The Guardian Ad Litem Program: Volunteering in North Carolina and Across the Nation to Stop Child Abuse

When a child is suspected of being abused or neglected, a petition is filed with the Juvenile Court. If the evidence presented is deemed sufficient to support the claim, a judge will appoint a Guardian ad Litem to represent the child's best interests and rule that an investigation ensue. Social workers and attorneys will be charged with asking deeply personal questions and as the County begins its probe in order to fully understand the extent of the child's situation, the accused party's reaction may range anywhere from cooperative to defensive and hostile.

In the meantime, the child (and the sole motivating factor behind this flurry of activity) may not be getting all of the attention she needs. She may have some insight into the situation, some questions she needs answered, or, she may just need the assurance of a constant presence as her home situation changes and she finds her life and the people in it in a general state of flux.

This is where a Guardian ad Litem comes in. As a neutral party, the Guardian has no need to advocate for the County or defend the accused. Their only purpose is to interview those involved in order to piece together as objective a report as possible to present to the Juvenile Court. The Guardian's job is to show reliability and garner trust by seeing a case through from beginning to end, and to be the child's voice at meetings and in Court.

The goal of the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program is to "ensure that all of the children […] represent[ed] remain safe and that their homes are permanent." The North Carolina GAL program has been in effect since 1983, and according to the North Carolina Court System web site, it has been able to serve "the best interests of thousands of children. Many were able to return home, some now live with other family members, [and] still others have been adopted." None of this would have been possible without the diligent work of its many volunteers.

The most updated information available on the website shows that in 2003 only 3,824 trained volunteers were available to serve 15,706 children. The program is always looking for new volunteers, the only stipulation being that you are passionate and committed about your work. Anyone can become a Guardian: full time professionals, stay-at-home parents, tradespeople, high school graduates, and Ph.D.s. Whoever you are, the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem program provides a nationally recognized Orientation and Training seminar which is spread out over a period of 25-30 hours so that you may become fully prepared to work with a child.

After completing the program and being sworn in by a judge, you will dedicate not more than ten hours a month of your own time to the program: interviewing, gathering information, making visitations, and writing reports and recommendations. Roughly every three months you will be expected to attend a court hearing involving the child you represent. This time commitment will last until your child is safely established in a new home or the issues in the original household have been thoroughly resolved.

Melissa Love, the Supervisor for the Guardian ad Litem Program in
Durham
, recalls her fist case as a volunteer. The little girl she was assigned to represent would speak to no one, but Ms. Love gently persisted. Slowly, as she was able to build a rapport with the little girl, they began to gab to one another like old friends. That experience alone left an enormous impact on her life. Now in a position where she is part of the support team that trains and mentors new volunteers, she is able to analogize the ad Litem Program for those just starting out: it should be just like going to see the best movie ever made. You run the gamut of emotions: elation, frustration, heartache, and satisfaction…and in the end, you walk out of that theatre and back into your own life.

That last step is important. It is imperative that you develop the ability to be able to work with different people with different opinions, to meet conflict head on and to try to resolve any problems that pop up, keeping in mind the whole time that you are doing this with the child's best interest in mind. And if it just so happens that the outcome isn't exactly how you hoped it would be, you need to be able to understand that your work wasn't all for naught. If nothing else, it was still important to the child, and in the end, that's all that you can really guarantee.

There are not many volunteer opportunities out there comparable to the Guardian ad Litem Program. Rarely are you given a chance to knowingly effect change on so personal a level; to strive for and reach the goal for which you set out; or to put a face to a name and know that it is this child to whom you are dedicating your time. Through the Guardian ad Litem program you are able to become involved in your community, become an advocate in the court system, educate yourself in the area of social services, and most importantly, champion the rights of someone whose voice would otherwise be lost in the bureaucratic shuffle of the grownup world.

For more information, click on the following links:

In
North Carolina
, go to http://www.nccourts.org/Citizens/GAL/Volunteers.asp

or call 1-800-982-4041 for more information.

Download the Volunteer Application Form here: http://www.nccourts.org/Forms/Documents/732.pdf

Or click here for a list of GAL offices across the State: http://www.nccourts.org/Citizens/GAL/Documents/GALCountyContactListnew.pdf

Nationwide go to: www.guardianadlitem.org/ or visit http://www.nationalcasa.org/ for information on other advocacy opportunities.