Robin Connell and Jake, who lives with her, eat their breakfast and head to work every day at the Child Safety Center of White County in Searcy.
Then Jake pretty much lies around all day. Being calm is his job.
The 2-year-old full-blooded English Labrador is the second courthouse dog in Arkansas, and he started work in October. The first is in Faulkner County.
Jake’s handler is Connell, director of the advocacy center in Searcy, who started the extensive process two years ago to get the certified facility dog.
“I was in Little Rock at a child-abuse conference, and I was able to attend a session by Courthouse Dogs Foundation from Seattle,” Connell said. “I thought ‘Man, I’ve got to have one of these dogs.’ I’m a dog-lover; I have my own black Lab.”
Her dog, Max, is 10 years old and gets along great with Jake, she said.
The advocacy center serves child-abuse victims from White, Cleburne, Independence, Stone, Jackson, Woodruff and Izard counties after a report on a child has been made to the child-abuse hotline.
Connell said 80 percent of the cases are children younger than 18 who have been sexually abused, and 20 percent are children who have been severely physically abused or have witnessed traumatic events such as murders or domestic violence.
Jake will accompany children to forensic interviews to help keep them calm.
“Kids are at our center for a couple of hours, providing their forensic interviews for law enforcement,” Connell said. “Jake will sit with them on a couch with his head in their lap. He’ll also go to their sexual-assault exams and lie on the floor.
“We also do trauma therapy on-site, and we will also be using him for court testimony when kids have to go and do preparation for trial. We’re hoping that Jake will do the whole gamut, the whole investigation process.”
Jake was born and raised at Support Dogs Inc., a service-dog school in St. Louis.
“Funny thing, Jake is from a litter of 12, which is a very large litter,” Connell said. “The trainer watched their personalities, and Jake was voted most chill, they said.”
His calm, laid-back demeanor makes him perfect to work with children, she said.
“He is very eager to please,” Connell said.
Jake arrived knowing about 40 commands, which meant Connell had to learn the commands to perfection.
“It’s not a small, simple task,” she said. “I have to be on top of my game.”
The first 45 days with Jake served as an integration period into his new environment, Connell said.
Forensic interviewer Felicia Patten is Jake’s secondary handler.
“We’ve done several mock interviews. He’s done really, really, really well with those,” Patten said, adding that she used her own children and friends’ children to practice with him.
“He doesn’t know that’s a mock interview,” she said.
When Jake is wearing his vest, only the child is allowed to pet him, Patten said.
“He’s trained to basically lie on a couch with a child at the same level as where the child is and not get down, not play,” she said. “So far, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
Patten said she hopes to use Jake soon with actual victims.
“I anticipate that he will change kids’ level of feeling safe and their comfort level to talk about really horrible things that have happened to them,” she said. “It’s a lot to put on a child to expect them to trust a complete stranger in a matter of a few minutes to disclose details about possibly the worst thing that’s ever happened to them.
“If any of us were asked to share our most recent sexual experience, we would be uncomfortable because that’ s personal, … and they’ve been violated.”
Jake will fill a need that she can’t meet, Patten said.
“I’m limited in my empathetic response. If a child gets emotional during an interview, I can’t touch or hug the child,” she said. “I can hand them a tissue.”
Jake will “help to alleviate some of that anxiety for kids and bring some very much needed comfort and empathy,” she said.
Arkansas’ first courthouse dog, Barb, is assigned to the 20th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Conway and assists children who testify in criminal proceedings. The dog is used in Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties.
Arkansas is the first state to enact legislation regarding the use of a facility dog, said Cody Hiland, 20th Judicial District prosecuting attorney, who asked for the law.
The Courthouse Dogs Child Witness Support Act was enacted in 2015 to ensure that child witnesses or victims may be assisted by certified facility dogs, and Barb came to Conway in February 2016.
Connell said she met last week for dinner with Barb’s primary handler, Susan Bradshaw, supervisor of the Victim Services Office, a part of the prosecutor’s office, and Fawn Borden, victim-witness coordinator.
“You all of a sudden feel like you have instant friends,” Connell said.
Bradshaw said the Courthouse Dog Foundation held a meeting with stakeholders in Searcy, and foundation representatives asked Bradshaw if she wanted to attend.
The Courthouse Dog Foundation trains the people who will work with facility dogs, but the dogs are trained by different organizations. Barb, a Labrador/golden retriever mix, was trained by Caring Companions for Independence.
Bradshaw and Borden shared with Connell what they’ve learned.
“We get these dogs with all these commands, but nobody tells you how to use them with the kids,” Bradshaw said. “We talked about things we’ve learned along the way that really break the ice with kids.”
Bradshaw said they’ve taught Barb to play games, including bowling, with the children they serve.
“She’s helped be a calming force for them,” Bradshaw said. “I’ve seen these kids in meetings where they may be running around playing with the toys, but when it’s time to do the interview, the children sit down and immediately gravitate toward Barb and start petting her.
“It really is amazing; there’s such a change and a difference in the children who come in here to the point that a lot don’t want to leave now. It’s made a huge difference.”
Bradshaw said she expects the same positive impact at the center in Searcy.
Bradshaw and Connell said they plan to have Barb and Jake meet each other, and the women hope to be resources for each other.
Connell said the center in Searcy serves about 420 children a year, so Jake will have lots of work to do.
“He’s going to be busy,” she said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.