About Lay Guardian Ad Litem Project
- Hiring Procedure
- Employment Status
- Salary
- Reimbursement of Expenses
- Training
- Lay Guardian Ad Litem Resignation
- Liability
- Recruitment
- Code of Ethics
- Case Assignment
- Administrative Case Management
- Notification of Hearings
- Removal From a Case
- Reimbursement Process
- Uniform Case Procedure
- Case Tracking
- Guardian Ad Litem Management Information System
- Program Evaluation and Reporting
- Typical Referral Process & Procedure from a Judicial District
The Project Director will recruit, screen, and hire Lay Guardian ad Litems. Criminal background checks will be required to check for felony record by whoever does the interview. The Director will be responsible for getting the application or resume, and the background check into the personnel file. The Director will meet with the prospective Guardian ad Litem (GAL) prior to assigning any cases, to review relevant policies and procedures. The Director will maintain a file on each Guardian ad Litem; this file will contain the information described above and a record of relevant continuing education.
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
The Guardian ad Litem is considered an independent contractor; as such they have self-employment status with no federal or state taxes withheld. If payments total less than $600 per year to individual GALs, no IRS records will be sent to you. It is your responsibility to maintain your own records.
SALARY
Guardian ad Litems are paid $15.00 per hour for activity on a case. Once a GAL has 3 years experience and more than 45 hours of service, the hourly rate is $20.00. Cases are limited to 15 hours per case unless pre-authorized by the Director. A timesheet must be completed and submitted to the Director on a monthly basis.
REIMBURSEMENT
OF EXPENSES
Guardians are reimbursed for expenses on out-of-town travel. Travel over 100 miles or multiple trips averaging over that amount must be pre-authorized by the Director. Travel is reimbursed at a rate of $.450 per mile, meals are reimbursed at $25.00 per day($5.00 for breakfast, $7.50 for lunch, and $12.50 for dinner), providing the Guardian has traveled more than four hours. An official request for expense reimbursement must be completed and submitted to the Director. Expenses other than mileage or meals must have accompanying receipts (i.e. phone bill, parking receipt, etc.)
TRAINING
- GALs must complete an initial 18 hours training course provided by the Guardian ad Litem Model Project.
- 12 CEU’s are required per year.
- Monthly case consultation meetings can be counted toward half of the required CEU’s.
- A form will be used for GALs to track continuing education hours. Guardians will submit the form to the Director by December 31st of each year.
- Continuing education will be provided by CFSTC and available to GALs. Guardian ad Litems can choose to attend other relevant training at their own expense. Training time will not be billed to the project unless attendance is required.
LAY GUARDIAN AD LITEM RESIGNATION
Resignation is a voluntary act initiated by the Guardian ad Litem to officially notify the Director that they are unavailable for case assignment. If the GAL has current or active cases a plan for transfer of the case and appropriate transition must be developed with the Director prior to resignation.
LIABILITY
No liability coverage is currently provided to Guardian ad Litems at this time. Any professional liability coverage desired by an individual GAL will need to be obtained privately.
RECRUITMENT
In areas where Guardians ad Litem are needed, advertising for GALs will begin two months prior to a basic training session. Interested persons will complete an application provided by the Project staff. Applicants will be screened to determine compliance with the position requirements. Qualified applicants undergo mandatory background checks, three reference checks and be interviewed by either the Director or Coordinator. Once accepted, the candidate will be invited to participate in the basic training. Appropriateness for case assignments will be determined after basic training by the Director.
CODE
OF ETHICS
Ethical Considerations
- Conflict of interest – GALs should refuse cases where there is a conflict of interest. Conflicts include (but are not limited to) prior knowledge of any of the parties or inherent bias.
- Role of the Guardian ad Litem – The GAL should have a thorough understanding of their role and act accordingly. GALs should not have dual roles with clients are any of the parties involved in an assigned case.
- GALs must use professional judgement in all matters related to an assigned case including fact gathering, reporting, advocacy, etc. GALs should consult with the Director when in doubt.
- If a GAL believes that a child they are representing is not receiving appropriate services, the GAL should make this known to the project Director. If the GAL has not been able to resolve the issue directly with the social worker, the GAL should address the issue(s) in writing to the social worker with a copy to the workers supervisor. If the issue is not resolved after notification of the supervisor, the judge involved in the case should be notified in writing (a request for hearing may be required).
