April 15, 2019 • 10 mins
Courthouse dogs provide emotional support in Seattle's criminal justice system. Imagine the difference it could make to a child giving testimony about her sexual abuse if she could be petting a trained dog. In Seattle, Courthouse Dogs are calming witnesses, reducing stress for defendants and their families, and greeting members of the jury. In this episode of "Good Dog" podcast Courthouse Dogs founder, prosecuting attorney Ellen O'Neill-Stephens, explains how the organization began, how the dogs are trained, and shares inspirational success stories.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Smarter Podcasts dot Com delivering sound advice. We all know that a dog's presence
can be a calming force. Haveyou ever thought about all the different ways
that a dog might be utilized insociety. Imagine the difference, for instance,
(00:22):
if a child who had been thevictim of sexual abuse could be petting
a trained dog while giving her testimony. If jurors, for instance, in
a murder trial, could be greetedeach day in court by a wagging tail.
Hi. I'm Joe Anne Green,and welcome to the Good Dog Podcast.
We're today I have the privilege ofintroducing you to Ellen O'Neil Stevens.
(00:43):
She's a prosecuting attorney in Seattle,Washington, and the founder of Courthouse Dogs.
Simply, Ellen and her team promotejustice through the use of well trained
dogs to provide emotional support to allin the criminal justice system. Welcome Ellen,
good morning, Welcome. I wouldimagine that getting judges to agree to
the presence of a dog is notalways easy. Oh, definitely not.
(01:07):
When I came up with this notionabout two in two thousand and three,
there was a great deal of resistancefrom the prosecutor's office, judges, and
the lawyers about the notion of adog working in that setting. So how
did you get them to open upto the idea, Well, it was
quite simple. My son has aterrific service dog by the name of Jeter,
(01:32):
and one day a week Jeter couldnot accompany my son, and so
at that time I was bringing Jeterto juvenile drug court and he was a
huge success there. He really comfortedthe children in court. But then I
decided that it would be nice tohave an official program where a dog would
(01:53):
work in the courthouse setting. Andmy boss at that time, Norm Mailing,
grew up on a farm and inhis mind, dogs belonged out in
the farmyard, and he was kindof a gas at the notion that his
office would have a dog on thepayroll. And so I held this formal
(02:16):
meeting with Norm Mailing and the chiefof staff and several other senior prosecutors in
our office to explain the program tothem. But my secret weapon was bringing
Jeter to the meeting, because Inoticed that in a few minutes everybody got
quite quiet. And when I askedJeter to put his head in our prosecutor's
(02:42):
lap, and he did so,and the prosecutor just melted and said,
hey, I get it. Now, this works for me and let's try
it. So who trains these dogsand where do you get them? Well,
Keanan Companions for Independence has trained allof the dogs that are working that
(03:05):
I know of that are working inthis setting. And this is a service
dog organization that trainsport types of dogs, service dogs, hearing dogs, skilled
companion dogs like Jeter who helped someonelike my son, and then facility dogs.
And it is a facility dog placementthat they are making when they are
(03:29):
assigning a dog to work in aprosecutor's office. And what does that mean
facility dog? Well, you know, this is why facility dog organizations also
have a little difficulty or had alittle difficulty with this notion of dogs working
in a courthouse setting because traditionally,facility dogs have worked in hospitals helping physical
(03:50):
therapists, helping patients and so orin schools helping kids that are in special
programs. So that was what theyhad in mind when they came up with
facility dog placements, and it wasa little bit of a stretch for them
to think of a courthouse as afacility that they took a leap of faith
(04:11):
and have maybe these placements and it'sworked out really well. Now, when
you say the judge was a littleskeptical about having the dogs on the payroll,
who's paid, well, Um,I just meant that these were the
prosecutor's office. You are just like, oh, having a dog as a
pay as one of our employees.Um, there there is no charge for
(04:33):
CCI does not charge for the dogs, but the office sometimes covers their veterinary
bills there some of their food itemsif they get to be exordinant exorbitant.
But the dogs are also our dogsare given little employee badges and they're on
our website as employees. So itwas just the notion that a dog would
(04:58):
would be working in the f secutor'soffice that took the prosecutor of back.
So does each dog have a handlerand live with that person when they're not
working. That's true in our case. Ellie, who's officially signed to work
for the King County Prosecutor's Office,lives with Page, who is a senior
prosecuting attorney and her specialty is workingwith elder abuse victims. So Ellie does
(05:25):
work with these elderly people during theirinterviews and when they testify this at the
stand as well. But then Elliealso works with the children during their forensic
interviews when they tell a specially trainedinterviewer about their sexual abuse. Have there
ever been any incidents on when adog disrupted a trial. No, And
(05:49):
again that was the reason why judgeswere very concerned about the notion of a
dog coming in a courtroom because they, you know, the one thing for
them to accept the notion of achild help holding a teddy bear, but
having a live animal sit beside them, there was great concern that the dogs
would kind of run them up inthe courtroom and disrupt the proceedings. But
(06:12):
of course these dogs are especially trained. They are especially trained, and actually
when we argue the motion to thejudge, we had the dog in the
courtroom so that the judge can seefirsthand how well behaved these dogs are.
