Butler County should consider making a program aimed at alleviating stress for children during court appearances official.

Children who are required by state law to appear in court — for such issues as child custody — occasionally have the option to spend time with a furry friend to give them a sense of comfort as they await their appearance.

But according to the state’s Office of Children and Families in the Courts, the county doesn’t have an official comfort dog program.

That could possibly soon change if volunteers — with pups in tow — who are called in for specific cases involving children are successful in formalizing the process.

We hope they succeed.

A 2017 report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit aimed at improving public policy, noted that victims of child abuse often are frightened to testify about their experience in a courtroom.

In cases around the nation, children have been allowed to be accompanied by a comfort dog in the witness box to relieve stress as they discuss traumatic scenarios.

Often, they are testifying against a family member, which can be intimidating, and the dogs provide a calming presence.

But even less-severe cases — such as child custody hearings — still can be extremely stressful for young children.

“In cases where kids have suffered abuse or neglect, there’s already been trauma, and the last thing we want to do is inflict more trauma,” said Sandra Moore, director of the Office of Children and Families in the Courts.

Agreed.

Currently, the dogs are brought in to comfort children in Butler County on a case-by-case basis, although the county is in the process of trying to formalize a program with its K-9 Unit team to bring in five canines as comfort dogs.

Neighboring counties — such as Venango and Clarion — use dogs in the courthouses, and other locales around the state, from Lycoming County to Philadelphia, have hailed the success of the concept.

Twenty-four counties around the state have official programs.

The biggest roadblock locally is scheduling. Cathryn Heakins, a program specialist with child youth services, said county caseworkers are understandably busy, so they often have other priorities and, therefore, don’t think to contact the comfort dogs’ owners in time for them to appear at a hearing.

Butler County should move forward with formalizing the program at the courthouse.

It would provide an essential service to some of the county’s most vulnerable residents, all the while lifting a burden for caseworkers who are, as Heakins noted, “doing a thousand different things” and possibly making their jobs easier.

It’s a win-win proposal for everyone involved.