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 Celebrate the Child
Excerpt from a National CASA Convention Speech by Judge Glenda Hatchett.
I'd like to talk about a promise to keep to children who have not known promises in their lives. One October morning, a precious eight-year-old boy walked into my courtroom. He looked around, stood, and started to tremble. His mother had dropped him off at a homeless shelter, but never came back for him. When he realized she did not show up in court to claim him, he had reason to tremble. I'd been a judge for one week, but I'd been a mother a whole lot longer. So, I instinctively came down off the bench to where he was, took that precious child in my arms and held him. I told him I'd do everything in my power to find his mother. With nobody to turn to, that child had reason to stand in my courtroom that morning trembling.
After recessing the case until that afternoon to find the mother, they found her at home sobering up from a crack house! I figured that between the social worker, the case plan and an outline, the case could be reviewed in 45 days allowing her time to finish a 30-day drug treatment program. When she came back for the review and hadn't been anywhere close to a treatment center, I decided to go off the record to let her know I was not playing. Either she had to get her life together, or I would see to it her rights be terminated so that her son could be adopted. When she told me he was too old to be adopted, I told her I would come off the bench and have some serious words with her.
But with her mindset, I realized I had to connect with her mother to mother. I told her a stranger could not take my two children without me fighting with everything that I had in my being. She had to look at her drug addiction exactly the way she would a stranger taking her child, because her drug addiction was robbing her of the most precious gift in her life. And that's where we connected. She finally acknowledged her drug problem, and reached out for help. She beat her addiction and won her little boy back the following Christmas Eve for good.
There are countless children who are still trembling. We've got a promise of safety to keep to this generation of children- they are all we have to build a new generation of men and women. If we can do a better job of making sure their path to adulthood is better than it has been, then we have made a wonderful head start on generations yet unborn. I can't think of more important work than to dedicate your life to making a difference in a child that will live on for generations yet unborn. For that, I salute CASA and Guardian ad Litem volunteers throughout this nation who stand up for children every day in court.
I am honored to be a spokesperson for the National CASA Association. Consider joining me in this very important work to make sure every child who has been reported abused or neglected has a voice as they travel through the complex legal system. Visit www.nationalCASA.org for more information or contact your local CASA or GAL program.
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