And we have had no problems withour dogs behaving very properly and with great
dignity in the courtroom. Can youshare any stories where courthouse dogs have really
(06:33):
made a difference, Well, yesI can. There was when we first
started off with Jeter working in drugcourt, there was one thirteen year old
girl who was addicted to meth andphetamine, and she was just doing terribly in
the program. She wasn't succeeding,and we were on the verge of terminating
(06:56):
her from the program. We justsaid, we can't help you anymore.
And she started to cry. Shehad been brought up from detention, you
know, her handcuffs had been removed, and thirteen, she was thirteen,
and so um, you know,she she was very upset that, you
know, we were done, andbecause she just couldn't comply with the requirements
(07:18):
of the program. So I wentover to I asked the judge. I
said, judge, would it bepossible for Chelsea to spend just a few
moments with Jeter before she goes backdown to detention. And the judge said
yes. So I brought Jeter overto where she was city and gave him
the command to which means that hewould put his front paws on the table
(07:41):
in front of her. And shereached over and just buried her head in
his big neck and was crying,and he started to kiss her. And
then Chelsea turned to all of usand said, see, Jeter believes in
me, will you give me anotherchance? And we were just very silent
(08:05):
and we just said okay, andthat's what did it. She started to
go to treatment. She actually cameto court early so she could spend some
time walking Jeter with me before courtstarted. And she successfully completed the program
(08:26):
and she says, Jeter saved mylife. Inspirational it is it is If
good dog listeners want to investigate launchinga courthouse dog program in their community,
how would you advise them. Ithink the first step would be to go
to our website. The executive director, my project partner, Celeste Waltson,
(08:48):
I have put together a great website. It's www dot Workhouse dogs dot com
and it explains the philosophy behind ourprogram, has all sorts of information about
starting up a program, and bothof us are happy to answer any questions
(09:09):
that may come up after somebody hasreviewed the materials. There are there any
other programs elsewhere in the United States, like well, there are some that
you have Delta Society dogs working inchild advocacy centers, and those dogs are
working in a lobbying kind of atherapy dog situation. I think what's different
(09:31):
about our program is that our dogsare actually working with law enforcement investigators and
interviewers. While the children are describingtheir abuse and helping them to be able
to describe their abuse and also goinginto the courtroom. That is what's quite
novel about our program. Fabulous.We wish you the best of luck and
(09:54):
thanks Ellen so much for sharing thisstory with us My pleasure. Thank you
too. Is Ellen O'Neill Stevens,founder of Courthouse Dogs, and you can
learn more about this program at wwwdot courthouse doogs dot com. I'm joe
Anne Green.
Smarter Podcasts dot Com delivering sound advice. We all know that a dog's presence
can be a calming force. Haveyou ever thought about all the different ways
that a dog might be utilized insociety. Imagine the difference, for instance,
(00:22):
if a child who had been thevictim of sexual abuse could be petting
a trained dog while giving her testimony. If jurors, for instance, in
a murder trial, could be greetedeach day in court by a wagging tail.
Hi. I'm Joe Anne Green,and welcome to the Good Dog Podcast.
We're today I have the privilege ofintroducing you to Ellen O'Neil Stevens.
(00:43):
She's a prosecuting attorney in Seattle,Washington, and the founder of Courthouse Dogs.
Simply, Ellen and her team promotejustice through the use of well trained
dogs to provide emotional support to allin the criminal justice system. Welcome Ellen,
good morning, Welcome. I wouldimagine that getting judges to agree to
the presence of a dog is notalways easy. Oh, definitely not.
(01:07):
When I came up with this notionabout two in two thousand and three,
there was a great deal of resistancefrom the prosecutor's office, judges, and
the lawyers about the notion of adog working in that setting. So how
did you get them to open upto the idea, Well, it was
quite simple. My son has aterrific service dog by the name of Jeter,
(01:32):
and one day a week Jeter couldnot accompany my son, and so
at that time I was bringing Jeterto juvenile drug court and he was a
huge success there. He really comfortedthe children in court. But then I
decided that it would be nice tohave an official program where a dog would
(01:53):
work in the courthouse setting. Andmy boss at that time, Norm Mailing,
grew up on a farm and inhis mind, dogs belonged out in
the farmyard, and he was kindof a gas at the notion that his
office would have a dog on thepayroll. And so I held this formal
(02:16):
meeting with Norm Mailing and the chiefof staff and several other senior prosecutors in
our office to explain the program tothem. But my secret weapon was bringing
Jeter to the meeting, because Inoticed that in a few minutes everybody got
quite quiet. And when I askedJeter to put his head in our prosecutor's
(02:42):
lap, and he did so,and the prosecutor just melted and said,
hey, I get it. Now, this works for me and let's try
it. So who trains these dogsand where do you get them? Well,
Keanan Companions for Independence has trained allof the dogs that are working that
(03:05):
I know of that are working inthis setting. And this is a service
dog organization that trainsport types of dogs, service dogs, hearing dogs, skilled
companion dogs like Jeter who helped someonelike my son, and then facility dogs.
