 | The Athens-Oconee CASA program recruits and trains volunteers to provide legal advocacy for abused and neglected children. Volunteers are appointed by the Juvenile Court Judge to speak up for the best interests of a child or sibling group. CASA volunteers are a powerful voice for children in need.
For more information on Athens-Oconee CASA, click here. |
 | Family time gives children and families involved with juvenile courts options for successful visitations. Our staff and volunteers work to create a schedule convenient to the child and parents. Our goal is to allow family visitations in a safe, non-threatening home-like setting under the supervision and support of a trained coordinator.
For more information on Family Time, please click here. |
 | SPARC - Supportive Parenting and Access Resource CenterSPARC works to increase the emotional involvement and physical presence of non-custodial parents with children they are responsible to support. SPARC does this by identifying obstacles and barriers to visitation/parenting time and offering a variety of services for parents and children.
For more information about SPARC, please click here. |
Guardians For Children
Each year in Athens there are approximately 340 divorce proceedings. At most of these hearings both parents have attorneys working hard on their behalf. The attorneys make a case for each parent and argue why assets should be divided one way or another. These cases can be very long and litigious. Often custody of a child becomes a point of contention in the trial. When this occurs, the judge often does not have adequate information to make a determination as to what is in the child's best interests. The only information s/he has is from both parents' attorneys who are looking out for their client's best interest. This is where the Guardians for Children program comes in.
Children First, in collaboration with the University of Georgia School of Law, assigns a guardian for the child. The function of the guardian is to gather information from all the parties involved and make a recommendation to the judge as to what is in the best interests of the child involved. The goal of this program is to protect children and ensure they do not get lost in the anger and discontent of a divorce proceeding. These children have often been silenced by their parents' anger at each other. Guardians for Children strives to give them a voice.
Children First, in collaboration with the University of Georgia School of Law, assigns a guardian for the child. The function of the guardian is to gather information from all the parties involved and make a recommendation to the judge as to what is in the best interests of the child involved. The goal of this program is to protect children and ensure they do not get lost in the anger and discontent of a divorce proceeding. These children have often been silenced by their parents' anger at each other. Guardians for Children strives to give them a voice.
