Laurie Fortin, LCSW, has specialized in the area of child sexual abuse for over 35 years. She has worked with both victims, offenders, and families impacted by sexual abuse and the associated trauma. She began her career as a Child Welfare social worker with San Diego County. After getting licensed in 1993, she spent 10 years providing assessment, treatment, and case management services to juvenile and adult sexual offenders in various settings, to include private practice, residential treatment, and Department of Defense.
In 2000, she transitioned into the forensic interviewing field and has worked at both of San Diego’s Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) as an interviewer, supervisor, and multi-disciplinary team coordinator. She has conducted over 4,400 forensic interviews of children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities and trains, supervises, and mentor’s other interviewers.
Ms. Fortin has been qualified as an expert witness in the area of child sexual abuse, having testified in over 100 court proceedings in all court settings. Likewise, she has developed and/or delivered over 500 trainings in the area of child sexual abuse, forensic interviewing/child interviewing best practices, trauma-informed care, and secondary traumatic stress at the local, state, and national level. She has been a contract trainer since 1999 with the Academy for Professional Excellence and currently provides Child Welfare workforce support for all of California’s Regional Training Academies as a trainer and/or coach.
Laurie is a current member of Association of Professionals Solving the Abuse of Children (APSAC), on the Board of Directors of California’s Chapter of APSAC, and also a past member of California Coalition of Sexual Offending, Association for the Treatment of Sex Abusers, and National Association of Social Work.
Laurie loves spending her free time outdoors, whether it be hiking, biking, or camping. Nature restores her soul and keeps her coming back!
