Weaver back on childrens task force

FROM WIRE REPORTS

May 21, 2009 10:35 pm

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TRAVERSE CITY -- Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth A. Weaver has been reappointed to the Governor's Task Force on Children's Justice by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Weaver, of Glen Arbor, has served as task force chair since its establishment in 1991.

Also appointed as a member of the task force is Chief Judge JoAnne Gasco, of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Harbor Springs. Judge Gasco resides in Suttons Bay.

The task force is federally mandated and federally funded with more than $500,000 per year. It is responsible for the review and evaluation of Michigan's investigative, administrative and judicial handling of child abuse and neglect cases in Michigan.

The 31 appointed task force members serve voluntarily. Their responsibilities include developing protocols for abuse and neglect cases; the awarding of grants for programs in experimental, model and demonstration pilot programs; and the funding for training of judges, prosecutors, guardians ad litem, defense counsel, social workers, law enforcement personnel and other child welfare professionals.

The task force also makes recommendations to the governor and the legislature with the goal of improving the efficiency of the system to better protect children, hold abusers accountable, and enhance the laws governing child abuse, while ensuring due process of the law to all parties.

For further information, see the Task Force Web site at: www.michigan.gov/gtfcj.