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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
K9 Courtroom Advocates
GA-CERT K9 Courtroom Advocates Program
At its 2021 Midyear Meeting, the American Bar Association House of Delegates approved Resolution 101A, which urged all jurisdictions to permit a specially trained canine to accompany an anxious or traumatized individual who is testifying in court¹.
Georgia Community Emergency Response Team (GA-CERT K9) has committed itself to being an asset to its community by training and certifying dogs through its K9 Courtroom Advocates Program. A K9 Courtroom Advocate is a dog that accompanies a witness who is testifying in court proceedings. Credentialed, vaccinated, and insured, all of our K9 Courtroom Advocates are graduates of our assistance dog program. Such dogs assist crime victims, witnesses and others during the investigation and prosecution of crimes, as well as during other legal proceedings. K9 Courtroom Advocates also provide assistance to Drug Court and Mental Health Court participants during their recovery from drugs, alcohol, mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Our K9 Courtroom Advocates Duties
Brittany's Buddies
As part of the GA-CERT K9 Animal-assisted Intervention Program, our supporting literacy program, Brittany’s Buddies, gives children and young people the opportunity to:
Gain confidence
Develop and maintain focus
Develop a positive foundation for life-long learning
Improve reading skills by reading aloud to one of Brittany’s Buddies
We visit schools, community centers, churches, juvenile detention centers, foster homes and more to help children expand their vocabularies, and improve reading comprehension.
