The Government Oversight Committee. meeting February 24th 2012 at 9:00 am 111 Sewall Street in the Cross Building room 214 in Augusta, ME

By Catherine Cooper | Feb 28, 2012
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A meeting with a bipartisan oversight committee to readdress an audit done by OPEGA of guardian ad litems (GALS) that showed problems and issues with the current system. Thank you for all your support and stories of your divorce and issues concerning custody! Please contact Maine Gal Alert for questions and directions. We need your support for real change!

megalalert@gmail.com or Facebook Megalalert

http://www.maine.gov/education/directions.htm

Comments (4)
Posted by: Catherine Cooper | Mar 02, 2012 10:39

We at Maine Gal Alert and Maine Gal Help have begun to write our legislators regarding the successful bipartisan committee meeting for a renewed look at guardian ad litem reform that was proposed in the 2006 OPEGA report. Please continue to send your divorce, custody questions and all GAL issues. Also, let us know if we can share your story as there is strength in numbers. Please contact us at megalalert@gmail.com or Megalalert on Facebook. We want to help you with your GAL problems and together we can change the broken system!



Posted by: Anson Norton | Feb 28, 2012 06:49

This issue certainly needs addressing when a father concerned relative to the welfare of his child  hires a GAL and is required to have supervised visits, a psychological evaluation, and counseling at a  tremendous cost to the family and he has no criminal history, pays his support, is employed , does not drink or do drugs. The GAL does not personally interview the fathers family or the mothers family or explore recent history of mothers drug dependence and mental illness. What is wrong with this picture? Is the welfare of this child being addressed?



Posted by: Catherine Cooper | Feb 24, 2012 19:19

The meeting was a big success and I want to thank those who attended. A big thank you to state Senator Nancy Sullivan for sponsoring this meeting and keeping this issue alive by moving it to the judiciary committee of the legislature. Please contact megalalert@gmail.com or 'like' us on Facebook and share your story and to support our efforts for guardian ad litem reform.



Posted by: Catherine Cooper | Feb 23, 2012 10:02

We had quite a few emails regarding the meeting. One of the questions that was asked is what is the purpose of the meeting.

In 2006 a report was done by a committee called OPEGA, a bipartisan oversight group that reviews and audits all types of industries and services. They found issues with the guardian ad litem system in the state of Maine just as similar agencies have found problems in other states. Due to pressure from those who have experienced these problems with GALs with letter writing, emails and phone calls, this committee will take a look to see if OPEGA needs to do another report and hopefully correct the glaring problems with bias,incomplete reporting, immunity, and overbilling as well as other issues we and others have found.

Please contact us for directions at megalalert@gmail.com or visit us on Facebook. We would love to see you there!



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