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In the fourth episode of Chasing Hope for America’s Children, Warren Binford speaks with South Carolina State Representative Brandon Guffey about the growing crisis of online exploitation impacting children and teens. Rep. Guffey has become a leading advocate for child safety online, mental health awareness, and legislative action to hold platforms accountable. His work has been featured by CN2 News, WSOC-TV, FITSNews, and The Post and Courier, as he continues to push for stronger protections for children in the digital age.

As pediatric health care providers, you are certain to encounter patients who have experienced foster or kinship care. Caring for children in foster care or kinship care can be complex and requires specialized knowledge and skills. Join Dr Mary Greiner, Chairperson of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Foster Care, Adoption, and Kinship Care, to learn about the newly released 3rd edition of Fostering Health: Health Care for Children and Adolescents in Foster Care, a comprehensive guide to health care for this population. As one of the book’s Editors-in-Chief and Medical Director of The CHECK (Comprehensive Health Evaluations for Cincinnati’s Kids) Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Dr Greiner will take us on a journey to explore the making of this book and how to use its exciting new content to better care for children in foster and kinship care.    Dr. Mary Greiner Bio: Dr. Mary V. Greiner is a child abuse pediatrician and the Medical Director of the Comprehensive Health Evaluations for Cincinnati’s Kids (CHECK) Foster Care Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She is a professor with tenure in the University of Cincinnati Department of Pediatrics. Inspired by her grandfather, a pediatrician, and her mother, a guardian ad litem, Dr. Greiner has been passionate about pediatric care and child welfare from a young age. She pursued her medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia and completed her residency in Pediatrics at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. She further specialized in child abuse pediatrics through a fellowship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.   Since founding the CHECK Center in 2012, Dr. Greiner has focused on working across systems to develop a healthcare model that provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary care to children with child welfare involvement from birth through young adulthood. Her research centers on identifying health risks and developing and evaluating innovative solutions to improve outcomes for these children. She is the Chair of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Foster Care, Adoption, and Kinship Care. 

In the third episode of our “Chasing Hope for America’s Children,” Warren Binford interviews groundbreaking researcher Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau, who has dedicated her career to identifying effective ways to prevent the sexual abuse of children.  Learn more about Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau here: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/2594/elizabeth-j-letourneau. Watch her TEDMED talk at: https://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=620399. 

Our series on 21st Century Child Abuse continues as host Warren Binford sits down with legal trailblazer James Marsh. They're diving deep into the constantly shifting legal landscape for victims and survivors of tech-facilitated child abuse. How are our laws catching up with technology to protect children? Tune in to find out! James R. Marsh Bio: Founding Partner  James has been licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia for almost thirty years, and recently became licensed in his home state of Michigan. A University of Michigan Law School graduate, James represents victims and survivors of sex abuse in religious, educational, governmental, and military institutions; campus sexual assault and rape, online sexual exploitation; child pornography; sextortion and revenge porn. 

Everyone has now heard about the horrific sex crimes Jeffrey Epstein committed against countless girls and young women for decades through his sex trafficking organization. What many people do not know is that the Epstein survivors’ courageous fight to pursue justice and assert their rights changed the legal landscape for victims and survivors across the nation, and that their positive impact continues to be felt today.  Listen to our latest episode of Radio Kempe to hear a firsthand account from attorney Paul Cassell about the determination of the Epstein survivors and their attorneys to ensure that no other children have to endure what they endured at the hands of America’s justice system. Read more about Paul Cassell here: https://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0031056. If you would like to learn more about this decade-long legal battle, you can check out the book by his co-counsel, Bradley Edwards, at https://tinyurl.com/57ek24w4.

Don't miss the latest episode of "Chasing Hope for America’s Children: A Conversation with Bruce Lesley." We sit down with Bruce Lesley, the President of First Focus on Children, to discuss critical issues facing kids in America. Learn more about Bruce's work here: https://firstfocus.org/about-us/staff-and-board/bruce-lesley/. 

