Crimson Barocca

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The Jill Fox Center for Hope

Crimson Barocca, LCSW-C, manager of education and research at the Jill Fox Center for Hope in Baltimore, has pioneered forensic interview techniques that minimize trauma for survivors of violence and abuse.

For more than two decades, Barocca has taken roles of increasing responsibility in helping survivors throughout Baltimore. At LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope, she developed the evidence-based Forensic Interview Toolbox.

Barocca leads a team conducting one-on-one interviews with children and adults who are victims of and witnesses to crimes. These conversations occur in safe environments using techniques that are evidence-based and legally defensible.

“A forensic interview is one part of a civil and/or criminal process that provides direction for investigators and other legal professionals. The interview’s goal is to obtain the most reliable and complete narrative information from the individual while also using developmentally appropriate, legally sound and trauma-informed techniques,” according to Sharon Boston, director of public relations at LifeBridge.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Barocca developed teleforensic interview methods when face-to-face contact became restricted. Video interviews allowed both people involved in the process to take off their masks and speak “face to face” via video.

Barocca’s techniques spare survivors from having to repeatedly recount traumatic details to multiple professionals. The techniques also increase the likelihood that survivors will continue to participate in legal processes.

Created for children affected by sexual abuse or witnesses to crime, Barocca’s methods now help adult survivors of domestic violence, physical and sexual assault and even those impacted by vehicle accidents and arson.

Barocca has shared her expertise internationally, training professionals in countries including Ghana and Mongolia. Her passion for bridging research and practice has fostered unique collaborations between researchers and practitioners.

A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Social Work with a master’s in social work focusing on children and families, Barocca was selected for Leadership Maryland’s Emerging Leader Inaugural Class in 2024 and Johns Hopkins University’s Academy for Women in Leadership the same year.

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