SARASOTA, Fla. — You could help play a critical part in helping kids have a voice in court.
In our recent 10 investigates series, Overdosed, we told you how the number one reason why kids are ending up in foster care is because of substance abuse in their families.
More than 22,000 kids are in the system right now across the state of Florida. That's why there's a big need for guardian ad litems. Those are the adults who speak for children in court and advocate for the next best step.
Toni Latortue is the circuit director for the GAL program for the 12th Circuit. That’s the program that serves Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. She says, right now, between 100 and 150 kids don't have a child advocate. They need about 50 volunteers to help close that gap.
“They see the children once a month in their homes, they talk to the caregivers, teachers, daycare workers, family members, anyone that's connected to the child to gather that information to bring back to the court and make recommendations,” Latortue said. “We don't have enough staff to visit each child every month. The volunteers really are the key piece to making that happen.”
She says parents battling fentanyl and opioid addictions have increased their caseloads.
There's also a need for diversity among guardian ad litems in the state. This is what the state does to make sure guardian ad litems are prepared to help children of all races.
They represent abused, abandoned, and neglected children. You might remember a guardian ad litem did not believe that 2-year-old Jordan Belliveau should return to his mother’s care before he was killed.
The volunteers often represent more than one child at a time. Latortue says the children fair better with a volunteer to be their cheerleader.
“With a volunteer you just have that child that’s going to have that person that can turn over more stones, to do more investigations, pertaining to them,” Latortue said.
The program is state-funded. No child is charged for services provided by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office.
There are more than 200 attorneys on staff. Each child is assigned an attorney, a child advocate manager, and ideally, a trained volunteer. Here’s a look at the ratios by court district:
Circuit 6 (Pasco, Pinellas)
- 2,396 children appointed to guardian ad litem by a judge
- 819 certified case volunteers
Circuit 10 (Hardee, Highlands, Polk)
- 1,456 children appointed to guardian ad litem by a judge
- 458 certified case volunteers
Circuit 12 (DeSoto, Manatee, Sarasota)
- 1,218 children appointed to guardian ad litem by a judge
- 450 certified case volunteers
Circuit 13 (Hillsborough County)
- 2,853 children appointed to guardian ad litem by a judge
- 791 certified case volunteers
Florida’s GAL program is receiving more money as part of the state’s budget. It includes $4.4 Million in federal Title IV-E funding to create 67.5 full-time equivalent positions to represent 100% of Florida's eligible abused, neglected, and abandoned children.
The budget also includes $60,000 to train 20 GAL employees at the Florida State University Certified Public Manager program to enhance volunteer retention. A spokesperson says this money means there’s someone to represent and advocate for every abused and neglected child in the dependency court system for the first time in Florida's history.