The Register - Guardian Ad Litem

The Register
Fall 2010
2010 Suncoast GAL Volunteer Conference
Our first effort to bring the Suncoast region
circuits together for a joint volunteer focused
conference was a monumental success. The
stars were aligned and everything fell into
place on October 25, to produce a memorable
day for all involved. The speakers were
awesome, the food was delicious, the people
were convivial, and the location was inviting.
A total of 124 people from 5 circuits learned
useful information and shared GAL
experiences. The 12th Circuit is very proud of
the hard work of the following volunteers who
did an excellent job of putting it all together.
In no particular order, we thank Craig Brown,
Nancy Caffiero, Paul Dain, Valerie Gray,
Virginia Hitchcock, Eileen Lussen, Bob
Merrill, Sandy Mullen, Derek Noll, Lynn
Ouellette, John Sakaleris, Judy Sharple,
Linda Suereth, Skip Suereth, Donna
Townsend, and all of our speakers. A
special thank you to the Lakewood Ranch
Starbucks for the donated coffee, Palm
Printing for the donated notepads and the
Children’s Guardian Fund for the magnets.
Next year we look forward to an even bigger
and better (if that is possible) event.
News You Can Use
Inside This Issue
Pam’s Fall Message ...................................... 2
Most of you are aware that Coalition files are
now electronic. What some of you may not
know is that you can now access coalition files
in the GAL offices. We are also able to print
documents you may need. There are, however,
a couple of caveats. The GAL offices have
limited computers so it is important to call or
email ahead to be sure we can give you the
attention you need and be sure there is a
computer terminal for your use. Call Valerie at
941-744-9473 in Manatee, Karen at 941-8614875 in Sarasota or Sandee at 863-993-4638 in
DeSoto to schedule your computer time. Files
may still be accessed at the coalition. Please
call ahead to schedule your time.
Become an Educational Surrogate................ 2
Ask an Attorney.............................................. 3
Notable Anniversaries—Fourth Quarter....... 3
Kudos............................................................. 4
Kudos continued ............................................ 5
Fourth Quarter Events .................................. 5
Children’s Guardian Fund Luncheon ........... 7
Save the Date................................................. 8
Case Manager of the Month .......................... 8
Upcoming Training Events............................ 8
Pam’s Fall Message
GRATITUDE
It seems like just yesterday
we were planning for
summer and now we are
talking about the holidays
and closing out another
year. The Holidays always
fill me with gratitude, a
feeling I am trying to hold
on to all year long, but
can’t always muster when I
see the atrocities that children have to endure. Right
now I am especially grateful for the 435 wonderful
volunteers who give selflessly of their time to
represent the best interests of the 1,003 children to
whom we are appointed. We know that each of you
could choose to do most any kind of volunteer work
but you choose to work on behalf of children. You
choose to spend your time with us in what seems
like a never ending cycle of child maltreatment and
because you choose to be a child’s voice we are very
grateful. However, I say “appointed” because at this
writing Manatee has 35 unassigned cases with 62
children and Sarasota has 22 unassigned cases with
35 children. We can no longer say we represent
100% of the children because we have 97 children
who don’t have a GAL. Your Volunteer Supervisor
would love to hear you say that you will take
another case, and, of course, I would be very
grateful.
I’m also very grateful for the twenty-six people who
make up the staff of the Guardian ad Litem Program.
There couldn’t be twenty-six more varied
personalities, but, without exception, they are
dedicated and compassionate about the fate of
children. You know them and work with them and
know how blessed we are to have them on our team.
I’m grateful for the twelve members of the
Children’s Guardian Fund and their continued
efforts to raise funds to support the special needs of
children and the Guardian Program.
I’m also grateful for the lawmakers we are sending
to Tallahassee who are challenged to work on the
huge budget issues ahead of us. We have to trust
they will see the tremendous value of the small
budget we require to ensure that our children are
safe and in good care. Please ask your legislators to
remember us favorably.
2010 has given us much to be grateful for: births,
weddings, graduations, adoptions, reconciliations,
jobs, reunifications. These are the things we want to
remember as we go forward into 2011. Hold on to
them for 2011 could be a bumpy ride.
Thank you for remembering our 1,003 children
while you have a Great-Full Holiday with family
and friends.
Become an Educational Surrogate
A new law now allows a Guardian ad Litem for a
child to become that child’s Educational Surrogate.
An educational surrogate is a person who acts in the
educational interest of an exceptional student in
order to make sure that the student receives an
appropriate education.