CASE ASSIGNMENT
The court will notify, by phone, e-mail or fax project staff of the need for a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) for a specific case. The court will provide identifying information including name(s) and age(s) of the child(ren) and parents names and addresses, reason for request for action, location of the child(ren) and date, time and location of the upcoming hearing. The project staff will contact a GAL in an effort to assign the case. The GAL will accept or reject a request for appointment. The staff will assign a GAL and arrange for a GAL to appear at the upcoming hearing.
Project staff will notify the court of the assignment. Staff will log the appointment, as well as the date, time and type of hearing in the appropriate management information system (case tracking form).
ADMINISTRATIVE CASE MANAGEMENT
The court will notify the office of any hearing dates/times. Staff will then notify and remind GALs of upcoming hearings. Staff will keep a record of all hearings including date, time, and type on the case tracking form.
NOTIFICATION OF HEARINGS
Office staff will notify the GAL of hearings by phone as soon as possible after receiving the information from the courts. Staff will remind the GAL of hearings a day or two prior to a hearing date as a courtesy.
REMOVAL FROM A CASE
A Guardian ad Litem may request to be removed from a case because of a conflict of interest or other circumstance that would prevent the GAL from performing her/his role. The GAL should notify the Director of the concern or situation and request the case is transferred to another GAL. The GAL and Director would develop an appropriate plan to transfer the case.
A Guardian ad Litem may be removed from a case by the Director, juvenile supervisor or judge for conflict of interest, inability to perform, or poor performance as GAL. In such circumstances the Director should be notified of the concern and request for removal, the Director will notify the GAL and transfer the case to another GAL.
REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS
Guardians ad Litem are to complete and submit monthly timesheets to the Director by the 5th of the month. Guardians ad Litem are to use separate timesheets for each client each month.
The Director will compile and approve the timesheets, complete a summary of time billed per client for each Guardian ad Litem, and submit the approved timesheets with the summary to the appropriate Juvenile Court Supervisor no later than the 10th of the month.
The summary sheet, completed by the Director’s office, and submitted with the timesheets will include the following information:
- Juvenile court number
- Client name
- Judicial District
- Monthly hours for each case submitted by the Guardian ad Litem
- Specific case information
UNIFORM CASE PROCEDUREGuardian ad Litems will complete the following forms on each case.
Timesheet - Indicating all case activity.
Case Outcome Form - The top half of the sheet is to be completed at the time of disposition of the petition and the bottom half is to be completed at the time of case closure and submitted to the office to be entered into the database.
Optional forms include:
- Release of Information
- Case Note
Guardians ad Litem will maintain a file on each assigned case. The file should contain: all court documents, the service data form, copies of release of information forms utilized, the Guardian ad Litem report, and any correspondence regarding the case. All records and files should be maintained in a locked cabinet for reasons of confidentiality.
The file should be kept by the assigned GAL when the case closes.
CASE
TRACKING
The staff will track each case, time spent on each case, and cases that a Guardian ad Litem has at any given time. Forms utilized in this effort include:
Case tracking form – to track client, GAL assigned, referral and assignment date, hearing dates and times, status.
Time Log – On-going log of all time billed to specific clients.
GUARDIAN
AD LITEM
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
The staff will be responsible for maintaining information on the database. The information to be stored on the database includes:
PROGRAM EVALUATION AND REPORTING
A quarterly report will be completed by the staff and submitted to the Court Administrators office. The report will include:
A TYPICAL REFERRAL PROCESS AND PROCEDURE FROM A JUDICIAL DISTRICT
The court scheduling secretary will contact the staff and request a Guardian ad Litem be assigned to a specific deprivation case. The court will provide the following information over the phone: name(s), age(s), primary concern, and date/time of hearing.
The Director will assign the case and notify the court of the assignment.
The court will provide the staff a copy of the shelter care request form (if applicable) by placing it in the GAL file folder at the office.
The court scheduling secretary will notify the staff of all subsequent hearing dates and times. The secretary can notify in writing and placing in the GAL file folder at the office.
Information for individual GALs will be placed in a labeled file folder for the GAL in the office for the GAL to pick up, unless the GAL requests the documents be mailed to them.
