Man’s best friend is now court-appointed. Last month Nemo, a black lab, was “sworn in” by Judge Nancy Davis at The Superior Court of San Francisco to be an official supportive helper for children who need to testify. This partnership was created by Judge Davis and SFCASA Executive Director Renee Espinoza in an effort to provide additional comfort, as well as company, for those children involved with dependency court.
The San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (also known as SFCASA or just CASA) serves as a voice for some of the most vulnerable children in San Francisco. Nemo has two specific CASA handlers to accompany him when he arrives for a day of work at the courts. Statistics indicate 60,000 children are in the California’s foster care system; 1,000 of these children reside in San Francisco.
For more information on SFCASA, please visit www.sfcasa.org.
To read the full story, visit https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/court-gets-dog-to-help-child-witnesses.