Who is an exceptional student? It is a student who
has special learning needs because of a disability or
because the student is gifted.
What does an Educational Surrogate do? The
educational surrogate represents the exceptional
student in all educational decisions such as referral
for evaluation, development of the individual
educational plan (IEP), and placement.
Who needs an educational surrogate? Children who
are dependent and whose parents are unknown or
cannot be located, need an educational surrogate.
How can you become your child’s educational
surrogate? Guardian ad Litem volunteers can
become an educational surrogate by taking a short
school board training.
The School Board of
Sarasota County is offering
a surrogate parent training
to Guardians from the 12th
Circuit on January 24th
from 9-11:30 at Toledo
Blade Elementary in
North Port.
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Ask an Attorney Jeff Smith
Q: What happens at a Shelter Hearing?
A: A shelter hearing is the formal court review that must
occur within 24 hours of the removal of a child from their
home by child protective services. It is at the shelter
hearing that a judge formally orders the child placed in
the protective custody of the State.
Prior to removal, a child protection investigator must
make a determination that the child has been abused,
abandoned, or neglected or that the child is suffering
from or is in imminent danger of illness or injury as a
result of abuse, abandonment or neglect and that there are
no services that would alleviate the risk and allow them
to remain in the home. In addition, a child can be
removed if a parent has violated a condition of placement
imposed by the court or the child has no parent or legal
guardian immediately known and available to care for
them.
unnecessary. The parents are given the opportunity to
present evidence but typically any contested
allegations are dealt with at a later dependency trial.
The court will inquire as to the identity of any
unknown parent. This is particularly important if there
is no legal father. A legal father is a father listed on the
birth certificate or a man who was married to the
mother at the time of the child’s birth. The mother has
an obligation to name all prospective fathers and her
failure to do so will most likely delay permanency if
subsequent efforts at reunification do not succeed.
Visitation should be ordered unless there is clear
and convincing evidence that it is not in the best
interest of the child. Visits should begin within 72
hours and occur weekly for siblings and at least
monthly for parents.
If it appears that the child’s new placement out of
his previous school district will only be temporary,
The State then must file a shelter petition and appear
the Program may ask that the court order the
before the court to establish probable cause that one of
the conditions listed above existed and warranted removal Department to provide transportation to provide
of the child. The probable cause standard has a low
continuity for the child.
threshold of proof and exists when the facts
Other issues that are dealt with at the shelter hearing
and circumstances alleged in the petition are sufficient to include potential placements, services for the child,
warrant a prudent person to believe the child has been
medical issues, psychotropic medications, and child
abused, abandoned or neglected. If probable cause is not
support obligations.
established, the child must be returned to the parent.
Finally, the court notifies the parents of the next
At the shelter hearing, the court informs the parents of
hearing, typically an arraignment, and the date and
their right to an attorney and will appoint counsel to
time of a case plan conference. For more information,
indigent parents. The court also appoints the Guardian ad please refer to the dependency case management
Litem Program unless such representation is
flowchart at http://www.12gal.org/GALmentor.html.
Notable Anniversaries Third Quarter 2010
McAlonie, John....................3
Merrill, Bob .........................3
Poolman, Kristin ..................3
Zerkel, Marylee....................3
Bridwell, Cathryn.................4
Burke, James ........................4
Caffiero, Nancy....................4
Celeste, Diane ......................4
Celeste, Vincent ...................4
Cindric, Kathleen .................4
Cooke, Winston ...................4
Cox, Charlotte......................4
Dockery, Vernon..................4
Ewing, Betty ........................4
Friedman, Michael ...............4
Gilbert, Carolyn ...................4
Gladstone, Margie................4
Hollins, Ann.........................4
Jacobson, Grace ...................4
Jentsch, Linda ......................4
Madden, Barbara..................4
Mathewson, Linda ...............4
Mullen, Sandy ......................4
Noll, Derek...........................4
Ouellette, Lynn ....................4
Rey, Kathleen.......................4
Rhodes, Sandra ....................4
Tondreau, Wanda.................4
Winter, Alice........................4
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Drabowsky, Rita ..................5
Ginnis, Jerry.........................5
Pratt, Marilyn .......................5
Singletary, Patricia...............5
Weisbord, Janet....................5
Weisbord, Leon....................5
Woods, Jane .........................5
Cameron, Kathryn................6
Costner, Jeanie .....................6
Krinsky, Gina.......................6
Warden, Maria .....................6
Bean, Andrew ......................9
Williams, Barbara ................9
McGrath, Mary ..................10
Dain, Paul...........................13
Kudos A HUGE thank you goes out to the Apisdorf
Foundation for their contribution of $18,000 in gift
cards for our children in care. Many of our children
will have a much brighter holiday thanks to their
generosity.