The discussion focuses on the intersection of technology and child protection, particularly the risks children face online due to instant access to information, experiences, and people globally through smartphones.   Richardson, with nearly 20 years at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, explains their work, which includes operating Canada's national tip line for reporting online sexual exploitation of children (CyberTip.ca) and Project Arachnid, a global tool that aims to remove child sexual abuse material from the internet.   The conversation draws parallels between the current challenges of regulating the internet and historical struggles with industries like tobacco, alcohol, and automotive, especially regarding seatbelt implementation. Richardson emphasizes that while technology offers benefits like education, it's a "double-edged sword" because society has not adequately mitigated its risks for children by applying lessons learned from other industries.   A key issue highlighted is age and identity verification (Know Your Customer/Digital Identity) online. Richardson argues that it's not a complex technological problem but rather faces resistance due to disinformation and concerns about "mass surveillance." He explains that digital ID can be more privacy-preserving than physical ID, as it can disclose only the necessary information (e.g., being over 18) without revealing other personal details. While not a complete solution, he believes age verification would significantly mitigate harm to children online, especially in contexts like pornography websites (requiring 18+ verification) and social media platforms (where knowing the age of users can prevent luring). He also notes that platforms often fail to enforce rules against children under 13, despite laws like COPPA. 

Summary of Key Findings   In the current state of technology, we have failed to create any meaningful legal framework to ensure our children are safe in the digital world. The lack of legal protections for children online differs from those of the physical world. Children online are at risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, being victims of predatory behavior, being exposed to harmful content, and being illegally sold firearms and/or drugs. Without age assurance or verification in the digital world, adults have unfettered access to children. Currently, most child sex trafficking victims report they are being contacted via text and internet platforms such as social media and gaming. Additionally, the number of images of child sex abuse material (CSAM; formerly referred to as child pornography) sent to authorities increased exponentially in the 21st century, and the vast majority of CSAM images come from social media. Children are also at greater risk of being exposed to adult content, including pornography, whether the exposure was sought out or unwanted.  Protecting children online would require platforms to verify the ages of their users and to put restrictions in place so children can navigate the digital world safely. Various advanced age verification processes have been developed and are widely available. Despite this, many platforms have failed to implement age protections even when they know children frequent their sites. Thus, lawmakers are compelled to make clear that the same protections for children that exist in the physical world are also required in the digital world. There are many policy changes needed to further ensure technology safety, and a starting point is to: a) require pornography websites to verify user age to ensure only adults are accessing the sites; b) require social media companies and gaming platforms to verify a new account holder’s age; and c) requiring social media platforms to enable maximum default privacy settings for users who are children.   Maura Gissen Bio Maura Gissen is a fifth year Clinical Psychology doctoral student with the University of Colorado Denver and has her master’s in counseling psychology. Maura currently works with the Farley Health Policy Center (FHPC) with CU Anschutz engaging in research and program implementation. More specifically, she has been focused on youth mental health related to diversifying the workforce pipeline, and on child health and safety in digital spaces. Maura has been working in the mental health field for ten years and focuses on the intersection of trauma and systemic disparities for individuals across the lifespan. She is passionate about engaging in clinical therapeutic practice, along with research focused on policy, advocacy, and systems-level change.  

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC) are the foundational international legal instruments designed to protect children. However, as these treaties were adopted before the widespread digital era, their provisions require a modern interpretation to effectively combat the increasing links between sexual offenses against children and the online environment. Our podcast will delve into our recent report to the CRC, which aims to foster a deeper understanding of these challenges, enable more effective implementation of the OPSC by States, and ensure the Protocol remains a robust instrument for child protection, regardless of how offenses are facilitated. 

When we journey to distant lands—places rich with unfamiliar customs, cultures, and ways of being—we often pause to observe, to learn, and to honor the rhythms of life that differ from our own. Why? Because something deep within us longs to be in “right relationship” with others. Unconsciously, we hold a collective dream of being better together.   In this episode of Radio Kempe, we invite you to explore a different kind of travel: the inward journey into our own internal landscapes and the emotional geographies of those around us. Just as we navigate foreign terrain with curiosity and care, we can approach our relationships—with colleagues, loved ones, and communities—with the same spirit of discovery and respect.   Through the metaphor of traveling and bridge-building, we’ll uncover how intentional connection can heal fractures, foster understanding, and transform the way we live and work together. Join us for this conversation as we chart a course toward deeper relationships—within our teams, our organizations, and ourselves.

