April 2016 - Florida Guardian Ad Litem

A pr i l 2 0 1 6
13 t h Ci rc u i t Gu a rd i a n A d Li t e m P r og ra m
V o l um e 3
The Guardian Globe
th
13 Points to Ponder from the 13 Circuit
“I am for the
child.”
A Letter From Our Director
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Upcoming Events
2
GAL Spotlight
3
News You Can Use
4
Anniversaries
4
Legal Lesson
5
Numbers Don’t Lie
5
The WOW Corner
6
Note from Non-Profit
6
Meet our Team Members
7
The GAL Team Model
Dear Guardians,
I want to take a minute to talk about how special I view each and every one of you. In my 13 years with the GAL
Program, one thing that always amazes me is our volunteers. In my time with the 13th Circuit, I’ve met some amazing volunteers! I have always said that one reason our program is so special is because of the different experiences of our volunteers
and you all are proving that to be true.
As you all have learned, we approach each case with a team approach. The GAL Team includes the volunteer, the
CAM, and the Best Interest Attorney, which is shown in the below picture. We all advocate for the child’s best interests. No
member of our team should be advocating individually. Communication is vital in any team, but especially within the GAL
team!
When volunteers and our staff members work together, there are bound to be some disagreements. That is expected and I’d be surprised if everyone agreed all the time! We have a policy that is in place in order to hear team disagreements or even difficult cases.
When working a case, if you do not agree with the CAM or the Attorney, you may ask for an internal staffing. This
staffing will consist of the assigned team, but also the management team in the office. If we are still not able to agree, we
will involve our Regional Team. Below is the excerpt from our GAL Program Standards about our conflict resolution policy.
Conflict Resolution: The team model of advocacy allows for and encourages conflicts over case issues and advocacy decisions to be resolved within the team. When a conflict arises as to an issue of fact, the team shall defer to the GAL
and CAM. When a conflict arises as to an issue of law, the team shall defer to the Child’s Best Interest Attorney.
Comments: If there is a circumstance when a conflict cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of all team members,
any team member can request that the Circuit Director and Supervising Attorney be consulted to assist with resolving the
conflict. If necessary, they should bring the Regional Director and the Regional Legal Counsel into the discussion.
To read more about our standards, refer to our website at www.guardianadlitem.org
I encourage you to ask questions, challenge each other, and to think outside of the box when you are approaching
your cases. It will ultimately result in better outcomes for our children!
Thank you for all of your hard work. I am honored to be a part of such a special program with such special people!
As always, please feel free to contact me to talk about your cases, the program, or any concerns you may have at
307-3579 or at [email protected].
GAL Volunteer
Attorney
Child’s Best
Interests
CAM
T he G u a r d i a n Gl o b e
Page 2
GUARDIAN SPOTLIGHTS
Ashley
Rushing
has been
a GAL Volunteer
since May
2015.
Ashley is
from Tallahassee and was born and raised as
a Gator (she likes to call it Civilization among the Savages!). Ashley
loves traveling, horseback riding,
painting, and of course anything to
do with the Gators! Ashley shared
that she lost her horse about 2
years ago. He passed away just before his 32nd birthday. She got this
horse at a 4H auction at Kenny Rogers’ farm.
She had
him for
nearly 30
years!
Ashley
learned
about the GAL Program by the book,
My Sister’s Keeper. Ashley states
that she has always felt the pull to
help kids. Her mom was a teacher in
Tallahassee and Ashley watched her
mom always helping her students
and their families. Her mom would
take them to dinner if they finished
elementary school, or if a parent
was in trouble, she would help any
way she could. She really showed
Ashley, as a young girl, that kids are
just a product of their situation and
