20 Feb 2017 Barb serves as Superman to victims

by Carolyn Ishee

When is an assistance dog, not an assistance dog? When the service vest comes off and the dog becomes a pet to staff members and to the handler’s family. That describes Barb, the Faulkner County Courthouse Facility Dog and a “member” of the 20th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Barb is the state’s first Courthouse Facility Dog.

Susan Bradshaw, victim/witness coordinator in the victim services division, is Barb’s primary handler and her “mom.” Off hours, Barb lives with Susan, her husband, Jerry, and their daughters, Jillian and Katherine. Susan was the person to pitch the idea of a facility dog to Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland. Though hesitant at first, after Susan presented the information to him about the process, benefits, etc., he endorsed the idea.

Barb, a Labrador and Golden Retriever mix, is a certified Canine Companion for Independence (CCI); one of only three in the state. The other two are located in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Central Arkansas and at Grandma’s House, a child advocacy agency in Harrison. All three canines came from CCI, which trains assistance dogs (cci.org).   

CCI is a beneficiary of the Courthouse Dog Foundation, an international foundation that funds dogs that will become service dogs. A facility dog, such as Barb, is trained to work with a professional in a visitation, education, health care or, in Barb’s case, a judicial setting.

All the dogs, Barb included, become assistance dogs at no cost to the recipients, whether a prosecuting attorney’s office or an individual.

Barb is on lease to Faulkner County through a contract that is renewed annually. Each dog is worth $50,000 and comes with $1 million insurance coverage.

While there was no cost to acquire Barb, there is an annual $3,000 expense to travel to California for recertification. To date, that expense has been covered by grants, but an ongoing challenge will be to find a continuing source of funding.

Susan heard about the facility dog program at a conference and began the process of obtaining a dog for the victim services division. She and Fawn Borden, Susan’s colleague and Barb’s co-handler, underwent an intensive interview process that included phone interviews and one-day in-person interviews conducted in Oceanside, Calif., location of the CCI training facility.  

Once accepted into the program, Susan and Fawn returned to Oceanside for a two-week training period. On Day 3, “Match Day,” they were paired with Barb. The remainder of the time, Susan and Fawn received training specific to the work Barb would do when she arrived in Faulkner County, which she did on Feb. 12, 2016. Her first day “on the job” was Feb. 16.

While the trio was undergoing training, Faulkner County was preparing for Barb’s arrival. The Faulkner County Quorum Court passed an ordinance to allow Barb to be in the Justice Building, and Hiland worked on Arkansas legislation to allow Barb to be in courtrooms. That legislation is effective for other Arkansas counties, too. Three other states have used the Arkansas legislation as a model.

Barb’s purpose is to assist any crime victims and witnesses during stressful stages of legal proceedings such as child forensic interviews, prosecutor meetings and trials. She was carefully bred and expertly trained to provide comfort and a sense of security to those going through the court process.

The victim services staff has created a space in their offices that is very similar to a large living room. Couches, an oversized ottoman, books and toys complete the setting. It is here, rather than in a conference room, that victims – especially the younger ones – can sit, play with Barb if they want to and talk with staff members. Barb prefers the ottoman, lounging, playing with dog toys and rolling over to get her stomach scratched. That is Barb, the pet.   

When the service vest it put on, Barb becomes another dog. She lays still on the floor, head on her paws, until given a command. She is eerily calm, especially for a Labrador. Her purpose is to decrease the anxiety level of the victim whether that person is talking with victim services staff, a prosecutor or, eventually, to an attorney while on the stand in the courtroom.

As Susan describes Barb, when the vest is on, she’s Superman. When the vest comes off, she’s Clark Kent.

When Barb is at home with the Bradshaws, she is the delight of the family with two other dogs, two cats and a guinea pig. If the Bradshaws are going to be out of town, Barb stays with Fawn and her 14-year-old son.  

Barb has her own trading cards that she presents to young victims in an initial meeting by holding a basket in her mouth. And, in this age of social media, she also has her own Facebook page, facebook.com/CourthouseBarb/.

Barb is now available to help victims through some of the most frightening, trying times they will face. With Barb lying calmly at their feet, young victims know they are not alone.