The interviews are generally the same 30 or so questions, every time, with followup questions for any concerns that pop up.
They'll start out with small talk explaining the general purpose of the agency and the visit (My job is to make sure you are safe and happy, etc). It's usually done at school so the child isn't worried about someone listening in from the next room over at home. We talk about honesty and why it's important that they are honest with me.
We talk about who all lives at home, what they think about those people and how well they get along with them, do they have other siblings that live somewhere else, if they have pets, who is there during the day, what the rules are at home, what happens when you get in trouble, have the police ever been to your home, is your house clean or dirty or something else, what food do you like to eat, has there ever been a time that you were hungry but there wasn't any food to eat, what happens when you get sick, what are drugs, do you know anyone who uses drugs, same for alcohol, do you know what private parts are, private parts are the parts of your body that are covered up by your swimsuit, people shouldn't touch or look at those parts without your permission, has anyone ever touched you or made you feel uncomfortable about those parts, you see the type of questions that I'm asking here so is there anything that I haven't covered that you would like to discuss? Is there anything that scares you or upsets you at home? Is there anything that you need help with? Who could you talk to if you ever needed help with something?
Then I would make sure they have at least 3 people that they could go to for help. Whether it's Grandma, teacher, preacher, 911, whatever.
If they said yes or hesitated on any of those questions I would push a little more. If there's any concerns that came up we would proceed from there.
All of it gets recorded on video so that if they make an outcry of something I have it recorded, and that tape will get played in court instead of making the kid retell their story and re-traumatize themselves over and over.
Say that they said that their neighbor does drugs, or that there's no one home after school. I would find out about the neighbor and make sure the neighbor doesn't have kids, make sure this kid isn't alone with the neighbor, find out what type of drugs and how this kid knows, find out if there's anything else I need to know about the neighbor guy. If there's no one there after school I would figure out why, like if Mom's at work or it's because no one has seen Mom for six months and it's just 3 kids living at home. I would make sure they know how to use the locks on their doors and that they could get help if there was an emergency. I would make sure they know what to do if someone knocks on the door and they don't know the person, make sure that they have some sort of rules for being home alone and that they're old enough to stay safe.
Maybe they say dad drinks beer. I ask them to tell me more and they generally say there's nothing else to say or they shrug. If they say "Dad drinks 18 beers every night and then he starts breaking stuff" then we explore that, obviously.
That sort of thing. I have to address the specific allegations that came in with the report and usually they are covered by those questions but if it's something unusual then I just ask.
There are A LOT of very strict rules that have to be followed by the interviewers such as not asking leading questions and not trying to trick the kids or lie to them. I always keep in mind that any interview I do could end up on the news or picked apart by lawyers for six months in court so I make sure they are bulletproof. If the kid has any bruises or other physical evidence that needs to be documented then I use a ruler and get pictures, etc. I do all that on tape so that we have recorded permission. A lot of reports will say a kid has a huge bruise across his stomach or whatever and I'll take a picture of their stomach even if the kid doesn't have a bruise, to show I checked. If they refuse then that's fine too. Some kids no not to talk to CPS at all and that's okay although an ultimately can hurt them the most.
I hope that kind of answers your question.