everyone needs help. In college Ashley volunteered in the Youth Motivator program helping kids who needed someone just a bit older to help
them find their way, which may have
been to just be a friend or someone
to help tutor with their school work.
During her senior year of college,
Ashley got from the mother of the
little girl she was helping and that
has always stayed with her. Being
able to make a difference in just
the couple hours a week or month
was very powerful to a kid in college. As soon as work would permit, Ashley began volunteering
with Jr League and planned it accordingly. When she was through
with her Junior League days, she
would then be able to give her time
to GAL.
Since becoming a GAL Volunteer, Ashley has worked on 2
cases. She finds it to be very rewarding because she knows that
she is there for someone who
would not have a voice. She has
also tried to be a voice on social
media about what a great program
this is and has recruited 2 friends!
One of Ashley’s favorites
quotes is "Life's short. Bend the
rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly,
love truly and laugh uncontrollably." Author unknown. Thank you
Ashley for being such an awesome
advocate!
- Tammy LaVigne, CAM
Diane
Strickland
has been a
GAL since
January
2013.
Luckily for
the GALP Diane Strickland discovered the program and read what it
did for children in foster care and
“right away knew she needed to be
a part of that”. She loves working
with kids and helping them to be
successful which has always been
her passion. In her time as a GAL,
she has advocated for over 25 children with a current case load of
10. She has handled some extremely difficult and contentious
cases right from the start. Surpris-
ingly she has NEVER said NO to a
case assignment regardless of the
distance, the type of case or the
permanency track. The only question she has ever asked is which
kid needs her the most. It’s very
telling that when asked what her
biggest regret is, her response is “I
wish I could do more”.
Diane stays motivated due
to the realization that she gets to
help a child “find a new normal”.
She tells the kids she serves that
they have 3 jobs: to do a good job
in school, to be a kid, and to have
fun doing it. She takes on the responsibility of worrying about them
and they can just be a kid. The
best feeling she gets is when she
knows that for the first time in that
child’s life someone is putting
what they need and want first.
“It takes village to raise
children especially those in the
foster care system” is a quote Diane often refers to in her role as a
GAL. She credits the program as a
whole for her success thus far.
She couldn’t name her biggest accomplishment but stated anytime
a child is successfully reunified
with their parents or a relative or
adoptive parent we have succeeded. She feels there is something
incredible about being able to be a
part of an adoption where the kids
get a second chance at a new family or for some a family for the first
time.
She also offered some advice to new GALs. Our role is to
make sure that everyday kids feel
loved, safe and able to be a kid.
Being a GAL is a selfless act and
there are times that it can be frustrating and overwhelming. But at
the end of the day if you can make
a difference in just one child there
is no greater reward.
- Natasha Duggins, CAM
Page 3
A pr i l 2 0 1 6
U PCOMING
TRAININGS
IN SERVICE TRAININGS!!
&
EVENTS
CALLING ALL TRANSPORTERS!
All at the GAL Office:
The GAL Program has received donated tickets to
Tuesday, May 10, 6-8pm
Understanding the Adoption Process several events to help provide some free normalPresented by Judy Burke, GAL Atty cy activities for our kids in foster care. Please
contact your CAM for more info on the following
Wednesday, May 25, 6-8pm
opportunities:
Substance Abuse
Presented by Jamie Gomez, GAL Atty
 Glazer Children’s Museum– free admission tickets
Have a suggestion for a training?
Let us know!!
SOCIAL EVENTS!!
Support Group!
It’s a chance to talk about your cases, talk to your management staff, or mingle with fellow volunteers. Our Support
Group will meet on Friday, 5/6 from 12:30 to 2pm at the
Southshore Library located at 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin. We will be meeting in the Art Room. Come and join us!

