What Is A Guardian Ad Litem (G.A.L.)
The dictonary defines it as follows:
A person appointed by a court as guardian of an infant or other person to act on his or her behalf in a particular action or proceeding.
However there are a few different ways a child can have one.
- You can request one if you are going through a divorce and you wish to have a third party involved with what is the best interest of the child.
- When a child becomes a foster child usually they are appointed one by the court. This does not always happen as they are usually understaffed.
So what do they do?
They are given the power by the judge to go into your doctors office, police station, school, and any other area that has records on the child and granted access to them.
They are the eyes and ears of the judge and their opinion carries more weight than a social worker and sometimes even the attorney.
They can sign medical consent forms for any medical procedure the child needs.
They are there to report back to the judge waht "they feel is in the best interest of the child".
Why are they needed?
Well as we already talked about how social workers are overworked and underpaid. G.A.L. are meant to fill in that gap. They do not carry with them the threat of the law, nor a badge. They do not even get paid for this work. So the idea was that people will be more willing to talk to them than a social worker.
They can talk to you on a social level and act like your friend. (be very careful though I will explain why in the next post).
So who can become a G.A.L.?
You would think with this kind of power you would have to go through a really hard class, have a degree in child psychology or at least know something about it and pass all kinds of checks. Well you are half right. ANYONE can be a G.A.L. You have to pass a background check, and take a class. Yes that is ALL!!
So basically if you have the right to vote you can go sit through a few weeks (when I did it, it was 3 weeks) class and pass a background. You can than have the second to most power in the courtroom. Scarry huh? That the person giving their opinion on the fate of your child has no degree only a desire.
A few things you should know:
- Their reports are sealed so you can see them if you are apart of the case but you can not show anyone else.
- You are REQUIRED to cooperate with them.
- If everyone in the court disagrees with what their recommendation is the judge might still go with what they say over everyone else.
Now I realize this post does not show the curuption (yet) that can be in a G.A.L. and I will explain more about this on Wednesday when I post part 2.
I just needed you to know who they are and why they even are apart of the court system in the first place. If you ever come into contact with one I do not want you making the mistake in fully trusting them.
As I fully support the #familyprotection movement 25% of ALL the SBD generated for this post will be transferred to #familyprotection.
As always Thank you for taking the time to read this post. It means the world to me to finally have a place where I can speak openly and without fear or repercussion.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!