IndyBar: GAL Guidelines Under Consideration

By Leslie S. Dunn, Deputy Director of the Children & Families Division for the Indiana Supreme Court

Trial court judges and the members of the Supreme Court are considering adopting Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Guidelines. These proposed guidelines are designed to bring consistency and accountability in civil family law cases where a GAL is utilized.

Background

The Supreme Court established the Family Law Taskforce (FLT) in September 2019 to analyze research on court reform, identify innovative strategies to improve court processes and to provide a written report with findings and recommendations. The FLT issued its report and recommendations in March 2021. In the report, the FLT recommended the adoption of Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Guidelines for civil family law cases
in Indiana.  

The FLT reviewed GAL rules and standards across the country. Indiana is one of a small handful of states that does not have any qualifications and training requirements or any established roles and responsibilities for GALs. The lack of guidance has caused vast differences in practice across Indiana and has caused confusion for the public.  

There is a need to improve GAL practice and for more consistency in GAL practice across the state. There is also a need to help litigants better understand the role of the GAL and to ensure GALs receive adequate training to investigate and summarize the best interests of children in family law cases. 

Qualifications

Indiana statutes do not have any qualifications for persons serving as a GAL in terms of education required or criminal background checks.  The vast majority of states have minimum qualifications and uniform training required to become a GAL. These proposed guidelines include a description of persons qualified to serve as a GAL and require that criminal background checks and child and abuse/neglect checks be conducted on all GALs in order to protect the safety of children. 

Training:

The proposed Indiana GAL Guidelines will require twelve (12) hours of initial training on required topics and six (6) hours of continued training annually on topics relating to family law, children and serving in this critical role.  GALs who have already received training, who have served as a GAL for three years or who have served as a GAL on at least ten cases, can receive a waiver of the initial training requirements.  For those GALs who need training, free training (with CLE credits) will be available both virtually and in-person.  Free ongoing training opportunities through the State Office of GAL/CASA will also be available both in-person and virtually.   

Defining Roles and Responsibilities

Currently GAL practice across Indiana lacks uniformity and there is significant uncertainty amongst litigants, judicial officers, and attorneys about the role and responsibilities of a GAL. Clear and uniform guidelines and expectations, like those provided in other states provide more certainty for litigants and courts.   

The proposed Indiana GAL Guidelines clearly outline the duties of a GAL, including mandatory in-person contact with children, a thorough and independent investigation, a definition of what best interest advocacy encompasses and guidance on sharing a child’s expressed wishes to the court. These proposed guidelines also contain more detailed information about what should be contained in a GAL report and clarify that the GAL role is to make recommendations to the Court and, if necessary, monitor the case for a specified period of time. 

Feedback

The FLT has shared the GAL Guidelines with various local and state bar associations and judicial committees to seek feedback. The FLT posted the GAL Guidelines for public comment for thirty days in June 2023. The GAL Guidelines subcommittee of the FLT spent a considerable amount of time reviewing and analyzing the public comments and made significant revisions to the Guidelines
as a result. 

Funding

The FLT worked with the legislature to amend the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Fund Plan statute so that counties with an ADR Fund can now use those funds to pay for the cost of GALs for low-income families.  Counties with existing plans need to amend their plans to include GAL services; counties that do not have an ADR Fund Plan can apply for one through the Indiana Office of Court Services.   

GAL Registry

A list of GALs who meet the qualifications and complete the training will be maintained by IOCS and the State Office of GAL/CASA; this list will be used to create a GAL Registry, similar to the Mediator Registry. The GAL Registry will be a statewide, searchable directory of GALs and will include information useful to judges such as the list of counties in which the GALs serve and/or will travel to, how long they have served as a GAL, and other useful information. The Registry will be available to courts so that they have access to more GALs from nearby counties.  

The GAL Family Law Oversight Committee

The Supreme Court established the GAL Family Law Oversight Committee in June of 2023. The Oversight Committee will study the effectiveness of the GAL Guidelines, propose ongoing amendments and ensure the Guidelines are being applied consistently and effectively across the state. They will also review any requests for waivers of the qualifications or training requirements and will
accept complaints about GALs in
limited circumstances.•

Next Steps

The Proposed GAL Guidelines will be presented this fall to the Indiana Judicial Conference Board of Directors and the Indiana Supreme Court with a request for approval with an effective date of
January 1, 2025.•

 Leslie S. Dunn is the Deputy Director of the Children and Families Division for the Indiana Supreme Court at the Indiana Office of Court Services. Prior to her current role, Dunn was the GAL/CASA State Director at the Indiana Supreme Court for over 15 years. She served as the Chief Legal Counsel of the Marion County Office of Family and Children for almost five years before that. She has served as a GAL, the attorney for a GAL, and attorney for the parents on many abuse, neglect, and termination of parental rights cases. Dunn is an active member of IndyBar.