10 tickets for Free Admission to MOSI

2016 Tampa Yankees Tickets (approximately 8 tickets
per game). Visit their website at www.tybaseball.com
for more info. They often
have some great specials!
If you are not an approved GAL transporter, talk to your
CAM today about submitting your application so you
can take your GAL child on one of these great outings!
Brown Bag Lunch!
Come have lunch with some fellow GAL Volunteers to talk
about your cases and mingle. Bring your lunch!
It will be on Friday, 5/13 from 12-1pm at the GAL Office.
RSVP required to [email protected]
the problem is especially critical during the summer
months, because they are not getting meals at school.
The Guardian ad Litem Office will host a drop
box for this wonderful event, 700 E. Twiggs Street, Ste.
750, Tampa 33602. Please share with your friends and
family. We want to show the Tampa Bay Area that our
kids matter! We will be collecting items until Friday, May
6th!
What can I donate?

The Guardian ad Litem Program will be hosting

a drop box for Cereal for Summer. Cereal for Summer is

an event sponsored by 10News WTSP and Feeding
Tampa Bay to help feed needy families. As many as

250,000 children in our area suffer from hunger and
Dry cereal – boxes or bags (Think Nutritious!)
Cereal/Breakfast Bars
Pop Tarts
Oatmeal
Page 4
G UARDIAN N EWS Y OU C AN U SE !
Optimize your time and advocacy with OPTIMA!
In June, our Circuit will be moving to a system called
Optima. Optima is a system that is used by various CASA programs throughout the U.S. Optima is unique in that it is a
web-based service. It does not require additional hardware,
software, licenses or upgrades. It can be used from all types of
computer hardware, such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones with an Internet connection. Data
transmitted to and from Optima is encrypted for additional
security.
Users within Optima are assigned one or more roles with different system views and permissions.
Volunteers will be provided with their
own log-in information and will be
able to use the case view, contact log entry and have some
update ability for the cases to which they are currently assigned. Volunteers may also update their personal information
and add training logs upon completion of in-service trainings.
Optima is designed for one-time data entry. When
entering an action, assignment, event, etc., the user may select one or more children or family members to which it applies, eliminating unnecessary keystrokes and repetitive processing. Intuitive programming allows a user to enter infor-
These Guardians celebrate their anniversaries
with the GAL Program in
April:
1 Year
Shaunda Andrews
Quiana Bones
Shelly Chapman
Dale Heide
Karen Heide
Robert Pellow
Lourdes Plunkett
Asma Soofi
Rene Collins
2 Years
Heather Barlow
Alix Charles
Peter Coburn
Steve Costello
Melissa Gohs
Marissa Hyman
Michael Hyman
Stacy Tran
3 Years
Kellie Beeble
Tonya Castellano
Andrea Conklin
Sandra Dolan
Linda Frank
Barbara Ghigi
Judy Harwood
Jennifer Inman
Steven Josias
mation on a single screen and Optima updates all other relevant screens and tabs. For example, when a program closes a
case, by simply entering closing dates and reasons on a single
screen, Optima goes through the case, releasing any associated people, closing all the children and placements and creating a closing note for the entire case.
Court report writing and editing is done directly in
Optima. The use of an editable court template can be uploaded into the document section of every
case, available to the volunteer for
the moment of first assignment. Advocates can pair it with their contact
logs to retrieve past information, as
well as assist the program in tracking
the actual time spent working on and completing the court
report.
Optima is going to maximize your time and advocacy!
There will be multiple trainings scheduled during the weeks of
June 13th and 20th in various parts of the county. Mark your
calendars now and stay tuned for exact dates, times, and locations! Optima is coming!!
You’ll wonder how you ever survived without Optima
once you start using it...IT’S THAT GREAT!
Linda Lassiter
Ted LeVand
Cindy Lunn
Wendy Partlow
Timothy Patrick
David Reilly
MaryLynn Reilly
Rita Robinson-Gregg
Paul Young
4 Years
James Bendickson
Mary Bendickson
Martha Diebold
Jill Fishman
Valarie Grim
Marion Kelso
Becki Maas
Holly McIntyre
Keith Olson
Michele Patterson
5 Years
Bill DeMare
BJ Dudney
Rod Epperson
Victoria Farmer
Juanita Hoyle
Holland Mann-Pittman
Michael Plett
Anita Spofford
Christopher Thomas
7 Years
Julianna Bent
Joe Villademoros
8 Years
Mary Beth Mooney
Mary Pond
9 Years
Thomas Blaha
Nora Graziano
Elaine Ross
Lorraine Smith
11 Years
Suzanne Jessamyn
Tammy Sirmans-Heisler
T he G u a r d i a n Gl o b e
Page 5
Featured Legal Lesson:
Changing Perceptions of Marijuana and Juvenile Dependency
On March 17, 2016, the Tampa City Council voted in favor of civil citations for the possession of 20 grams or less of
marijuana. And on March 25, 2016, Governor Rick Scott signed a bill approving medical marijuana use of terminally ill patients.
The general public’s perception of marijuana has shifted over the years towards acceptance and as an innocuous
substance. In our world of dependency, we also need to shift our perception of marijuana use. The issue is not necessarily
that the parent tested positive for marijuana, but more importantly how their use may affect their ability to parent.
So, you are probably wondering how this will affect our parents and children in the dependency system.
First, we need to determine whether the parents’ marijuana use is merely recreational outside the presence of their
children. For example, is the parent at a party while the children were with a relative or is the parent at home with the children? Is the parent dependent on marijuana? Is the parent unemployed and spends the day at home smoking marijuana? A
one-time use at a party does not have a significant impact on the parents’ ability to care for their child; however, daily use
would have a very significant and negative affect.
Second, we need to determine the impact the marijuana use has on the parents’ ability to care for their child. For
example, excessive use of marijuana can impair the parent’s attachment and judgment. Is the parent emotionally available
