As recently as last winter, Minnesota’s once-vigorous volunteer Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program seemed in danger of disappearing. The state agency that oversees these volunteer courtroom advocates for abused and neglected children had put the training of new volunteers on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guardian ad Litem Board was poised last January to altogether discontinue the role of community volunteers acting as so-called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), largely as a cost-saving move.
But in the wake of a January Star Tribune report on the controversy by reporter Jessie Van Berkel, the CASA advocates found influential advocates of their own. It now appears likely a rejuvenated CASA program will survive — welcome news to all who are concerned about the welfare of Minnesota children.
Guardians ad Litem observe children and their families, review relevant records and reports, and attend meetings with other professionals involved with children and their families. They make written and oral recommendations in court regarding the short and long-term best interests of children. They are, first and foremost, advocates for individual children at high risk of abuse and maltreatment.
“Minnesota’s Child Protection System has failed many children,” wrote former Minnesota Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, a longtime champion for at risk kids, in a letter last winter to the GAL Board. “…[T]he issues facing families are difficult and … [e]asy solutions are rare …. But … [p]reventing concerned, committed people from advocating for children as volunteers will insulate the system even more.”
Also writing in support of the “hybrid model” — wherein both paid staff members and volunteers serve as Guardians ad Litem – was current state Supreme Court Justice Anne K. McKeig. The program, she wrote, “is the only part of the system that encourages community involvement and adds a level of accountability and transparency that is critical to the welfare of abused and neglected children…”
Above all, as McKeig told the Star Tribune, “We need more guardians, not fewer.”
Staff GALs often carry caseloads of dozens of cases, while volunteers focus on two or three.
Three years ago Minnesota’s ranks of volunteer advocates totaled 283. Today fewer than 20 remain on the job.
Persuaded that the hybrid program should be revived, the GAL Board, on which Blatz is now a member, has empaneled a working group to deliver a plan by November for restarting volunteer training and coordinating staff and CASA efforts. Join us in following the working group’s progress carefully.