Our experience with the Minnesota Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program has been great, but legislators receive a steady drip-drip-drip of complaints. That’s not surprising, since parties to child protection cases often dislike GAL recommendations.
The Office of Legislative Auditor (OLA) analyzed these criticisms. Their report says that state managers provided insufficient oversight around, for example, frequency of visits and what should be included in GAL reports.
OLA recommended many sensible improvements, but it’s unclear whether the volunteer board and small state staff have the capacity to implement them.
What’s clearer is that over 500 children are still unassigned, even though guardians are stretching themselves to carry caseloads 1/3 higher than the standard.
The Governor proposed $3.67M for additional staffing. If legislators approve this request they will probably hear fewer complaints.