The Atlantic CYAC Network brings together Child and Youth Advocacy Centres and their multidisciplinary partners to strengthen connections, share knowledge, and enhance practice with client-focused responses to child maltreatment.
This conference is open to professionals in the Atlantic provinces who respond to concerns of violence and abuse against children and youth, including multidisciplinary partners working with Child and Youth Advocacy Centres.
Join colleagues from child protection, law enforcement, prosecution, victim services, health, mental health, and others for a day of learning and networking.
Executive Director, Canadian Child Forensic Interview Practice Association
From Reaction to Response: Interagency Collaboration in Child Abuse Investigations
Keynote description
No single system carries the weight of child abuse response alone. This keynote cuts through the theory to show what real cross-system collaboration looks like and why it’s worth the effort.
“Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime,” said Herbert Ward. While the volume and nature of child maltreatment persists, our professional strategies and response protocols can continually evolve to assist children and families navigating complex systems at what is arguably the most stressful time of their lives.
With the emerging use of tools such as the Child Forensic Interview, and the collaborative nature of Child Advocacy Centres, the necessity to understand and implement standardized practices around these resources is critical, and timely.
Cynthia will lead a session on trauma informed practice strategies for professionals responding to child maltreatment and abuse, with a lens of practical application. Regardless of geography, population type or access to resources, these principles apply widely. Attendees will leave with tools to approach varying response contexts with competence that will enable them to enhance the integrity of investigations, while reducing the impacts on children and families.
Speaker bio
Cynthia Ashe has been a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 14 years, working exclusively in child abuse investigations for many years and specializing in Child Forensic Interviews (CFI).
Having completed nearly 1000 CFIs, Cynthia is a recognized expert and has been awarded for her work nominated in 2026 to the International Association of Women in Policing Leadership Award, receiving the Beverley MacLean Legacy Award, The McNeil Shield for Leadership and Excellence, the RCMP Veterans Association Community Service Award, and being named to Alexa’s Team.
She founded the Canadian Child Forensic Interview Practice Association and strives to enhance the integrity of child abuse investigations, while reducing the impact on children and families through the development and implementation of standardized trauma informed practice protocols across all partner agencies responding to child abuse.
As a former paratrooper and veteran of Afghanistan, Cynthia has prioritized her own wellness and healing. She believes in sharing the weight of this work in ways that strengthen our collective sustainability and ability to serve our most vulnerable.
Case scenario: Multidisciplinary collaboration in practice
Session description
Building on the Keynote presentation’s themes of cross-sector collaboration, this panel will explore a case scenario from the perspectives of multiple systems. Showcasing the mandates, approaches, and decision-making that influence a case at each step, this interactive panel will highlight opportunities to enhance high-quality responses while supporting child and youth survivors, and their families, as they navigate complex systems.
Program Manager, Brigadoon Village
Camp Hope: Adventure, Connection, and Healing
Session description
This presentation will provide an overview of Brigadoon Village and the history of Camp Hope, a family camp program for children and youth impacted by sexual abuse presented in partnership with the RCMP. Participants will learn about the camp’s trauma-informed model, including how recreation, peer connection, and supportive programming promote healing and resilience. The session will also share family feedback, evaluation findings, and key outcomes that demonstrate the program’s impact on well-being, confidence, and connection.
Speaker bio
Katy Chisholm (she/her) is a Program Manager at Brigadoon Village. Brigadoon Village is a non-profit recreational facility on Aylesford Lake in the Annapolis Valley. With its partners, Brigadoon delivers year-round Camp programming to children, youth, and families living with health conditions or other life challenges in Atlantic Canada.
As a Recreation Therapist, Katy is passionate about increasing accessibility for families to engage in meaningful recreation and leisure. Katy has a particular interest in outdoor recreation, and the positive impact these experiences have on well-being. Katy supports the development and delivery of Brigadoon’s family camp programs and year-round community-based outreach initiatives.
What mattered to me: Reflections from youth
Session description
Hear from youth with lived experience as they reflect on what they found most helpful, impactful, or challenging in interacting with our respective systems in different ways. Conference participants will gain perspective on the outcomes that matter most to youth, and opportunities to help keep these outcomes in focus in their day-to-day work.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Saint Mary’s University
Preventing the Sexual Exploitation of Children Before It Happens: The Emerging Role of Perpetration Prevention Programming
Session description
Online and other forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) is a serious public health and child protection concern requiring coordinated efforts across multiple agencies, including child protection, law enforcement, healthcare, victim services, and community organizations. While much of the field has appropriately focused on tertiary prevention (i.e., after abuse has occurred) and initiatives focused on the prevention of victimization, there is growing recognition that preventing perpetration is also an important component of a public health approach aimed at OCSEA prevention.
This presentation will introduce a public health framework for OCSEA prevention, with a focus on preventing perpetration, which involves intervening with individuals at risk of OCSEA perpetration. It will review what is currently known about factors associated with OCSEA perpetration, emerging approaches to perpetration prevention, and evidence supporting perpetration prevention programs. The presentation will also consider important gaps and challenges in this developing area. Practical and ethical considerations will also be considered, including balancing legal obligations, confidentiality, risk management, and child safeguarding in the perpetration prevention space. There will be particular emphasis on the way in which perpetration prevention can complement, rather than replace, existing approaches.
Participants will leave with a better understanding of factors associated with OCSEA perpetration, the role of perpetration prevention within a broader child protection framework, and resources and approaches for preventing the onset of OCSEA.
Speaker bio
Dr. Skye Stephens is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Saint Mary’s University and a practicing Clinical and Forensic Psychologist in Nova Scotia. Her research focuses on the assessment and management of atypical sexual interests, sexual offending, and sexual violence perpetration prevention, with a particular emphasis on preventing the sexual exploitation of children. She also has an emerging research program focused on sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. Her recent work examines prevention programming for individuals at risk of sexual offending, including the co-development and evaluation of Talking for Change.
Session description
Connect with participants across other sectors for reflection and discussion. Explore opportunities to build connections, enhance practice, and strengthen responses for children and youth who have experienced violence and abuse.
Full event schedule coming soon
| 8:45 am | ● | Coffee & registration |
| 9:00 am | ● | Conference start |
| ● | Keynote presentation | |
| ● | Morning session | |
| ● | Lunch | |
| ● | Afternoon sessions | |
| ● | Discussion & networking | |
| 4:30 pm | ● | Conference end |
Registration is free
This conference is open to Atlantic CYACs and their multidisciplinary partners, who respond to concerns of violence and abuse against children and youth.
Hybrid options
Choose to join the conference in person in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or online.
For in-person attendance, space is limited, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. To support the conference’s purpose as a multidisciplinary event, a maximum number of seats may be allocated across multidisciplinary sectors. Participants may be waitlisted if their sector’s allotment of spaces has been filled.
There is no limit on the number of online attendees.
Language accessibility
Spoken content will be delivered primarily in English, with bilingual written material.
Simultaneous French interpretation will be available on the online conference stream.
For in-person attendees, bilingual staff will be available to support French-speaking participants with questions and clarification, including interpreting questions from French to English as needed. In-person attendees who wish to access simultaneous French interpretation may also bring a personal device and headphones to join the online conference stream.
We gratefully acknowledge funding support from Justice Canada for this event.
Conference attendees can book their stay at Delta Halifax with a discounted rate of $249/night. Book at the link below.
Last day to book is Sept 8.
If you are concerned about a child or youth:
Call 911 if the child or youth is in immediate danger.
Contact the Child Protection agency in the province where the child or youth lives.
