This bill is focused on handling juvenile suspects, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done to improve things for juvenile witnesses and victims. In too

This bill is focused on handling juvenile suspects, but there's a lot of work that needs to be done to improve things for juvenile witnesses and victims. In too many jurisdictions in the US, if a young child is believed to be a witness or victim of a crime, they are treated the same way as adults. Sometimes this means little children are placed in interrogation rooms with detectives. This can be traumatic to children, and can often lead to inaccurate information. Anyone who's tried to get information from a 5 year old can attest to how difficult that can be, even about mundane subjects. The gold standard is to use child advocacy centers (CACs). Children suspected to be witnesses or victims to a crime are taken to a facility specifically for child interviews (i.e. not an interrogation room in a police station) and the interview is conducted by a trained forensic psychologist. These psychologists are specifically trained to work with children, and ask questions in a way that isn't leading and is likely to get accurate information. There is a ton of scientific literature and known protocols in this field.