funded a similar project in her Hancock County family court facility.
“ Ever since 2005 I had wanted to create a similar space in the Hancock County facility,” she says.“ We have been given much, and we are expected to give back in return. It is just that simple.”
The children’ s rooms also provide a comfortable, flexible space for Chernenko to interview children and capture their testimonies.“ The fear and stress these children feel is tremendous, but the playroom setting of the children’ s room makes all the difference,” she says.“ I pop Daniel Striped Tiger into the DVD player, and we watch together while we chat. They become relaxed, and while what I hear from them is testimony, they think of it as playtime with Judge Joyce.”
As part of her continued work with families and children, she followed the example of a WVU College of Law classmate serving as an Eastern Panhandle family court judge to implement a family court parenting mediation program in her circuit two years before this kind of program was mandated statewide by the West Virginia Legislature. Because most of the custody cases in the pilot program were being resolved by parental agreements through the assistance of a Supreme Court-trained mediator, she saw its potential benefits for the First Circuit.
The real benefit, however, was not to the court system in general but rather to the parents and children.“ After having had mediation in place for nearly 15 years, I see that 75 percent of my custody cases, even the most contentious, never go to trial because they are resolved by an agreement between the parents through mediation,” she says.“ They are invested in an agreed parenting plan, and they rarely return to court with disputes after the plan is implemented by court order.”
Chernenko also adopted a parent education program in her circuit prior to the West Virginia Legislature implementing the same kind of program statewide.
“ The parent education program does not teach parents how to parent. Rather, it opens parents’ eyes to all of the negative actions they take when they are going through a contested custody case— negative things that emotionally harm their children and actions that are designed to hurt the other parent through using the children,” says Chernenko.“ The class shows them just how harmful these actions are to their
Kids’ Korner, located at the Hancock County Court facility. Photo by Raymond Smith.
children, with hopes of minimizing the negativity and bad acts. I have seen wonderful results with the program and heard parents cite the instructor’ s teachings when they come to court, showing that they are clearly remembering his lessons.
Chernenko considers her greatest success to be the children and domestic violence victims she has helped throughout her career.
“ Recently an attorney practicing in another state approached me and reminded me that I had presided over her parents’ contested custody case when she was a teenager,” she says.“ She told me that the way in which I dealt with her in her parents’ case was one of the reasons she decided to become an assistant prosecutor who handles abuse and neglect cases. That is a true success.”
Chernenko also strives to set an example for the future of the state’ s legal system
Chernenko at her Wheeling re-election event in 2016. Photo by Raymond Smith.
by regularly mentoring Bethany College pre-law students during internships in her court. Since 1996, she has also advised the women of Bethany’ s chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha, of which she is a member.
“ I believe it is important to provide a strong female role model for college women— indeed all young women— today, particularly in the field of law,” says Chernenko.“ We who are in the judiciary have a duty to set an example for young women of coming generations. They have a great need to witness successful women giving back to others. I know the Bethany women I work with are watching what I do and following my example. I hear it in how they speak about their future, their career goals and their life goals. Moreover, if I hear them talk about giving back, then I know I just might have made a small impact on a generation going forward.” •
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