To the Manasota SMALSS who shopped for one of
our more deserving families again this year. The
group of legal assistants provided the children and
the caregivers with a very special holiday.
To the MOPAR Car Club which out did
themselves again this year providing Santa and all
the trimmings to 2 families. They arrive in a red
convertible with Santa and Elves in tow.
To the Sarasota Junior League for providing our
Sarasota children with new school supplies when
they return to school in January. Volunteers can
come by the office in early January.
To Partners in Practice and Holly Taylor for
providing a wonderful holiday for 3 families.
To Sara Jane Anapol for her patience and
understanding with the mom and dad on her case.
She has been instrumental in getting visits with the
child and father set up on a regular basis by staying
in contact and on top of the situations of the
case. She stays in contact with the mentally ill mom
who moved to north Florida at the beginning of the
case and due to Sara Jane’s encouragement this mom
is now receiving documented mental health services
and making progress. Sara Jane is involved in
Family Centered Practice for the best interest of the
boy she is advocating for. She spends a lot of time
with the child during visits and has a good
relationship with the daycare provider. She is always
willing to follow the GAL Program Code of
Conduct even when she doesn’t want to! Sara Jane
has been a GAL for fifteen years. Way to go Sara
Jane! -Milessa
plans, visitation, and service providers. He provides
the children and their families with a sense of
connection and understanding. -Manny
To Juanita Aguilar, who went the extra mile and
made contact with an incarcerated mother,
confirmed and documented the mother’s substantial
compliance of the case plan tasks including the
mother’s regular contact with the child, worked hard
to have the Court change the goal to permanent
guardianship instead of adoption, and was
instrumental in having the child placed with a nonrelative care giver who is a friend of the mother’s
and will keep the child until the mother is released
from incarceration and petition the Court to re-open
the case. -Manny
To Lynne Mercier which were expressed in a letter
received from the pre-adoptive parents for the
children on her case. Lynne is praised for her
advocacy and influence in the girls’ lives. “The
Guardian ad Litem … has done an exceptional job.
She drove over 3 hours round trip to visit our home.
….it was obvious at all the meetings how much the
children respect and listen to Lynn.” -Manny
To Michelle Gilchrist on her first case where the
baby was successfully reunified with the mother in
the first 6 months of the case shortly following the
death of the baby’s father. She played a very active
role to ensure that the infant was receiving the best
of care and always checking up on the mother to
ensure she was actively participating in services.
Despite the tragedy of the father’s death, the mom
worked hard on her case plan so that the baby gets to
spend his first Christmas with mom. -Brittany
To Bob Merrill for being my shelter visit
To Alfredo Nunez, who always steps-up-to the plate
when another Spanish speaking child enters
dependency. Alfredo is always open to taking these
Spanish cases due to the language barrier and he
goes out of his way to make sure that the parents are
informed of the logistics of their dependency cases.
Without Alfredo, many of these children and parents
would have a tough time navigating through the case
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Fourth Quarter Events
Kudos Continued
GAL! Bob is always willing and able to do the
visits for me. He even calls me to check and remind
me that he is available. Also, he has helped out on
other VS days as well. Thanks Bob! -Toni
To Maria Warden for being willing and putting
together (what I am sure is going to be a spectacular
Holiday party); all while her cases are exploding
with runaway teens, placement breakdowns, and
new babies. Thanks Maria! -Toni
To Debbie Graham for being an awesome advocate
for her teen that is getting ready to age out into the
APD system. Debbie has been consistent and
persistent in her advocacy for the teen not to be
homeless upon his 18th birthday. He will have a
smooth transition thanks to Debbie. Way to go
Deb!! -Toni
Manatee County Christmas Party
From Left—Jan Vestal, Pam Hindman,
Santa, Josie Lund, Bea Carlson,
Heather Nicklaus & Annette Bolton
To Gina Krinsky for going above and beyond for
the families that she works with. Gina is always
available to her families, the agencies, and other
parties even when she is hundreds of miles
away. Her cases have been challenging for several
months now, but Gina has not let one detail slip
through the crack and it has made the
difference. Thank you for all that you do Gina! Toni
To Dale Otterman for being a great and constant
advocate for the teen on her case. Dale has endured
a lot of personal attacks from the mother of the child
and has always taken it in stride and with great
professionalism. It has been a tough road for Dale,
but the teen on her case is blessed and proud to have
her as a GAL. A million thanks to you Dale! -Toni
To my awesome team of GALS who do great work
advocating for our children. I would need the whole
newsletter for myself to thank them all. I feel
blessed and privileged to work with such wonderful
people. Happy Holidays!! -Toni
Kudos to Charlotte Senevy for assisting Grammy’s
House with a mini renovation. She was able to
obtain donated materials such as tile and carpet to
provide a fresh look for the one and only therapeutic
youth shelter for young children. -Brittany
To Julie Phalen, Barbara Dittman, Maria
Warden, and Josie Lund for sneaking in the white
elephant gifts for the staff.
