One Iowa juvenile courtroom offers a unique experience with the justice system

First-time visitors in District Associate Judge Kimberly Ayotte’s court may sense that this courtroom is unlike the others at the Iowa Justice Center. Immediately noticeable are the colorful, handmade quilts draped upon the court secretary’s desk. Piles of folded blankets sit at the base of the judge’s bench and the stairs are lined with stuffed animals. There are four bookshelves full of books aimed at audiences from toddlers to adolescents. The tabletops do not only offer tissue and hand sanitizer, but also Pop It fidgets, action figures, beanie babies, and other toys.
There is a sense of calm in this courtroom, an environment which traditionally may be perceived as sterile and formal. Walking through the courtroom door to a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere full of blankets, books, and stuffed animals provides a sense of ease on what may be a stressful, scary, or traumatic day. For children and parents working through the legal system, Judge Ayotte hopes to make things a little less intimidating from the start. The quilts have been on display for the last couple years, as it “warms up the courtroom. It’s hard for people to come to court involving children. I just want people to feel comfortable,” Judge Ayotte explains.
Judge Ayotte was a Youth Law Center attorney for 22 years prior to becoming a judge. She has now served as a district associate judge within the Iowa Justice Center for four years. Almost since the day she started in her role, quilts have been donated to her courtroom by volunteers. The quilts are then given as gifts to children, parents, and families who are participants in legal matters.
Paulette Clemens is a CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate program) volunteer who makes many of the quilts in Judge Ayotte’s courtroom. Paulette had already been donating blankets to the center prior to Judge Ayotte’s assignment to the bench.

Judge Ayotte explains that maintaining the relationship with Paulette and other volunteers continues to be essential for making the experience for participants in her courtroom what it is today. One of Judge Ayotte’s driving forces for keeping the volunteer program alive comes from her passion for serving children and families: “I am fortunate to do work where I can make a difference in children’s lives.”
Quilt donations also come from local church volunteers and other organizations or relationships built throughout the community, some of whom make quilts for both her specialty court and for other children involved in child welfare or delinquency proceedings.
On average, there are 7-10 quilts given away each week. When asked how it is possible to keep up with those numbers, Judge Ayotte replies, “I always worry the well is going to run dry and then people surprise me with their generosity.”
There are all sizes of quilts to choose from, and the recipients are both children and adults.
“Parents are important to me too. They can pick the quilts that are meaningful to them,” Judge Ayotte remarks.
“Sometimes older kids want a quilt,” she adds. There is a court reporter who helps families pick out a quilt in specialty court.
Cases in Judge Ayotte’s court include adoptions, Child in Need of Assistance (CINA), and juvenile matters. Attorneys who are familiar with the courtroom will give their clients a heads up about being offered a quilt for them and/or their child at their first courtroom meeting. Many first experiences in the courtroom may be a pretrial conference or removal which can be difficult. “The goal is reunification,” Ayotte says.
She hopes that offering a quilt to the parent and the child lets participants in her courtroom know that she cares about both. She reminds parents that “you may not be spending every night with your child, but you can provide comfort – building and enhancing relationships with the child.”
Emphasis on the well-being of the parents is a point that the judge was very clear to make when she says, “Part of having safe babies involves being trauma-informed for parents as well as children.”
The handmade quilts are not the only gifts participants can take home from the courtroom. Books are also provided by the Judge Witt Foundation as gifts for child participants. One tall wooden bookcase was created and filled with books as an Eagle Scout project. There is diversity in the books, including hard and soft covers geared to different ages and spanning multiple genres. There are special books with two copies of the same book making up a pair for a program called “2 for 2” where the parent and child receive the same book so that the parent can read to the child over the phone. There are also coloring books and stuffed animals.
It is important to Judge Ayotte that the recipients of the quilts and books get to choose their gift. “It is wonderful seeing them go through to find the one that fits their personality or child’s personality,” she says. It is not unusual to see a child and parent coloring together, as there are coloring books and colored pencils available. “It’s about building that relationship,” says Judge Ayotte.
The stuffed animals are for families with children in the courtroom to finalize adoptions and are given at other times as well.
The toys on the tabletop are purposeful and intentional. The fidgets are for the children and parents who may find comfort in having a gadget to occupy their hands. “When they want to talk, they have Pop Its,” Judge Ayotte says, “The attorneys use them more than the kids!”
One of the first hearings conducted after the pandemic involved a parent who had only appeared before the judge on a screen. Judge Ayotte describes how the parent was terrified to come to the courtroom and had tears welling up at the start of the hearing. That same parent left court with a quilt and stack of books.

Read the article in The Iowa Lawyer magazine April 2023 issue.