ST. LUCIE WEST — Communities Connected for Kids welcomes its newest Board member, recently retired magistrate to the 19th Judicial Circuit, Kay Hammond.

Hammond, who attended her first CCKids Board meeting Tuesday, was one of the first three general magistrates appointed to serve the circuit, which covers the same four counties served by CCKids’ community of care – Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties. She held the position until she retired last May.

Her assignment throughout her tenure as magistrate included presiding over dependency cases, which include children and families served by CCKids and the foster-care system. She also presided over involuntary mental health commitments and involuntary substance abuse commitments.

“The most personally rewarding part of that service was dependency court, where I had the opportunity to interact with the children and sometimes witness miraculous transformations in their lives and the lives of their families,” Hammond said.

Hammond attended graduate school at Duke University and law school at the University of Tennessee and Memphis State University, where she earned her Juris Doctor.

She practiced law in Memphis for five years, during which time she was employed as an attorney for the Department of Human Services, handling cases involving abused, abandoned and neglected children. She moved to Vero Beach in 1983, worked for the Public Defender’s Office and later opened her own firm with partner Bruce J. Smith.

Representing parents in dependency cases was a substantial part of their practice at Hammond and Smith, P.A.

“Kay has an extensive knowledge of the dependency system and a heart for the children and families we serve,” said CCKids Chief Executive Officer Carol Deloach. “We’re very lucky to have her on our Board.”