[Archived] National Child Advocacy Association Names City of Alexandria’s Honorable Stephen Rideout as Judge of the Year

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2004
PIO 111-04

National Child Advocacy Association Names City of Alexandria’s
Honorable Stephen Rideout as Judge of the Year

The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association has named the Honorable Stephen Rideout, chief judge of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, as CASA’s 2004 Judge of the Year. CASA will present the distinguished award to Chief Judge Rideout at the National CASA Association’s Annual Conference and Banquet on Sunday, June 6. The ceremony will take place from 7 to 10 pm at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street, NW, in Washington, D.C.

CASA honors Chief Judge Rideout for his outstanding contribution in furthering the best interests of children through his support of CASA. Since 1989, he has served as an active Alexandria Juvenile Court judge. He has also guided the City of Alexandria in its participation in programs such as Model Court for the Victims Act Model Court Project, Family Drug Court –a mediation program– and Adoption Saturdays.

A Seattle judge who was concerned over making decisions about abused and neglected children’s lives without sufficient information founded CASA in 1977 as a way of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interest of children in court. In 1982, CASA became a national organization. There are presently over 900 CASA programs with more than 70,000 volunteers in operation today.

Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) of Northern Virginia, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the well-being of children; improve parent-child relations; and prevent child abuse, locally administers CASA activities as one of its many programs.

CASA will recognize two judges including the City of Alexandria’s Chief Judge Rideout at this year’s national conference.

For more information on the city’s local CASA programs or the national award ceremony, contact SCAN at 703.836.1820, or visit www.scanva.org

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