The Berrien County Trial Court’s Family Division has opened a new waiting room just for children. The new kid-friendly waiting area for children attending their own Child Protective Services proceedings is located on the fourth floor of the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph. It’s decorated with a mural painted by artist Kathy Zerler and filled with donated toys, books, blankets, and other items of comfort. Trained volunteers will be staffing the waiting area during child protective hearings. The court says the goal of the project is to encourage participation of children in their own protective proceedings, which is a nationally recognized best practice. As part of that, the court wanted to have a quiet, supervised, child-friendly waiting area for those kids. There will be an open house for the new waiting room on October 10 from 4 to 5 p.m.
