WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner per year in the United States according to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

Paige Gilliard is the director of the custody advocacy program at the Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina. 

She says she has always loved working with children and after working as a house mom to girls at a children’s home in Chicago, she saw difficult issues some children face first hand. 

“I think that my connection with them and experience with children really made me want to think about what I could do to further my advocacy of children. And so I decided to go to law school and found a college that had a focus on children in the law,” said Gilliard. 

Gilliard has worked at the agency since 2011. Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina is appointed by the court to serve as Guardians Ad Litem for children in domestic violence protective order cases involving custody and high conflict custody cases. 

“The majority of our cases involve either domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, mental health, just a lot of really big and important issues that a lot of families face,” said Gilliard. 

Paige Gilliard looking at a Project Buddy Bear. (Spectrum News 1/Sydney McCoy)

Gilliard says their role is to get to know the child, finding out concerns the child may have or their wants, but never ask directly where their child wants to live. 

“We ask a lot of roundabout questions to the children, we advocate for the children and their best interests, but we also are there to protect the children. So oftentimes the children are put in the middle of the dispute between the parents. And so our job is to try to keep them out of the court process as much as possible,” said Gilliard.

After doing a thorough review on the history of the family, parties involved, interviews, past files, points of contact in the child’s life, seeing the child interact with families and viewing them in an environment such as at school, and more, the Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina provides a report to the court on their findings and recommendations.

“I think the best part of what we do is really getting to know those kids and thoughts, impressions, concerns, and then our recommendations for the court about what we feel is in the best interests of the children. And it's still up to the court to decide if they want to use any of our recommendations,” said Gilliard.

Gilliard says each case is different, although one thing is always the same — making the child comfortable. 

Paige Gilliard building a toy plane. (Spectrum News 1/Sydney McCoy)

“Oftentimes the child when we speak with them, they have actually heard and seen more than the parents know that they have. We also deal with children who have been abused physically, sexually, emotionally. We also work with children who have perhaps been bullied in school,” said Gilliard. 

Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina has partnerships with many organizations, including Backpack Beginnings and Project Buddy Bears of NC INC. to give the child items of need or of their own. 

In 2023, Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina served 171 children in 117 cases. With 80% of children coming from homes experiencing domestic violence, 42% come from homes experiencing substance abuse, and 53% come from homes with at least one adult with a mental illness. 

“We do have an increase in services, and I think it's an ongoing issue. Domestic violence, conflict that doesn't discriminate based on socioeconomic status, race, gender, education level,” said Gilliard.

The Childhood Domestic Violence Association shows 80-90% of people incarcerated in the United States were exposed to domestic violence among children. A study by the Wake Forest University School of Law shows when Children’s Law Center of North Carolina was appointed, better outcomes resulted for the child along with a reduction in violence. 

“Our goal is for each child that we serve to know that they are important, that they're loved, they have a voice,” said Gilliard.

Since its founding in 2005, Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina has helped over 1,700 children and has received funding from The Foundation For A Healthy High Point for the past three years and was granted $40,000 in the past grant cycle to help staff salaried and program expenses.

“In order to keep up with the influx of cases, we truly rely on our amazing team of staff attorneys, volunteer attorneys, and the great leadership in our organization. We have a group of really passionate and dedicated teams and an amazing group,” said Gilliard.

Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina has locations in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. If there is immediate danger, call 911.