC’s physicians, nurses and social workers and have access to Kapi`olani Medical Center’s child psychiatrists for assistance with medication management if necessary.  Each of the residents has their own office and share group and family therapy rooms as well as a fully equipped play therapy room. The Center is a Parent Child Interaction Therapy training facility and the residents also have access to all of the equipment necessary to complete this modality of treatment. A full array of psychological testing equipment and computer scoring and interpretation programs are also available to the residents.

EVALUATION AND LICENSURE:  The residents are evaluated in three month increments based on their performance in conducting, interpreting and writing the formal psychological evaluations as well as their performance in designing and implementing treatment plans. The residents are also evaluated on timeliness of the completion of their written reports and progress notes, appropriate use of consultation services, and participation and use of their formal training and case reviews. Upon successful completion of 2000 hours of training, the residents are provided with a certificate of completion.

The KCPC’s Post-Doctoral Psychology Training Program fulfills all of the licensing requirements for post-doctoral training in the State of Hawaii.  Since the inception of the training program, our Residents have also been licensed in California, Washington, Georgia, Texas, Virginia and Florida.

 

APPIC POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP CLINICAL FACULTY

Steven J. Choy, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and the Director of the Kapi`olani Child Protection Center. He has specialized in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of child maltreatment since 1977. He also serves as a Psychology Consultant on the Multidisciplinary Child Protection Team and on various State Boards dealing with Child Welfare issues. His orientation and graduate training has been in family systems and cognitive behavioral theory. He has provided psychotherapy treatment services for traumatized children and their families utilizing a variety of empirical-based treatment modalities. Dr. Choy has also completed numerous comprehensive psychological evaluations and has been an expert witness for Family, Criminal and Military Court in the area of child maltreatment. He participated in the development of KCPC’s Post Doctoral Fellowship training program and has presented at numerous State, National and International workshops and conventions on various issues of child maltreatment. In addition to his work with victims of child maltreatment and their families, he is a psychological consultant to the Hawaii Juvenile Drug Court, the Department of Health Developmental Disability Division and the Department of Education.

Brenda J. Wong, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Program Director of the Kapi`olani Child Protection Center. Graduate studies in the area of developmental psychology, analytic and social learning models, family systems theory, and child maltreatment as a focal area of interest. Has been with the Center from 1980 and has had extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of various forms of child maltreatment. Experiences include Family Court testimony on Team consultative findings as well as results and implications of comprehensive psychological evaluations. Continues to serve as a consultant on the Multidisciplinary Team and provide individual consultation to the Department of Human Services. Has been involved in clinical supervision and training of postdoctoral fellows since 1992 and practicum students since 2004.

Jean Adair-Leland, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Training Director of the Kapi’olani Child Protection Center. Theoretical orientations include psychodynamic/object relations, feminist, humanistic and family systems. Early career focus on the effects of child sexual abuse and interpersonal violence. Served as Associate Training Director and Chief Psychologist at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu (1991-1999), where she focused on the impact of trauma on personality development with a special interest in dual diagnosis and child/adolescent psychopathology. Over the past five years her work has expanded to include Multidisciplinary Team consultation for Child Welfare Services, Family Court testimony regarding the finding of comprehensive psychological evaluations. Has been involved in practicum, pre-doctoral and postdoctoral training and supervision since 1991.

Cheryl K.C. Andaya, Psy.D. completed her Post-Doctoral Psychology Residency/Fellowship at the Kapi’olani Child Protection Center. She completed her clinical internship at the Atascadero State Hospital in California. As part of her residency training, Dr. Andaya has completed numerous child protection psychological evaluations and has been providing treatment for traumatized children and their families. She has also been trained to utilize Parent Child Interaction Therapy to enhance parent-child relationships to facilitate reunification and post-permanency stability.

Kathryn M. Chun, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist who joined the Kapi’olani Child Protection Center staff in 2008 as a Clinical Psychologist. Previously completed the Postdoctoral Residency program at KCPC. Clinical focus at KCPC includes comprehensive psychological evaluations, psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and families, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and specific expertise in training community agencies in PCIT. Other experience includes conducting PCIT workshops, court testimony on psychological evaluations, and clinical supervision of psychology practicum students. Graduate training included child and family theory and treatment, health psychology, psychodynamic theory and treatment, child maltreatment, family violence, and substance abuse treatment.

Barbara J. Higa Rogers, Psy.D. MPH, LCSW, is a clinical psychologist at the Kapi’olani Child Protection Center. Graduate studies in the area of psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral and family systems theories. Since 1991, she has worked in the area of child maltreatment first as a clinical social worker and then as a clinical psychologist. Current focus is in psychological assessment involving child welfare cases, juvenile status offenders, as well as private practice. Experiences include Family Court testimony, consultant on the Multidisciplinary Team, supervision of doctoral level psychology practicum students and a presenter at both local and international conferences.

Franco Acquaro, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and the Clinical Manger of Kapi`olani Child Protection Center – Big Island. Theoretical orientation and graduate training was in existential-humanistic psychology, psychodynamic, art/play therapy, and family systems (structural and strategic). He has provided individual, couple, family, group and milieu therapy in a variety of treatment settings including correctional facility, therapeutic group home, residential treatment center, day treatment program, and community counseling center. In addition, he has specialized training and experience providing Victim-Offender Dialogue in Cases of Severe Violence and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. He completed both his Pre-Doctoral Internship and Post-Doctoral Residency at KCPC. Currently serves as the Chair of the West Hawaii Child Welfare Services Advisory Committee.
 

THE 18TH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT CONGRESS ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

The Kapi’olani Child Protection Center along with the ISPCAN International Congress Hawaii 2010 Consortium will be hosting the 18th ISPCAN International Congress on child abuse and neglect on September 26th to 29th 2010 at the Hawaii Convention Center on the Island of Oahu, USA. The congress theme is “On World, One Family, Many Cultures: Strengthening Children and Families Affected by Personal, Intra-Familial and Global Conflict. We invited all interested parties to become a Delegate of this very important Congress that will focus on preventing maltreatment of our children worldwide. For more information and to download the Congress Brochure, please visit the Congress’ Website at www.ispcan.org/congress2010.
 

Download Kapi'olani Child Protection Center Brochure > 

 

Kapi'olani Child Protection Center
55 Merchant Street, 22nd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813

State Child Protective Services Hotline:
(808) 832-5300
Toll-free from the Neighbor Islands: 1-800-494-3991

For more information, please call Dr. Steven Choy, director, at (808) 535-7700, or send an e-mail.