There is nothing more rewarding than being able to tell a child, who is YOUR client, that you are there for them and only them. No matter what they have been through with Mom, Dad, grandma, Mom's boyfriend, Dad's girlfriend whomever it may be that has hurt them, you, as their MCAP have no other agenda or purpose than to listen to this child, help this child, believe this child, protect this child and give this child a VOICE- in the Courts, in the process, and in the world. You are the one person in the world who they can completely trust & who has no other interest or motive other than to keep them safe & help them navigate the often scary and very confusing process of court, be it in criminal court as a victim or witness, in dependency court as the child who may be being abused or neglected, or in Protection From Abuse Court, again where the child may be a victim or witness. You are their voice!
I have been a child advocate for the Montgomery Child Advocacy Project for eight years. It is by far the most rewarding work I will ever do as an attorney. Walking into court with a child who has to climb on the witness stand and testify against their abuser is an incredibly anxiety ridden experience. To have a jury find the abuser guilty, and to be able to tell that child they were believed, and the abuser is going to prison is indescribable. These kids are heroes, and I am humbled by them daily. I am so thankful that I made that call back in April of 2006 to find out what MCAP was all about, and I am so proud to perform this work with my amazing colleagues and friends.
Working with MCAP is invaluable. I have done PFAs and criminal hearings. It becomes important to you because this matters, or someone would not need to assign an attorney to it. It's a great feeling to get a result, and an even better feeling when something cute happens such as when the kids take a photo on the judge's bench or proudly tell people that they have an attorney and you can't mess with them. Then you know it was not all a bad experience.