Leslie Barrett, Director of Operations

Leslie Barrett joined our firm with approximately eight years of documented commendable law enforcement experience with a Southern California Police Agency. Prior to such, Ms. Barrett worked for a corporate hotel chain for over eight years, leaving Corporate Sales & Marketing for a career in law enforcement.

Ms. Barrett has over 1400 hours of specialized training in the areas of child abuse and sexual assault, domestic violence, child custody issues, hostage negotiations and general investigations. During her tenure in law enforcement, she worked closely with school districts and was the recipient of several awards, including the Orange County Human Relations Community Policing Award in 2001, awarded by Bill Lockyer, Attorney General for the State of California. She served as a member of the Crisis Negotiations/SWAT Team.

Ms. Barrett is a graduate of the Advanced Threat Assessment and Management Academy, having attended in 2005. She has received specialized training from Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Dave Grossman, Ph.D., and the United States Secret Service, regarding issues of threat assessment. Ms. Barrett attended training provided by Central Intelligence Agency experts on “Behavior Assessment, Interviewing and Elicitation”.

She is a member of the Gavin de Becker Threat Assessment Practitioner Group, the leading threat assessment and management group in the United States. Borders, McLaughlin & Associates is an active member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Ms. Barrett is a licensed Private Investigator in the state of California and an active member of several charitable foundations.

Jennifer Sanders, LCSW, Director of Family Services

Jennifer Sanders joins our firm with an extensive background in child abuse issues; from prevention to detection and from assessment to treatment. She has spent the last six years working with a Southern California Social Services agency. During her time there, she teamed with local law enforcement to investigate hundreds of child abuse allegations, including domestic violence, physical abuse, general neglect and sexual abuse. She also spent three and half years as a Forensic Interviewer with this agency, where she interviewed approximately 600 victims of alleged abuse and/or witnesses to violent crimes. Ms. Sanders also worked as a case manager for dependent children in long-term care with the child welfare system. She has testified in the family, juvenile and criminal courts.

For several years, Ms. Sanders served as a field instructor for the University of Southern California, where she supervised graduate students studying the field of social work. She has also provided numerous hours of training on child abuse, multi-disciplinary teams, forensic and field interviewing techniques and working with victims of child abuse. Ms. Sanders has conducted workshops at local professional conferences and in 2004, was awarded "Social Worker of the Year".

Ms. Sanders previously worked as a Program Coordinator in the field of child abuse prevention with a local non-profit agency and also served as a school social work intern within an Orange County school district.

She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of California, Irvine and then received her Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California, with a concentration in families and children. Ms. Sanders is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of California and is qualified to perform Child Custody Evaluations. Ms. Sanders brings to the firm ten years of experience working with children and families.