GUARDIAN AD LITEM
The first volunteer Guardian ad Litem program serving abused and neglected children was organized in 1977 in King County, Seattle, Washington. It was the brainchild of Superior Court Judge David Soukoup. In the following years, word of the success of the King County program spread like wildfire and similar programs were begun all over the United States.
Because some state statutes require the Guardian ad Litem to be an attorney, the term CASA was to denote volunteers from the local community who had been trained to serve as advocates for children involved in court proceedings.
In 1982, the National CASA Association Inc. was established to serve as an umbrella organization for the growing number of programs in the country. National CASA provides information, technical assistance, research, and training, and hosts an annual national conference. Membership in National CASA is open to programs and individuals throughout the U.S.
In 2002, there were over 930 CASA/GAL programs in 49 states and new programs opening their doors each month. Some 70,130 men and women are CASA volunteers serving more than 279,160 children annually. This number however, represents only about one third of the children in foster care. Since CASA was founded, its volunteers have served 1,000,000 children.
The judges in each of Ohio’s 88 counties decide who will provide Guardian ad Litem services in their courts. Currently, there are counties, which use attorneys as GAL with no volunteer component to their program. Others use a combination of attorneys and volunteers (under various names), and still others have a CASA program. Currently there are 35 counties that utilize the CASA program in Ohio.
Besides Montgomery County, our neighboring courts in Butler, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Preble and Shelby counties also have CASA programs, as do about 1/3 of the counties in Ohio. Needless to say, there is work yet to be done to help ensure advocacy for children throughout our state.
The Ohio Association of CASA/GAL is a network of CASA and Guardians ad Litem throughout the state. The Ohio Association of CASA/GAL produces a quarterly newsletter and hosts an annual statewide conference in addition to three other statewide board meetings. The association serves as a conduit for information regarding CASA and GAL for all the members, keeps abreast of pertinent legislation for possible action, and acts as an advocate for the CASA/GAL concept in Ohio. Membership in the association is open to all CASA/GAL programs, their members and other interested parties in Ohio.
Legislation went into effect in Ohio in January 1989 (S.B.89), which more clearly delineates the role, rights and responsibilities of the GAL. It also specifies that a trained volunteer should be appointed as GAL when one is available and the appointment is appropriate. The Ohio Department of Human Services is required to provide training for volunteer GAL at the request of the county.
In the fall of 1996, Ohio H.B. 274 was passed as a “clean-up” bill of S.B. 89. This bill clarified foster care issues and the roles of the parties involved in child care welfare cases. The same year H.B. 419 spoke to clarifications on adoption issues and the adoption process.
In March 1999, H.B. 484 went into effect, tightening the time frames and conditions for reunification, and emphasizing the need to work toward permanency for children in a timely manner. (Details of this bill are addressed in the “Legal Process” section of this manual.)
