Psychological Consultation in Child Protection

Presenter Biography:  

Dr. Susan Esquilin is Professor at the Center for Child Advocacy at Montclair State University. Dr. Esquilin holds doctoral degree in Human Development and completed the clinical psychology at the University of Chicago. She is a licensed psychologist in New Jersey and New York, a certified school psychologist in both states, and holds a diplomate in clinical psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Esquilin's career has been devoted to teaching and service delivery in underserved areas, with a specialization in child abuse. She has served on the faculties of Rutgers University, and at the NJ Medical School (UMDNJ-Newark), where she was the administrator of children's behavioral health programs at University Behavioral HealthCare and the director of the APA-approved psychology internship program in child and adult psychology. Dr. Esquilin has been the principal investigator on service grants from the NJ Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy, the NJ Children's Trust Fund, the Health Care Foundation of NJ, the Cummings Fund, the Essex County Children's Inter-Agency Coordinating Council, and the NJ Division of Mental Health Services.

Dr. Esquilin has been qualified as an expert witness in child abuse issues throughout New Jersey, in criminal, family court, and civil matters. For the past seven years, she has been involved in planning and teaching a course sponsored by Rutgers School of Social Work and the child protective agency in New Jersey that trains psychologists and psychiatrists to function as expert evaluators and witnesses in child protection matters. Currently, she is also working with a statewide project seeking to upgrade the skills of child protective service workers.

Dr. Esquilin is a Past-President of the NJ chapter of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and has served on the Ethics Committee, the Forensic Committee, and the Executive Board of the NJ Psychological Association. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles about the professional role of psychologists in the area of abuse and trauma.