Multnomah CourtCare: A great service and a worthy cause
As a divorce and family law lawyer, I am in the position to see the impact of court and the divorce process on children. It is bad enough that some parents put children in the middle of the psychological conflict. It is even worse when the children, for lack of child care, have to be in the hall outside court, or worse, in a courtroom with a parent involved in a custody or parenting time case. CourtCare is a free service providing drop in child care to family law litigants at the Multnomah County Courthouse. CourtCare opened in 2001, and has benefited over 6000 children since that time. Children are spared witnessing their parents in court, and the children receive individual attention from state-certified childcare providers.
While CourtCare receives some public funding, it is primarily funded through donations from the legal community, which contributes through the Multnomah Bar Foundation. They are having a fundraising campaign themed “A Jungle Gym in the Jungle” from April 21 to May 9, 2008. More information about this excellent program and worthy cause can be found at www.mbabar.org/MBA_courcare.htm.
