Trying to Make the Courthouse Kid-Friendlier

Brothers Christopher and Anthony race into the “children’s chambers” at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange and attack a pile of crayons.

As they color pictures of their favorite Teletubbies, their mother, Holly, fills out paperwork in a courtroom several floors above, hoping to convince a judge to order her abusive husband to stop harassing her and to grant her sole custody of the 4- and 5-year-olds.

“If this place wasn’t here, we wouldn’t be able to come to court, period,” said Holly, 29. “They’ve been here a few times, and they love it. It’s secure too. When there’s another parent who will take the children away if they get any chance, that’s important.”

For ages, kids and courthouses have been viewed as incompatible. If courts were theaters, much of what goes on would be rated adults-only.

Moreover, some frustrated judges complain that howling “wigglewarts” shatter courtroom concentration, distract juries and confound court reporters. Harried parents, for their part, say they would rather miss important court appointments than deal with the headache of riding herd on their fidgety children while negotiating the complicated legal system.

At Lamoreaux, officials have struck the ultimate compromise--the supervised waiting room. Today, 10 years after such rooms were first conceived, they are gaining popularity in courthouses throughout the state.

Colorful carpeting festooned with numbers and letters covers the floor of the Lamoreaux waiting room. The walls are plastered with youngsters’ artwork and handmade murals of the seasons. Shelves and tables overflow with puzzles, stuffed animals and board games. A row of wall lockers is filled with coloring books, crackers, juice and microwave popcorn bags.

The California Judicial Council encourages courthouses to make children more welcome--a move they say will keep courtroom distractions to a minimum and keep children safe. Statewide, roughly three dozen courthouses operate supervised waiting rooms, and all courthouses built after 1999 are required to provide them. The waiting rooms are for children ages 2 1/2 to 17 whose parents are in the courthouse on official business.

Most recently, the Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana added a waiting room to its Central Courthouse--bringing the number of children’s chambers in the county to three. In Los Angeles County, the Edmund G. Edelman Children’s Court in Monterey Park has waiting rooms but no paid supervisors.

Beneath the happy chatter of children at Lamoreaux, an undercurrent of tension prevails.

“We come here to talk,” says 5-year-old Krystelle, “because my mother and father fight a lot. My mother lives far away now.”

Because of problems posed by custody battles, the room is not identified with a sign, and parents and children are provided ID wrist bracelets. Parents must show their bracelets to a supervisor when they come to pick up their children, and the room is equipped with panic buttons to alert sheriff’s deputies to any trouble.

“Occasionally we’ll have a parent in a custody hearing who realizes that things aren’t going in their favor,” said waiting room employee Robin Harris. “They’ve been known to take off during a break and run down here and try to get their kids, and the sheriffs have been right on their tail.”

In Orange County, $218,000 in court fees and fines are paid annually to the Victim Assistance Program to operate the waiting rooms at Lamoreaux and the Central and North justice centers. About 4,000 children are served each year.

The Lamoreaux waiting room opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 4:30 p.m. During lunch break, parents must pick up their children.

All youngsters must be potty trained, and parents are required to be in the building while their children are being watched. Most--but not all--parents abide by the rules, program supervisors say.

“There are parents who take advantage of the service,” said Susan Perdue, program director for the Orange County children’s chambers. “They will just take off, knowing that someone will take care of their kid.”

If a parent fails to pick up his or her child at lunch or closing time, the child can be placed in protective custody by sheriff’s deputies--a move that caretakers say they sometimes are forced to reluctantly make.

Presiding Judge C. Robert Jameson calls the waiting rooms “a win-win situation for everybody.”

“The judges, bailiffs and court reporters all have a problem if there’s a wiggly kid hooting and hollering in the courtroom,” he said. “Perhaps it’s better, too, that the kids don’t see and hear what’s happening in the courtroom.”

Most children regard the waiting room the same way 7-year-old Ryan did when his mother and grandmother dropped him off to attend a recent family court proceeding. Ryan, a regular visitor, made a beeline for the Nintendo video game and began negotiating a digital gantlet of perils.

When his mother returned, Ryan asked if he could stay longer, his attention still focused on the screen.

“What happens is, a lot of kids are crying when they get here,” said staffer Luz Herrera. “After they’ve gotten comfortable, they start crying when they have to go home.”