Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2350

Tonight's special guest is Wylmina Hettinga from Morro Bay, California, a returning NAASCA family member who’s currently a house mom to a 23-year-old girl whose dad was an abuser and committed suicide. The girl is going to college in San Luis Obispo. Wylmina is also a house mom to a 17-year-old girl, for whom she'd been a foster parent, who was removed from her sister and adopted. "I took her sister out of an abusive foster home when she was 18," Wylmina explains. “Her sister is now employed and living on her own." Wylmina managed to find her 17-year-old a year ago. This child was being abused, living in a garage, had been wearing ankle bracelets, and was sent to girl's camps/farms. "She now lives with me and is attending high school trying to graduate on time," Wylmina continued. She's mom to 4 children but has limited contact with some of them. Wylmina says it's her opinion that there should be an option for a jury trial for children. "Some bad people will get through, and sometimes good people will be falsely accused," she says, "but everyone should at least have this option."  She is an advocate to change family court legislation through 'RaiseYourRights' a group that seeks to make it a US Constitutional and California Constitutional right to have a jury make decisions in a custody trial. The California Legislative Analyst Office says, "The measure could reduce court costs to the extent that the ability to demand a jury trial serves as an incentive for individuals to (1) resolve child custody disputes outside of the court or (2) reach agreement on custody decisions more quickly - thereby reducing court involvement and workload."