Professor Michael Salter is the Director of Childlight UNSW, the Australasian hub of Childlight, the Global Child Safety Institute, which undertakes research for impact on child sexual abuse and exploitation. Childlight UNSW is based in School of Social Sciences at UNSW, where Professor Salter conducts national and international research on child sexual exploitation, gender-based violence and complex trauma. His published work includes the books Organised Sexual Abuse (2013, Routledge) and Crime, Justice and Social Media (2017, Routledge) and over sixty papers in international journals and edited collections. His research engages with policy and practice across multiple sectors, including mental health, social work, law enforcement and internet regulation. Professor Salter is Chair of the Grace Tame Foundation and a past president of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) where he has served on the Board of Directors since 2018, and on the Scientific Committee since 2015. He sits on the editorial boards of the journals Child Abuse Review and the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. Dr Salter is a member of a number of advisory groups, including the Advisory Group of the National Plan To Prevent Violence Against Women and Their Children, the Expert Advisory Group of the eSafety Commissioner, and the Expert Advisory Committee of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.  Source: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-michael-alan-salter 

Many therapists find it challenging to work with children who have experienced trauma and families facing multiple stressors, high conflict, and systemic issues. These families can be difficult to engage, leading therapists to feel ineffective, and thereby contributing to overarching burnout. Consequently, the children who often need the most support sometimes go without it.  But what if clinicians working with these vulnerable populations received more robust support, including ongoing group supervision and mentorship? Could this lead to better outcomes for both patients and providers? This is the question our guest, Sarah Cleary, Ph.D. (she/her), has been exploring at Denver Health, developing a variety of supervision experiences for trainees and staff over the past few years. Join us as we discuss how these support systems can make a difference.  About our Guest: Sarah Cleary, Ph.D. (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and AF-CBT In-House Trainer with the Child Mental Health Team, Outpatient Behavioral Health Services at Denver Health. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Emily leads efforts to keep children safe online at one of the world’s largest and most powerful technology companies, Google. Previously, she led the policy team at Thorn, a tech-focused nonprofit working to end online child sexual abuse. And earlier, she spent seven years both in her home state of New Hampshire and in Washington, DC as an assistant to US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).  In the Radio Kempe Podcast, Emily outlines the comprehensive steps Google is taking to keep children safe online, including using new technology tools to match the “hash values” (digital fingerprints) of images of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) so the images can be quickly reported and removed. These tools include “classifiers” to identify never-seen-before content, and other innovations. She indicated Google is not only using these tools on its own platforms but is making them available to other companies. She also discussed work Google is doing on parental education and mentioned a Google collaboration with the Royal Academy of Pediatrics and Child Health in the UK to better identify children harmed online and intervene. She also discussed the work that Google is doing to identify and mitigate the risks to children from Generative AI. 

The last of the three drivers of workforce resilience is the critical role that leaders play in creating a culture where resilience and well-being are valued and supported. Research tells us that compared to client-related burnout, staff experience higher levels of burnout related to agency-level factors. Workplace-related burnout was also more strongly associated with job stress, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave. If your organization is struggling with turnover, leadership must lead the way to create a culture that encourages, supports, and models thriving not just surviving. Interested in learning more about Be Well. Do Well. Stay Awhile. Visit our website www.kempecenter.org in the Our Work and/or Workforce Education and Innovation pages to learn more. 

Lucy Berliner is a renowned giant in trauma and trauma screening and was the former Director of the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress at UNICEF’s global research arm in Italy. She was the long-time Director of the Harborview Center on Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress at the University of Washington, and Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Lucy is a world-renowned advocate and champion for the concept of trauma-informed care.   In the Radio Kempe Podcast, Lucy discusses her call for “Trauma Screening for Every Child Seeking Treatment.” Lucy argues there is clear evidence that large numbers of children are being exposed to trauma and adversity at an early age and that such exposure is creating significant risk of poor physical and mental health outcomes later in life.  She adds, “children don’t disclose because we simply don’t ask.” Lucy also addresses a key point often heard from children’s health professionals; “we are being asked to do more and more things and capture more and more information, but simply don’t have the time.” She emphasizes that trauma screening is essential and will change treatment strategies.    Join Radio Kempe for an interview with world-leading trauma expert, Lucy Berliner, as we address the harm to children in this digital age, and work toward real practical solutions.