Florida Guardian ad Litem Program Annual Report

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Advocacy4When a child is abused, abandoned orneglected and cannot remain at homein a healthy, safe environment, he or shemay be removed by the Departmentof Children and Families (DCF) anda dependency court case begins.The Guardian ad Litem Program is appointedby the judge to represent these children andadvocate for their best interests includingtheir legal interests. We recruit and trainvolunteers from the community to becomechild advocates and work with Programstaff and attorneys to represent children.From the moment I mether, my Guardian adLitem was supportiveand caring. She alwaysmade sure the judgeheard my voice. Theyfought for us in court tomake sure my motherhad regular visits withher children. Theyadvocated for placementwith my sister’s fathereven though the initialdecision was no.A Guardian ad Litem shall be appointed by the court at theearliest possible time to represent the child in any childabuse, abandonment, or neglect judicial proceeding….§ 39.822(1), Fla. Stat.
51980 – The first CASA office in Florida opens its doors in January 1980in Jacksonville and was physically located in the State Attorney’soffice. By the end of the next year, there were GAL Programs in tenjudicial circuits with 407 volunteers representing 1,026 children.Years
Page 1 and 2: 1980-2020Guardian ad Litem Program2
Page 3: For 40 years, thousands of Floridia
Page 7 and 8: 7“We are all together.”That was
Page 9 and 10: 92002 - Governor Bush’s Blue Ribb
Page 11 and 12: The Guardian ad Litem Program advoc
Page 13 and 14: Meeting the needs ofchildren statew
Page 15 and 16: 15TriumphIn 2019 the Florida GAL Fo

Florida Guardian ad Litem Program Annual Report

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