After months of effort to secure funding and necessary approvals, Greenbrier County’s new Family Treatment Court is one step closer to reality, with the hiring of Kimeron Glover as case coordinator for the program. Glover was sworn into her new position by Chief Circuit Judge Robert Richardson on Wednesday, and officially begins work on May 20.
“I am really excited about the future of this program and how I can grow as an individual while helping the community,” she said.
The Family Treatment Court program will work with individuals with substance use disorders who are also involved in a child abuse and neglect case pending before the circuit court. The program is designed to assist parents in getting substance abuse treatment more quickly and effectively, and with greater supervision in the community. The goal is to permit children to return home safely with their parents at a potentially faster rate than through traditional abuse and neglect court proceedings, and to ensure that fewer children experience subsequent maltreatment and return to foster care.
Over the coming weeks, Glover will be working in conjunction with court staff, the Department of Human Services, and other agencies to assemble the various components of the Family Treatment Court program. When operational, the program will include intensive supervision of participants; frequent, random, and observed drug testing; regular meetings between the participants and their case coordinator; individual and group counseling; court appearances; and supervised parenting time with their children.
“Child abuse and neglect cases make up a significant part of the circuit court’s docket,” Judge Richardson said. “I want to extend special thanks to my colleague, Judge Jennifer Dent, for her work in developing our circuit’s family treatment court program. While this program will require extra work on the part of judges and others within the court system, I am confident that we will see better results for children involved in these cases.”