Telegraph Staff Writer
Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, but for the children being served by the Eighth Judicial Circuit’s Guardian ad Litem program, there are multiple Santas working in our local correctional facilities and churches.
Thanks to an effort spearheaded by the Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency, Chapter 5, Department of Corrections personnel donate toys so that Guardian ad Litem children can have a merry Christmas. This year, FCCD, Chapter 5, collected 186 gifts from Florida State Prison, Lawtey Correctional Institution, Reception Medical Center and Union Correctional Institution employees.
Starke’s First Presbyterian Church, as it does every year, contributed gifts as well so that children can have a merry Christmas.
That’s not the only church that supports Guardian ad Litem. Starke’s First United Methodist Church provides gift cards to children every year for their birthdays.
The FCCD-First Presbyterian Church gifts were delivered to the Guardian ad Litem office in Starke on Dec. 7.
As local Guardian ad Litem representatives have said in the past about the children they serve, “Some of them wouldn’t have Christmas if it wasn’t for the generosity of these people.”
Each of the state’s 22 judicial circuits has a Guardian ad Litem program, which exists to represent the best interests of children (ages birth-18) in the court system who’ve allegedly been abused or neglected. The Eighth Judicial Circuit program covers Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties.
Guardian ad Litem consists of volunteer advocates, who are assigned to a child in the program. They’re required to visit the child once a month.
Volunteer advocates talk to the child as well as his or her parents, other family members, teachers, guidance counselors, therapists and anyone else who’s a part of the child’s life to determine how the child is doing and what he or she is in need of in the present and the future. Advocates consolidate the information they collect and provide it to a judge, who reviews a case involving a child approximately every six months.
To become a volunteer advocate, you must be at least 21, pass a Level 2 background check and participate in an interview. Strong writing and verbal skills are a plus, but advocates aren’t asked to meet any educational requirements.
Though case lengths vary, an advocate is asked to commit to at least one year of working with a child.
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer advocate or want to learn more about Guardian ad Litem, please call 904-966-6237 or visit gal8circuit.org.
