A Day In The Life Of…

Let’s meet Nicole Eiken, Forensic Interviewer for the Children’s Advocacy Centers here at FCC!

Nicole first heard about the Child Advocacy Centers (“CACs” Matty’s Place and Stepping Stones) when she was taking a criminal justice course at Winona State. When it came time to apply for her 480 hour required internship, Nicole knew that she wanted to complete it at FCC. Her 40 hour/week internship began in May 2019, and right at the end of it a Forensic Interviewer position opened up. Talk about perfect timing! So Nicole continued her journey with FCC as a full time Forensic Interviewer.

 

So what exactly IS a Forensic Interviewer, you may be asking yourself? Good question! I wasn’t entirely sure either until I interviewed Nicole. Forensic interviewing is a means of gathering information from a victim or witness for use in a legal setting, such as a court hearing. It is a key component of many child protective services investigations.

 

The Forensic Interviewers at FCC work with children and vulnerable adults. Nicole says that she also had no idea what it was until she took a course on it. And what made her really want to do this work is “working with children who have been through some really cruddy stuff, providing that safe space for the kids, being that person who is able to listen without judging, without getting angry at what they say, that is what made me want to do this work.” Nicole and the other CAC staff take turns doing the interviewing and providing the family advocacy.

 

Stepping Stones is located in the GVC building in La Crosse, and Matty’s Place is in the FSB building on Winona. Currently, the CACs at FCC are the only ones operating in the area. There is a CAC in Eau Claire, but as they do not currently have an interviewer, FCC has been extra busy.

 

Nicole wakes up around 645am each weekday. She lives in Winona with her boyfriend Jared, and their two cats, Mowgli and Loki. Nicole drives to La Crosse from Winona each day, so breakfast is usually a granola bar on the drive into work.

Nicole and her boyfriend Jared at Universal Studios in Florida this January. Jurassic Park is Nicole’s favorite movie of all time so this was super exciting for her!

Mowgli (tabby cat on the bottom) and Loki (black cat on the top)

 

 

 

The workday begins at 8, when the CACs open. The flow of each day really depends on how many interviews will be scheduled for the day, and whether they will take place at Matty’s Place or Stepping Stones. Each interview takes approximately 1.5 ours from start to finish, per person being interviewed. Once Nicole gets into the building, she starts with getting the rooms, paperwork and pamphlets ready for the family. It is not uncommon to have to schedule interviews for afternoons (after school), sometimes in the evening (after work) and rarely, on a weekend.

The client and their family or other support person(s) starts off in the waiting room. The interviewer will introduce themselves and asks if the client/family/support person(s) has any questions. Once any questions have been answered the interviewer will take the client to the interview room. The non-interviewing staff member, or “family advocate” as they are called in the CACs, will sit with the family/support person(s) and explain the process, answer any questions that come up along the way, and just generally be there to provide support to that person(s).

 

 

 

The interview is taped, and for a very good reason! The point of having a taped disclosure is so that the child/vulnerable adult will not have to share their story multiple times. Prior to CACs and taped forensic interviews, a victim (child/vulnerable adult) would have to share their story over and over again throughout each part of the case, effectively re-traumatizing them each time. The child’s/vulnerable adult’s team (law enforcement, CPS, advocate, etc.) watches from the observation room during the interview.

 

 

 

 

After the interview is complete, the child/vulnerable adult returns to the waiting room to their family and their team meets to discuss the interview. After the team discusses what was disclosed/not disclosed, they decide what information is shared with the family. This may only be whether or not the victim disclosed.

 

After the team meets with the family, CAC staff will discuss follow-up with the family. Follow-up usually happens within the next week, but may happen as often as the family needs it.

 

 

Breaks and lunch happen at different times of the day, depending on when Nicole has free time. Lunch is usually oatmeal at her desk. Sometimes she orders lunch if there isn’t a lot scheduled, but not very often.

In between interviews and on days where there are no scheduled interviews, CAC staff participate in a LOT of training and meetings. Monthly meetings include multi-disciplinary meetings between La Crosse and Winona where the teams meet and discuss cases.

 

Nicole logs out and leaves work around 415pm, depending on the schedule that day. Sometimes there are interviews scheduled later in the day, so the end time of the day will reflect that.

On an average day Nicole gets home around 5pm. Dinner depends on what is the fridge that night; Nicole and Jared will have pizza, chicken and rice, cereal, sometimes they grill. During her free time Nicole and Jared will sometimes watch TV, they like to play video games, and play with the cats. Bedtime is 9pm for Nicole so she can wake up and start the next day fresh!

 

 

This is a picture from a family trip we took in January to Florida with my mom’s side of the family. We are a very small and very tight knit family. We went to Disney World, Universal Studios, and Discovery Cove where we swam with a dolphin! From left to right is me, my brother in law, my sister, Jared, my dad in the orange, my niece in the front, my grandma in the blue, my mom behind her, my nephew in the front, my aunt and my uncle!

 

This is a photo taken with my dad’s side of our family at Thanksgiving. The back row is my sister, Jared, my brother in law, my dad, and my mom. My Grandma and Grandpa are in the chairs, I am in the middle and my niece and nephew are in the front.