SPRINGFIELD — It wasn’t an attorney or witness who sprang a big surprise at the Effingham County Courthouse on April 19. 

It was the judge.

At 9 a.m. in the Treutlen Courtroom, Ogeechee Visitation Supervisor Wayne Akins stood in front of Juvenile Court Judge Melissa Calhoun expecting to testify.  Instead, Calhoun did virtually all the talking.

The judge admitted to Akins that she ordered him to report for court under false pretenses. Then she left the bench to give Akins, on his final day on the job, a Bass Pro Shop gift card and a big hug.

“A lot of people will miss you,” Calhoun said as her eyes moistened slightly.

Akins, 63, was caught completely off guard by the judge’s gesture. He has worked for Child Advocacy Services (CASA), which looks out for the interests of abused and neglected children, and foster children for six years.

“Judge Calhoun has been our greatest cheerleader and supporter since she came on the bench (three years ago),” he said the following day while driving toward a vacation destination in Pensacola, Florida. “She has always had a lot of confidence and has been one of the major factors that the program has been so successful. She is just a great lady and I have a great deal of respect for her.

“We have a special relationship. We both love kids and have some of the same ideas about how to help kids and their parents. I think she and I have made a good team through the years.”

The primary purpose of supervised visitation is to maintain parent-child attachments and preserve the child’s sense of belonging as part of a family and community. Akins said his goal was to help families heal their wounds and hopefully become whole again.

“There is decades of research that indicates — I think, at this point, beyond any shadow of a doubt — that children in foster care who maintain contact with their biological parents do better,” he said. 

Calhoun greatly appreciates the work of Akins and CASA in this regard since the Ogeechee Visitation Center started six years ago.

“I can say without any reservation that Wayne, CASA and the Visitation Center have been a godsend to the DFCS families and the Juvenile Court,” she said April 20. “It facilitates visitation in a safe environment which would not be possible without. And, the supervisor there provides insight as to the relationship between parent and child, and the parental skills of the parents.”

Nationally, more than 600,000 children are abused or neglected every year. Effingham County isn’t immune to the problem.

“Right now by the courthouse are the blue pinwheels (in recognition of) Child Abuse Prevention Month,” Calhoun said. “I wish that the number of pinwheels accurately represented the number of children in Effingham that have been abused physically, emotionally or verbally. Problem is that the number is so much higher.

“Each pinwheel out there represents three to five children who have been affected within the last year. I have expressed to CASA that our goal has to be to break this cycle so that the children realize that they deserve a better future for themselves and their children. 

“I strongly believe that this is an attainable goal but we need more in Effingham County to be a part of the solution. We desperately need more foster families and CASA volunteers and mentors.”

As usual, Akins, who has worked in the interest of children since 1980, and the judge are in complete accord.

“I’d like for people to consider being a CASA volunteer,” he said. “As part of that, they can volunteer to do some work at the visitation center. Being a volunteer at the visitation is not terribly time intenstive.

“If they just pick one visit a week, that would be a two-hour commitment and then maybe an hour to write the report. Three hours a week would make a huge impact on a kid’s life, help the visitation and wouldn’t cost you a whole lot.

“It’s not labor intensive at all.”

For more information about CASA and the Ogeechee Visitation Center, call 912-772-6536.