Judge Rob Philyaw says most of what he does happens behind closed doors.
The Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge addressed members of the Rotary Club Thursday at the Convention Center to give an overview of Juvenile Court and how it serves the community.
He began by educating about the group called CASA (court appointed special advocates). Started in 1977 in Seattle, CASA made its way to Chattanooga about 30 years ago. The group works to obtain better information on the children Juvenile Court judges make decisions on.
Judge Philyaw said it is a citizen’s advocacy group that investigates things that are not completely discoverable – like custody of the child and child neglect – in order to help make the best decision for the child and give that child a voice.
Hamilton County has about 40 well-trained CASAs. Over the last 32 years, the judge said there have been over 1200 volunteers. Last year alone, CASA served 103 local families with no cost to the county.
The CASA crew makes for an excellent staff that truly cares about the children they help, he said before transitioning to the topic of ACEs (adverse childhood experiences). A child’s environment has the potential to impact that child negatively. ACEs play out in the form of a loss of a loved one, divorcing parents, poverty, and violence in the home.
“The architecture in the brain in childhood is so much more delicate,” Judge Philyaw said.
He explained how the first few years of a person’s life and experiences help formulate the brain.
“In those first few years of life, children’s brains are active…alive.”
[For more of this story, written by Claire Henley Miller, go to http://www.chattanoogan.com/20...-Opens-Up-About.aspx]
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