If you step inside Lehigh County Courthouse, you may run into a five-year-old whose role is to help ease the trauma of testifying in court. She has black hair, four paws and a tail. She’s there for comfort and her name is Ramona.
"So it can be a really overwhelming experience for anyone coming into court, particularly a child," says Kimberly Silvestri, Victim/Witness Coordinator. "Before they even get to the point where they're coming into court to testify, they have to come in and meet with us and talk about what happened to them, which is reliving the trauma that they went through whatever that may be, whether they had something stolen from them or it's a sexual assault or they are witness to a homicide."
That's where Ramona comes in.
Research supports that for some people, contact with an animal can significantly reduce stress and anxiety. Not only can animals have a calming effect on a nervous victim or witness, but it can also help build trust and rapport with child victims who might be anxious, scared or withdrawn.
And Ramona isn’t just available for comfort inside the courtroom, she’s available to take home in a coloring book, What happens in Court.
Watch the full story below for more.