Children to get advocates in Madison County courts

May 08, 2011 4:09 PM
By SANFORD J. SCHMIDT
The Telegraph

Illinois- EDWARDSVILLE - The Madison County courts are taking first steps to help children already traumatized by abuse through the maze of the court system.

The program will use volunteer help to stand up for the children, who often are confused and unable to give the information judges need to hear to make informed decisions.

Chief 3rd Circuit Judge Ann Callis said the local courts recently received a grant to study the needs of abused and neglected children.

"There was a common theme," Callis said. "We found there was a disconnect. Most of the children had no idea why they were there."

The help will come from an organization known as Court Appointed Special Advocates, also known as CASA, a nonprofit organization funded by government grants and private donations. FULL STORY

I left a nice comment there-

"The best interests test has long been the subject of academic as well as judicial criticism for being indeterminate, providing little guidance on how to weigh the different needs of individual children, especially as they change over time" -Robert H. Mnookin, Child-Custody Adjudication: Judicial Functions in the Face of Indeterminacy, 39 Law & Contemp. Probs., 226, 257 (Summer 1975).

"Best interests operates as an empty vessel into which adult perceptions and prejudices are poured." --Hillary Rodham, Children Under the Law, 43 Harv. Ed. Rev. 487, 513 (1973).

Nobody really listens to the kids and what they want. No money in that.

See "What Happens in the FOG"- http://familyrights.us/educate/what_happens_in_the_fog.html