Ali Alstott has 15 years working within the child welfare system by way of child advocacy centers and education platforms. While at the Chicago CAC, Ali coordinated over 1,500 serious harms cases and conducted over 2,000 forensic interviews of youth who alleged or witnessed maltreatment. Currently, Ali consults with Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois as a training specialist and mentor. Ali trains in communities across the country as an Associate of the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC). She conducts interviews for La Rabida CAC and Lake County CAC and consults with the Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General and Office of Student Protections. She is an FI clinic practicum leader for the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Ali holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction Early Childhood from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Chicago.

Julie is a Deputy Administrator for the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College and a contract forensic interviewer for the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center. She is a national and international trainer and consultant in the areas of child abuse and exploitation cases, forensic interviews, and multidisciplinary investigations. Julie has worked for over 15 years in child protective services agencies and conducted well over 3,000 forensic interviews in the context of multidisciplinary teams. A former APSAC board member, she co-chairs forensic interviewing committees. Ms. Kenniston co-authored Handbook on Questioning Children: A Linguistic Perspective, 3rd edition with Anne Graffam Walker, PhD.