Redesigning an Integrated Intervention Model for Co-Victims of Child Sexual Homicide Victims: Insights from Fundacion Amparo y Justicia

Abstract

Background: Child sexual homicide constitutes one of the most extreme forms of violence against children and adolescents, generating long-lasting psychosocial consequences for their families. In addition to demands for justice, co-victims face complex and evolving needs related to trauma, social vulnerability, prolonged interaction with the justice system, and media exposure. In Chile, Fundacion Amparo y Justicia has supported families affected by these crimes for over 25 years. Accumulated experience, emerging evidence, and changes in institutional contexts prompted a critical review and redesign of its intervention model. Methods: This article describes a practice-based process of redesigning an integrated intervention model for co-victims of child sexual homicide, following a continuous improvement approach. The process included: (1) a diagnostic review of the existing model using an adapted AGREE framework and a review of international good practices and national institutional offerings; (2) a structured characterization of 39 families through semi-structured telephone interviews; (3) the development of a renewed integrated intervention model organized around legal, psychosocial, social, and communication components; and (4) the application of a satisfaction survey to 30 family representatives. Results: high levels of structural vulnerability among families, including low income, precarious employment, limited educational attainment, fragile support networks, and unmet mental health needs. The diagnostic phase identified strong relational practices alongside structural limitations, informing the redesign of a more structured, rights-based, and trauma-informed intervention model. The satisfaction survey showed consistently high perceived support, particularly in psychosocial and legal domains. Conclusion: The redesign resulted in a more structured, rights-based, and trauma-informed intervention model that balances professionalization with relational sensitivity. This experience underscores the importance of integrating family perspectives, accumulated practice, and available evidence to strengthen interventions for co-victims of extreme violence, offering relevant lessons for organizations working in similarly complex contexts.