In the world of child advocacy, few organizations embody the spirit of community-driven innovation like Project Harmony. Project Harmony has long been a pillar for those working to protect and serve vulnerable children. This year, they’ve taken their commitment to another level with the launch of Communities of Practice, a new national program offering advanced forensic interview training for experienced professionals.
Education Rooted in Connection
At its core, Communities of Practice is a 12-month, cohort-based professional development program designed specifically for experienced forensic interviewers. Participants from across the country meet monthly to dive deep into complex, real-world topics—ranging from interviewing reluctant children to navigating online crime disclosures.
These aren’t just refresher courses. They’re rich, cohort-led explorations intended to help practitioners refine their craft, share evolving best practices, and continue growing long after their foundational training is complete.
Filling a Critical Gap
Forensic interviewers often operate in emotionally intense, high-stakes environments. Foundational training and protocols are essential—but they’re just the beginning. Until now, many seasoned professionals found themselves lacking meaningful opportunities to evolve beyond the basics. The Communities of Practice helps forensic interviewers process the difficult nature of their work through a strong sense of community.
Project Harmony recognized this need and built Communities of Practice to fill it—offering interviewers not only a space to reflect and recalibrate but also a national community of colleagues who understand the unique challenges of the work.
How Guardify Helps Make This Possible
At Guardify, we’re proud to play a small part in Project Harmony’s big mission. Their team uses our secure digital evidence tools to organize, review, and share sensitive content with integrity and confidence—freeing up their energy to focus on what matters most: education, mentorship, and impact.
Technology can’t replace the human heart behind child advocacy—but it can support it. And in programs like Communities of Practice, that support is what allows innovation to flourish.
Want to hear how this all comes together? Amanda and Ellie break it down on the Real Evidence podcast—sharing what inspired the program and what’s ahead.
Leveling Up Peer Review with Internal Reflection
One standout feature of the program is its emphasis on self-review—a practice that goes beyond traditional peer feedback by encouraging interviewers to critically evaluate their own interview process, and find areas of improvement. It’s important to note that peer review still remains crucial. Self-review, however, adds another layer—encouraging deeper reflection, better decision-making, and sharper question phrasing. It’s transformative, and is vastly improving interviewers.
This level of thoughtful evaluation isn’t standard across the field yet, but Project Harmony is working to change that. Their goal: elevate not just the quality of individual interviews, but the entire profession. Interviewers review both their own interview segments and those of their peers, gaining valuable insights from multiple perspectives. This allows interviewers to take insightful pieces from colleagues, and implement it into their work.
A National Network with Local Roots
Though the initiative is new, the momentum is strong. Each cohort builds deeper connections, shares fresh insights, and sends ripples of improvement through their local communities. Every four months, a new group begins the journey—armed with their experience, a hunger to improve, and the knowledge that they’re not doing it alone.
Project Harmony’s Communities of Practice isn’t just a program—it’s a movement toward deeper, more thoughtful, and more connected work in the field of forensic interviewing. It’s proof that when experienced professionals are given the right tools, support, and space to grow, their impact multiplies. Project Harmony understands that deeper forensic interviewer training thrives in community—where shared knowledge and support lead to stronger outcomes for children and families.
If you’re curious about how this initiative came to life and the real stories behind it, we invite you to hear it from the team themselves.
Watch the full podcast episode here.
Discover how Guardify is empowering CACs here.
Less Time on Evidence. More Time for Survivors. See the Impact on YouTube.