for the child when using marijuana? Is the parent able to use judgment and decision-making skills while using marijuana? An
infant needs constant support and supervision in order to be adequately cared for, while a teenager can feed and monitor
themselves.
Third, we need to determine whether the parents’ marijuana use has negatively impacted the child’s environment.
Does the child have easy access to the drugs in order to accidentally ingest them? Does the child lack basic necessities such
as appropriate housing and food due to the parents’ use of marijuana? For example, if the parent is using the marijuana in
excess, the parent may be unavailable to ensure that the child is getting to school on time, completing homework, or eating
properly.
In short, the decriminalization of marijuana possession in Tampa should not affect how we advocate for our children
as long as where are asking ourselves this one simple question: Is the parent able to adequately and safely parent their children? I will leave you with this quote which was derived from the 1980s war on drugs: “[Many] people in our society suffer
from drug or alcohol dependence yet remain fit to care for a child. An alcohol or drug dependent parent becomes unfit only if
the dependency results in mistreatment of the child, or in failure to provide ordinary care required for all children.” Mark Hardin, American Bar Association, Foster Care National League Resource Center for Child Advocacy (1983)
Submitted by Attorney Marisha Hartford
T HE NUMBERS
DON ’ T LIE ...
Number of children in dependency system:
3,146*
Number of children appointed to GAL Program: 1,630*
Number of GAL volunteers: 688*
Number of children with a volunteer: 1,096*
*As of 3/31/16
T HE WOW C ORNER !!
Meet one
of our GAL
Volunteers,
Gina Marie
MichaudS m i t h .
Gina Marie
has been a
volunteer
for 4 years
and has advocated for 3 children
during that time. Gina Marie was
recently named Mrs. Clearwater!
Gina Marie has chosen the GAL
Program as her platform as she runs
for Mrs. Florida. Please join us in
supporting Gina Marie in the Mrs.
Florida pageant, which is scheduled
in Orlando for the first weekend of
May. Good luck Gina Marie! We are
all rooting for you! To further support
Gina Marie, visit her on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/Mrs-ClearwaterF l o r i d a - A m e r i c a 272542086417685/
Welcome to our new Volunteers!
Sharon Beningfield
Tabitha Lambert
Betty Bowen
Karen Butenschoen
Theresa Morelli
Jessica Saul
Alexandria Taylor
Our Non-Profit Partner
VOICES FOR CHILDREN is participating in Give Day!
What is Give Day?
How Does it Work?
Give Day Tampa Bay is a community-wide, 24-hour online
giving challenge hosted by The Community Foundation of
Tampa Bay. This charitable event helps Tampa Bay area
nonprofits raise much-needed dollars and bring awareness
to the numerous challenges facing these organizations.
Last year, Give Day Tampa Bay raised $1.75 million for 550
Tampa
Bay area
nonprofit
organizations.
For 24 hours, from midnight to midnight on Tuesday, May
3rd donors like you can make gifts online to Voices for Children. All donations will go toward supporting The GAL program and the abused, neglected, and abandoned children in
our community. Gifts must be made by credit or debit
card between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. to be eligible for
Give Day Tampa Bay. The minimum donation that will be
accepted is $25. There is no maximum per charity. The
Community Foundation of Tampa Bay has set up an online
platform at www.givedaytampabay.org with searchable profiles of participating nonprofits.
Look for more information on Facebook and Twitter in the
coming weeks!
FIND
US
www.galtampa.org
www.facebook.com/GALTampa
https://twitter.com/galtampa
Yvonne Marrone has been with
Marilyn Garcia joined the
the GAL Recruitment Team
recruitment team in August
since October 2008. Yvonne
2014. Marilyn is the Foundbegan with the Guardian ad Lier of the Rachel Project
tem Program as a volunteer in
which is a program that
February of 2008. Being able to
brings awareness and edushare the GAL Program with
cation in the Bay area for
everyone that she meets hardly
Human Trafficking. She is
seems like a job. Yvonne states
using her passion and love
that she is the lucky one to work
for children to let people
at something that she
know how to become a volloves! Yvonne believes that if you are not willing to unteer and be a voice to the children in the foster
help solve a problem, you don’t have any right to
care.
complain about it!
Her greatest highlight is being a mom and a wife.
She is a mom to two wonderful adult children; Katryel who is currently taking a break form college and
Megan Gerken joined
living in Cambridge, UK and Devan who is a music
the recruitment team
aficionado and is pursuing a music career in Caliin March 2016. Mefornia. A wife of 23 years to John, who is a Pasgan Gerken came to
tor, Life coach and Motivational speaker. (He keeps
our program in NoMarilyn motivated and helps her look at life with a
vember 2013 as a
“half full glass!”) Her life is best described as MothGuardian Ad Litem
er Theresa puts it. “I have found the paradox , that if
volunteer and beyou love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt,
came a Child Advoonly more love.”
cate Manager in February 2015. When Megan is
not working, she is currently enrolled in a 200 hour
yoga teacher training program as well as a kid’s
Sharon Beningfield joined our
yoga training program. Once certified, she will be
recruitment team in April 2015.
working with local group homes to teach yoga to
Sharon is a Florida native who
youth in foster care. Megan is also planning on get- brings many years of communiting married at the beginning of May and is excitedly ty relations and non-profit expeplanning for the big day! Megan also enjoys readrience. These have often including, running, yoga, traveling, boating, and cats. Me- ed experiences and events for
gan lives in South Tampa near MacDill AFB with her children and she has also
fiancé.
worked one-on-one with children in classrooms. She is excited to join the team and warns all that she may have
a million questions to divide among us!
Let Us Hear From
YOU!
Love what you see and want more of it? Give us your questions, comments, complaints, or suggestions. We will do our very best to get it into our next newsletter.
EDITOR’S CONTACT INFO
Tabitha Lambert
[email protected]