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VS Dorothy Neal & Milessa Dunlop
Christmas Party
Fourth Quarter Events Welcome to
Lynne Higgins, our new
Volunteer Supervisor
in Sarasota
Welcome to our new GALs!
Thank you to the Junior League
for school supplies!
Apisdorf Foundation donated our Walmart Gift
Cards for Christmas. Left to right
Alan Quinby, CGF, Pam Hindman,
Martha Bandinel & Lynne Bowen
Please wish Russ Gutmann, VS
good luck pursuing his masters!
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Children’s Guardian Fund 14th Annual Fall Fundraiser
Children’s Guardian Fund Raises $30,000
At 14th Annual Fall Fundraiser
180 Guests This Year Raise 50 % More
Funds Support Foster Care Children and the
Guardian ad Litem Program
Some say the season hasn’t really begun until the
Children’s Guardian Fund holds its annual fundraiser
in early November. This year was no different, except
for a really wonderful increase in the funds it
generated -- a 50 percent gain to $30,000, the largest
total amount in its 14 years of holding the event.
The 180 guests heard Derrick Riggins, a former foster
child, discuss growing up in the foster care system.
An estimated 20 Guardian ad Litem volunteers
attended the luncheon.
For 25 years Stockham has taken in children,
providing them with a place to live, education and
confidence in themselves, and we are proud to
honor her, noted Alan Quinby, president of the
Children’s Guardian Fund.
"Most foster children who become adopted are
able to avoid the pitfalls of homelessness, teen
pregnancy and youth incarceration."
Stockham has received the U.S. Congressional
Coalition on Adoption's "Angel in Adoption"
award in 2006 and the Boys and Girl's Club's
Woman of the Year award in 2009
The event was co-chaired by Nancy and Chuck
Parrish, and Carol and Mort Siegler. The CGF
event was formerly called “Let the Season Begin.”
Susan Stockham, a nationally recognized adoption
lawyer spoke movingly about what she has been able
to do for “her kids.”
Alan Quinby, President, CGF, Susan Stockham,
Adoption Attorney and Derrick Riggins, former Foster Child
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Carol & Mort Siegler
and Nancy Parrish
Save the Date!
Upcoming Training Events
January 12, 13, 19 & 20
Entry Level Training 9am-4pm
State College of Florida—Bradenton
Children’s Guardian Fund
2nd Annual Fundraiser
Golf & Tennis Tournament
January 18
In-service 1-3pm Braden River Library
TBA
January 20
In-service 4:30pm-6pm St. Thomas More
Joy Kangas—Growing up in Foster Care
Monday, April 11, 2011
January 25
In-service 10am-12:30pm Fruitville Library
Mandy O’Malley—Sexual Abuse
Laurel Oak Country Club
We raised $50,000 last year and we are looking to
double this in 2011. More details on how you
can help will be available in the new year.
February 10
In-service 2-5pm Braden River Library
TBA
February 17
In-service 4:30-6pm St. Thomas More
TBA
February 24
In-service 2:30-4:30pm Braden River Library
TBA
Case Manager of the Month
October
Sean Staffieri, Manatee
March 14, 15, 17 & 18
Entry Level Training 9am-4pm
State College of Florida—Lakewood Ranch
March 17
In-service 4:30-6pm St. Thomas More
TBA
November
Michelle Vitale, Manatee
Fay Pendleton, Sarasota
December
Lucia Branton, Sarasota
Child Welfare Specialist Extraordinaire!
March 23
In-service 5-7pm Fruitville Library
TBA
Guardian ad Litem Program
Sarasota County
Manatee County
DeSoto County
2071 Ringling Blvd. Ste. 625
Sarasota, FL 34237
941.861.4875
1201 6th Ave. W., Ste. 510
Bradenton, FL 34205
941.744.9473
223 East Oak St. Ste. 2
Arcadia, FL 34266
863.993.4638
For All the News, Visit Our Website—www.12gal.org
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