Tampa General Healthcare
Child Protection Team
1 Davis Boulevard, Suite 410
Tampa, FL 33606
(813) 251-8007
Medical Director: William G. Brooks, MD
Team Coordinator: Deborah Porter
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Based on Davis Island in Tampa, the Child Protection Team at Tampa General Hospital is a medically directed, multidisciplinary team available to supplement the Department of Children and Families, in assessment activities in suspected reports of child abuse and neglect. The CPT is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for consultation and referral, and provides specialized assessments and services to child victims and their families including:

• medical diagnosis and evaluation

• medical consultation

• specialized interviewing

• family psychosocial assessment

• nursing assessment

• psychological evaluation

• multidisciplinary staffings

• case consultation and coordination

• education, training and community presentations

• multi-disciplinary child death reviews

• expert court testimony or deposition

The CPT is greatly assisted by the expertise of other Tampa General Hospital departments including pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric intensive care, burn care, radiology, social work and laboratory, who are invaluable in helping to evaluate and assess possible abuse and neglect.

The Child Protection Team consists of physicians, advanced registered nurse practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and child protection specialists who are trained to be a resource in evaluating suspected cases of child abuse and neglect by providing a variety of services. The CPT promotes prevention of child abuse and neglect through consultation with other agencies, training of professionals, and presentations for community education.

Additional CPT Services:

CPT Sexual Abuse Intervention Program
Through the Attorney General’s Office Victim of Crime Act, the Child Protection Team is enabled to provide services to children alleged to have been sexually assaulted by a stranger, acquaintance or another child. The CPT SAIP program provides expert forensic medical examinations, crisis intervention, case coordination, information and referral, and follow-up victim advocacy services.

CPT Forensic Interview Intervention Program
Through an Administrative Order of the thirteenth Judicial Court, forensic video taped interviews of children who may have witnessed or been victim to child abuse or neglect, are exclusively conducted within the Children’s Justice Center. The CPT Interventionist program works in collaboration with local community based care provider Hillsborough Kids Inc., and partners with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network to provide assessment and referral services, immediate crisis intervention and targeted support services.

Childnet Domestic Violence Program
Childnet is a collaborative project funded through the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County that works in conjunction with Bay Area Legal Services’ to promote the stability and resiliency of families in which domestic violence is a major factor. Through a formal network of providers, the Child Protection Team provides each enrolled family with case coordination and multidisciplinary staffing services.

Sexual Abuse Intervention Network
The Child Protection Team serves as the lead agency for the Hillsborough County Sexual Abuse Intervention Program (SAIN). This is a group of organizations and individuals who have joined together in a community based cooperative effort to reduce the incidence of sexual abuse in our community through identifying, referring, supervising and treating known juvenile sexual offenders. In addition, SAIN provides educational assistance to those interested in the issue of juvenile sexual offenders, their victims and their families.

CPT Telemedicine Program
The DOH telemedicine network facilitates child abuse, abandonment, and neglect assessments via advanced telecommunications technology between hub sites and remote sites.

Currently the CPT in Jacksonville and Gainesville serve as hub sites, with eight remote sites located throughout central and north areas of the state. The Child Protection Team in Tampa is being added as an additional hub site.