Has anyone ever used therapy dogs in the courtroom to help child abuse victims when they testify? My county is getting a program up and running and was interested in how it worked in other counties, i.e. effectiveness, procedures, defense attorneys raising a stink. Thanks!

contact

Allie.phillips@ndaa-apri.org

she includes this topic in her child abuse prosecution classes. She should have or know where to get what you are looking for.

Great idea! One of the best organizations that certifies therapy dogs is the Delta Society.

Janette Ansolabehere

What are therapy dogs, and how are they used to help kids testify?

quote:

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Originally posted by jane starnes:
What are therapy dogs

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It's a K9 that wants to know about your childhood and how it made you feel.

I have been providing and testing therapy dogs for nearly 20 years. WHen I did a lot of ad litems with mentally challenged people and the elderly, I often took one of mine when visiting with my client. They would tell the dog things that they would never relate to a person.

Midland Rape Crisis and Child Advocacy has had a therapy dog program for many years - I have done most of their testing. Check with them for courtroom guidelines.

I would strongly suggest that whatever guidelines you choose to use you require that the animals be certified through TDI or Delta. Both of these organizations test the dogs carefully and carry insurance against biting or aggressive behavior by the dog(s) in question. I wrote the original guidelines for the use of therapy dogs in a state school. If you want some help, e-mail me.

How does that work? Does the dog sit in the room without another there with the child and the conversation is recorded on video?

Does the interviewer stay in the room and ask the child questions after explaining that the child can just talk to the dog instead of to the interviewer?

What about in court?

The whole idea is really intriguing. Where can I read/learn more?

When I was doing the ad litem work, I did not take the dog to court. In most of those cases the proposed ward did not go to the hearing.

For information on the Midland program, check out http://www.mrccac.org/howtohelp/pawzforkids.html Last time I was there, they were adding dogs to the courtroom (with the help of an understanding district judge!)

Get in touch with these folks. The stories will make you cry - and appreciate what a dog, properly trained, can do. I'm proud to do their evaluations.

The way it works here is that the Therapy dog goes into the room with the interviewer and the child. The dog just acts as a mechanism to calm the child and to give them something else to focus on, i.e. petting, playing with the dog as they answer the interviewers questions. As for court it would be the same thing, the dog would go to the witness stand with the child victim and sit at their feet to provide comfort, support etc. It seems to work really well. We've had children that wouldn't go back with the interviewer until they were told the dog could go with them. It's a very good program. Thanks for the input.

Thanks, Erin, for finally answering the question.

You're welcome, a little ironic, as I posted the original question. But I did get some good contacts to get more info which, has been very helpful.