Last week, Judge Stacy Ross hosted a training session in her courtroom entitled “Trauma Informed Care in the Legal Community,” and presented by Alexandra Stark LMHC, CAP, NCC and April Brownlee LMHC, MCAP, NCC, both experts in the field and employed by PACE Center for Girls.
The training was open to all court personnel with the purpose of educating on trauma-informed courts, with a focus on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and the negative effects of ACES. The participants included judicial assistants, court deputies, clerks, lawyers, and case managers.
“Many of those who enter our court system have experienced trauma in their lives, so approaching everyone with a trauma-informed lens actually enhances the legal process. Several of the judges in family court have participated in trauma-informed care courses, however, it is important that ALL court personnel are familiar with and understand how trauma may affect individuals,” said Judge Ross.

Faces were smiling and tails were wagging as the Seventeenth Circuit marked the fifth anniversary of its Therapy Dog Program! Established in the summer of 2013 as a pilot program, Judge Susan Lebow was the first to welcome the initial two teams into her juvenile dependency hearings. More judges and more teams came aboard and now five years later, five teams bring canine companionship to the central courthouse several days a week. Currently, the teams are used in just the dependency division, helping children who need them. Plans to expand the program to other divisions is in the works.

Pictured in the group photo are, L-R: Judge Schulman, Judge Bristol, Judge Gamm, Judge Gillespie, Judge Lebow and Judge Izquierdo.

The Virgil Hawkins Chapter of the National Bar Association honored trailblazers at its annual gala last month. Included in the honors (and pictured here) are: Seventeenth Circuit Judge Michael A. Robinson; Federal Judge Charlene Honeywell (Tampa); Retired Judge Mary Rudd Robinson; Retired Judge Hubert Grimes and his wife, Daisy; Senator Perry Thurston; and attorney Nathaniel Green.