Sally Cooper, Assistant Director

Sally Cooper is the Assistant Director of the Institute for Human Services, and is a contributing staff member to NARCCW programs. She was formerly the co-founder and Executive Director of the National Assault Prevention Center (NAPC), a non-profit organization created to develop curricula, provide training, and conduct technical assistance for human services agencies and communities, to prevent child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. Ms. Cooper has also worked for the Ohio Attorney General, where she was Chief of the Crime Victims Services Section, and Acting Chief of the Children's Protection Section. She is the author of New Strategies for Free Children which has been widely distributed throughout North America, and in Japan. Ms. Cooper is a specialist in child sexual abuse, community based strategic planning, and welfare reform. She has provided extensive training to professionals on topics related to child sexual abuse and sexual assault. She also trains on the topic of interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration. An expert facilitator, she designs and leads strategic change initiatives for a variety of child welfare, public human services, and other nonprofit organizations. Ms. Cooper was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1984, and is also a recipient of the YWCA Women of Achievement Award. She is a board member of the Ohio Chapter of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), and is a member of the national APSAC organization. She has served on numerous Governors' task forces on child abuse and family violence. Institute for Human Services As Assistant Director of IHS, Ms. Cooper has primary management and administrative responsibility for the programs and activities of the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program. She oversees OCWTP program planning and development, and coordinates the activities of IHS, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and the Regional Training Centers. Ms. Cooper also provides direct supervision and technical assistance to staff working on OCWTP developmental activities. Ms. Cooper has authored or co-authored a variety of training curricula on sexual abuse, including: Investigative Interviewing in Child Sexual Abuse; Juvenile Sex Offenders: Characteristics, Assessment, and Treatment; Reunification and Case Closure in Child Sexual Abuse; and Supervisory Issues in Child Sexual Abuse. She also co-authored a training curriculum for adoption caseworkers, entitled, Achieving Permanence Through Interagency Collaboration, and was a contributing author to the sexual abuse module of the IHS curriculum, Preservice Training for Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Caregivers. Ms. Cooper also provides consultation and technical assistance to state, local, and other nonprofit agencies on strategic and operational planning, management, leadership, supervision, and cross-system collaboration. Family Trust Clinic Ms. Cooper is a clinical consultant to the Family Trust Clinic in cases involving child sexual abuse. Center for Child Welfare Policy Ms. Cooper is a consultant to the Center for Child Welfare Policy on sexual abuse and other child protection issues. .