A 250-mile journey to hand over an Illinois Bar Foundation grant may seem beyond the call of duty. For board member Debra Walker of Chicago, however, it was sort of a homecoming.

Walker, who hails from Hancock County, traveled to Carthage in the 9th Circuit on July 28 to present a check for $1,120 to officials of Juvenile Court Advocates of Hancock County – its first grant from the Bar Foundation.

During the brief ceremony in the County Courthouse, JCA executive director Nancy Bernhardt expressed her gratitude for the foundation funding, much of which will go toward reprinting materials for public information and volunteer training.

Until recently, the organization was part of the state network of court-appointed special advocate (CASA) offices. “All our old materials said ‘CASA,'” Bernhardt said. “We haven't changed anything but the name.”

She explained that JCA, a relatively small-scale operation, dropped out of CASA because of the expense of participating in its programs and services, and sending volunteers to conferences.

The Hancock County office was established in 1998 to provide advocates for abused and neglected children, to represent their best interests, and to promote safe, permanent situations for them.

In the past eight years, JCA has helped 17 children. Seven were adopted and one awaits adoption; two returned to their biological families and three are in foster homes. Four remain in the system, pending hearings on possible termination of parental rights.

“We are the eyes and ears of the juvenile judge,” Bernhardt told a reporter for the Hancock County Journal Pilot. “The volunteer is responsible for finding out as much information as possible about the child or children (and) has the authority to talk with all parties in the case.”

She added that “things work best when a case is approached as a team.” The juvenile court judge, DCFS caseworkers, schools, foster parents and parents are “like spokes in a wheel, each one important in making the system work for the child.”

In Bernhardt's view, the JCA advocate “may be the only consistent person in the child's life,” because some cases require several years to resolve. Judges, caseworkers and foster homes can change during the process.

For more information about the Juvenile Court Advocates of Hancock County, to volunteer or make a contribution, call (217) 357-3916.

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Illinois Bar Foundation board member Debra B. Walker is a partner in Clausen Miller, Chicago, and a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. She is a past president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois.

Born in Carthage, Walker graduated in 1987 from the University of Illinois College of Law. She is also a certified public accountant.