If you had asked me just over a year ago, if I would be this upset over the subject of GAL reform, I would not have known enough about what a GAL was for me to have much of an opinion, let alone to know why it needs reform. But when you see a good friend struggle with what a court has imposed on him, the process involved and finally the bill presented to him, you take a closer look and do what a good friend would do, you help in any way possible.

A GAL is a guardian ad litem and can be appointed by a judge in cases of suspected abuse. A GAL can also be recommended and appointed in cases where the parents disagree on custody and visitation for their child and In both types of appointments this is  supposed to be 'in the best interest of the child'. In both cases, there is a lot of emotion involved and the GAL is there to gather and document facts, be a neutral party to observe and be an unbiased presence who, you would like to believe, could calm things down and mediate between the conflicting parents.

In my friends situation, there was no abuse involved, just a conflict between parents on where their son would live and how often the visits of the non custodial parent would occur. As the saying goes, "there are two sides to every story" but the GAL in this case chose to hear and believe only one side. Not only did she choose  to champion the cause of the mother to keep her out of prison, she chose to write a letter on her behalf to the pardon board, thus showing bias and removing all neutrality in the case.

The results of her 'fact gathering and documentation' included phrases like 'made phone call' and 'email sent' and outlined the mother's wishes almost word for word. The bill presented to my friend, the boys father, is over $11,000.

Her being a GAL has kept her free from any real complaint process, there is no forum for complaints or lawsuits against a GAL (guardian ad litem) except filing a complaint with the presiding judge that appointed her, due to that, the judge must admit he or she was wrong in appointing her, therefore the complaint going forward is not likely to happen. That is one of the things that we are trying to change. Social workers and lawyers have to face sanctions and lawsuits when they are deficient or incompetent or biased as this GAL was, why shouldn't she and other GALs face major consequences for their incompetence?

The parents inability to pay should have been considered as in the case, Desmond vs Desmond where the parents made more than my friend does now.

Another part of this that needs changing is that the judicial system is where the guardian ad litem profession is presently housed. This allows for an incestuous relationship between the lawyer who may be representing one of the parties in the case who recommends the GAL to the judge, who then appoints her to the case. Take the GAL position and move it to the executive branch, away from the 'love triangle' of judge, lawyer and GAL.

This is a grassroots effort and I have no real experience in this. I do have this forum and to some reading this, you may be scratching your head wondering why you should or would care. The fact is we should all care when a segment of the population is taken advantage of and don't how to do anything about it. I have had so many emails to megalalert@gmail.com and nationalgalalert@gmail.com and postings to our Facebook pages to know that there is a real problem with the GAL profession, much more than the Maine Guardian ad litem Institute aka the Gal connection.org would lead you to believe. I was told that complaints are just 'sour grapes' and 'disgruntled parents' who did not get the results they wanted. and in some cases I am sure that is true, in my friends case and from others who reach out to us, that is not so. They are working parents trying to get some help with custody issues and paying too much for little service in many cases.

Feel free to contact us and let's see what we can do to change this broken system.