Monica Applewhite, PhD

Monica Applewhite has a Ph.D. in Clinical Social Work. Since 1992, she has studied abuse and uses her findings to help organizations prevent and respond to incidents and allegations of abuse.

Dr. Applewhite conducted root-cause analysis on approximately 1800 incidents of abuse. Root-cause analysis is a research method that allows an incident to be traced back to circumstances that permitted the problem to occur – the “root cause.” In situations of abuse, an organization can use root-cause analysis to identify the points at which abuse could have been prevented or detected more quickly.

Using these findings, Dr. Applewhite has assisted more than 300 organizations that serve the vulnerable, including extensive on-site work with boarding and day schools, residential treatment programs, foster care, adoption, child care, mentorship programs, hospitals, child protective services, religious organizations, athletic and recreational programs, camps, waterparks, and pools.

Since 2007, Dr. Applewhite has formally synthesized her own experience with an exhaustive review of the professional literature and historical documents in order to more clearly define development of the standards of care for organizations to prevent, detect and respond to the sexual abuse of children. Using this knowledge, Dr. Applewhite is able to provide clear, evidence-based answers to the question of whether an organization did or did not meet the standards of care for prevention, detection, and response to abuse at the time. In both a consultative and testifying capacity, Dr. Applewhite provides objective opinions and reports for both plaintiffs and defense regarding the historical and current standards of care.

As global awareness rises, Dr. Applewhite’s work has become increasingly international. She is currently working on educational and policy development programs in Ireland, Italy, Canada, Indonesia, Central America, Poland, India, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and the United States. Dr. Applewhite’s additional areas of expertise include screening and selection protocols, female and juvenile sexual offenders, responding to survivors of abuse, supervision systems, internal feedback systems, policy development, risk management procedures for those with histories of sexual offending, internal investigation protocols in organizations, and current best practices to protect the vulnerable.

For more information, see monicaapplewhite.com.