January
10, 2005—(Houston)— Texas Bar
Foundation has given $12,500 in financial
support to The Kids and the People of the
Court—a project that will help children
in the legal maze of the court system because
of life-threatening child abuse and neglect.
Court
appointed advocate and Child Advocates,
Inc. volunteer, Jackie Crowley with the
help of project coordinator, Barbara Abell,
has spearheaded the effort to create an
illustrated children’s book to help
children who come into the child protective
and legal systems have a better understanding
of what is happening to them, and the role
that their court appointed advocate will
have in guiding them into a home that is
safe, loving and permanent.
When
children are removed from their homes due
to life-threatening abuse or neglect, they
are taken into custody by the state and
placed in foster care. While in foster care,
they begin a seemingly endless process of
meeting stranger after stranger who are
somehow involved with their case.
Based
on Crowley’s experience as a court
appointed volunteer, she witnessed this
time after time during the course of her
casework and identified a need to help these
children understand whom their court appointed
volunteers are and their role in helping
guide them into homes that are safe and
permanent.
The
book will be printed in both English and
Spanish and will provide volunteers the
opportunity to explain their roles to the
children on their cases in a way that they
can both understand and enjoy.
The
book is scheduled to be completed in 2005
and is scheduled to be introduced in Houston
and made available to more than 950 court
appointed special advocate programs across
the country.
For
more information about the book, contact
Jackie Crowley at 713.789.7129.
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