And it is a facility dog placementthat they are making when they are
(03:29):
assigning a dog to work in aprosecutor's office. And what does that mean
facility dog? Well, you know, this is why facility dog organizations also
have a little difficulty or had alittle difficulty with this notion of dogs working
in a courthouse setting because traditionally,facility dogs have worked in hospitals helping physical
(03:50):
therapists, helping patients and so orin schools helping kids that are in special
programs. So that was what theyhad in mind when they came up with
facility dog placements, and it wasa little bit of a stretch for them
to think of a courthouse as afacility that they took a leap of faith
(04:11):
and have maybe these placements and it'sworked out really well. Now, when
you say the judge was a littleskeptical about having the dogs on the payroll,
who's paid, well, Um,I just meant that these were the
prosecutor's office. You are just like, oh, having a dog as a
pay as one of our employees.Um, there there is no charge for
(04:33):
CCI does not charge for the dogs, but the office sometimes covers their veterinary
bills there some of their food itemsif they get to be exordinant exorbitant.
But the dogs are also our dogsare given little employee badges and they're on
our website as employees. So itwas just the notion that a dog would
(04:58):
would be working in the f secutor'soffice that took the prosecutor of back.
So does each dog have a handlerand live with that person when they're not
working. That's true in our case. Ellie, who's officially signed to work
for the King County Prosecutor's Office,lives with Page, who is a senior
prosecuting attorney and her specialty is workingwith elder abuse victims. So Ellie does
(05:25):
work with these elderly people during theirinterviews and when they testify this at the
stand as well. But then Elliealso works with the children during their forensic
interviews when they tell a specially trainedinterviewer about their sexual abuse. Have there
ever been any incidents on when adog disrupted a trial. No, And
(05:49):
again that was the reason why judgeswere very concerned about the notion of a
dog coming in a courtroom because they, you know, the one thing for
them to accept the notion of achild help holding a teddy bear, but
having a live animal sit beside them, there was great concern that the dogs
would kind of run them up inthe courtroom and disrupt the proceedings. But
(06:12):
of course these dogs are especially trained. They are especially trained, and actually
when we argue the motion to thejudge, we had the dog in the
courtroom so that the judge can seefirsthand how well behaved these dogs are.
And we have had no problems withour dogs behaving very properly and with great
dignity in the courtroom. Can youshare any stories where courthouse dogs have really
(06:33):
made a difference, Well, yesI can. There was when we first
started off with Jeter working in drugcourt, there was one thirteen year old
girl who was addicted to meth andphetamine, and she was just doing terribly in
the program. She wasn't succeeding,and we were on the verge of terminating
(06:56):
her from the program. We justsaid, we can't help you anymore.
And she started to cry. Shehad been brought up from detention, you
know, her handcuffs had been removed, and thirteen, she was thirteen,
and so um, you know,she she was very upset that, you
know, we were done, andbecause she just couldn't comply with the requirements
(07:18):
of the program. So I wentover to I asked the judge. I
said, judge, would it bepossible for Chelsea to spend just a few
moments with Jeter before she goes backdown to detention. And the judge said
yes. So I brought Jeter overto where she was city and gave him
the command to which means that hewould put his front paws on the table
(07:41):
in front of her. And shereached over and just buried her head in
his big neck and was crying,and he started to kiss her. And
then Chelsea turned to all of usand said, see, Jeter believes in
me, will you give me anotherchance? And we were just very silent
(08:05):
and we just said okay, andthat's what did it. She started to
go to treatment. She actually cameto court early so she could spend some
time walking Jeter with me before courtstarted. And she successfully completed the program
(08:26):
and she says, Jeter saved mylife. Inspirational it is it is If
good dog listeners want to investigate launchinga courthouse dog program in their community,
how would you advise them. Ithink the first step would be to go
to our website. The executive director, my project partner, Celeste Waltson,
(08:48):
I have put together a great website. It's www dot Workhouse dogs dot com
and it explains the philosophy behind ourprogram, has all sorts of information about
starting up a program, and bothof us are happy to answer any questions
(09:09):
that may come up after somebody hasreviewed the materials. There are there any
other programs elsewhere in the United States, like well, there are some that
you have Delta Society dogs working inchild advocacy centers, and those dogs are
working in a lobbying kind of atherapy dog situation. I think what's different
(09:31):
about our program is that our dogsare actually working with law enforcement investigators and
interviewers. While the children are describingtheir abuse and helping them to be able
to describe their abuse and also goinginto the courtroom. That is what's quite
novel about our program. Fabulous.We wish you the best of luck and
(09:54):
thanks Ellen so much for sharing thisstory with us My pleasure. Thank you
too. Is Ellen O'Neill Stevens,founder of Courthouse Dogs, and you can
learn more about this program at wwwdot courthouse doogs dot com. I'm joe
Anne Green.
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