Florida Guardian ad Litem Program Annual Report

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Understanding8Guardians ad Litemare people like youGuardian ad Litem Volunteers are trainedchild advocates. They work as part of a teamalongside the Program’s Child AdvocateManagers and Program Attorneys to providejudges with first-hand accounts of the child’ssituation and make recommendations aboutwhat is in the child’s best interests.Guardian ad Litem Volunteers are best interestsadvocates, but they are so much more tothe children they advocate for. Guardians adLitem become trusted friends, mentors, andcan be a link between the child and his or hercommunity. Volunteers are many times the onlystable adult in the child’s life. This is criticallyimportant to children who have been traumatizedand placed in the child welfare system.…she supports andencourages me, she sharesher life knowledge withme, and accepts me as Icurrently am, while seeingthe person I can become.I remember a case where two teenage girls withoutparents couldn’t be placed with their adult sisterbecause her home was too dangerous. Within 2weeks, the GAL Team had galvanized the communityto get them an RV and everything they needed to livetogether as a family, and made a motion to the judgeso they could live with their sister. When I think aboutwhat a unique resource GALs are for children, how theycan leverage the community and their own knowledgeand resources for kids who would otherwise have noone, I want to tell everyone to be a guardian ad litem.Child Advocate Manager, 5th Judicial Circuit
92002 – Governor Bush’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Protectionrecommends that the Florida Legislature set amongits highest priorities the full funding of the Guardian adLitem Program concluding:“if there is any program thatcosts the least and benefits the most, this one is it.”Years
Page 1 and 2: 1980-2020Guardian ad Litem Program2
Page 3 and 4: For 40 years, thousands of Floridia
Page 5 and 6: 51980 - The first CASA office in Fl
Page 7: 7“We are all together.”That was
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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