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Guardians ad litem have been part of civil family law cases for decades, representing the best interests of children in cases involving custody, adoptions, visitations and the like. But there have never been any formal guidelines for the role of a GAL in the Indiana judicial system.
The Indiana Supreme Court is taking steps to change that, issuing proposed “GAL Guidelines for Civil Family Law Cases” last month. Those guidelines are open for public comment until noon July 19.
The proposed guidelines were recommended by the Family Law Taskforce, which was established by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2019.
Court of Appeals of Indiana Judge Elizabeth Tavitas chairs the taskforce and said the issue of GAL guidelines was important to her.
“As a former trial court judge (hearing) family law domestic relations cases, this was a particular interest of mine and a passion of mine to always make sure that we have the best trained and best and most knowledgeable guardians ad litem when we are especially dealing with custody matters, which are the most important,” Tavitas said.
Adding requirements
The proposed guidelines would implement several standards, including minimum qualifications to serve as a GAL, training requirements, a defined set of roles and responsibilities, and requirements for in-person contact with the child.
To serve as a GAL under the guidelines, a person must be a licensed attorney in good standing, a licensed mental health profession in good standing, an employee or contractor for a court-approved GAL services program, or a person approved by the GAL Family Law Oversight Committee to operate independently based on their knowledge, skill, experience, training, education or other qualifications.
A person could not serve as a GAL if they have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving a sex offense, child abuse or neglect, or related acts, or if such charges are pending against them.
Additionally, GALs would have to meet initial and ongoing training requirements, pass background checks, and meet reporting and other requirements.
The training guidelines would require an initial 12-hour course covering 12 listed topics, including a GAL Code of Ethics. After the initial training, six hours of annual training would be required.
“It does change quite a bit because right now, there are no standardized training requirements, and this creates some standardized training requirements,” Katie Kelsey, chief legal counsel and executive director of the Children’s Law Center of Indiana at Kids’ Voice of Indiana, said.
Kelsey added that the proposed guidelines seem to be flexible to fit each case.
“It definitely enhances those training and qualification requirements as a starter and also kind of more clearly defines what courts would expect guardians ad litem to do, or at least consider doing, as part of a typical guardian ad litem investigation,” she said. “I think those guidelines also try to recognize that there is no typical guardian ad litem investigation because each case is going to be as unique as the family in front of it.
“I do think that having that kind of a light touch is a good way to go when it comes to family situations because families are just so varied,” she added.
Creating the guidelines
Leslie Dunn, deputy director of the Children & Families Division for the Indiana Supreme Court, described the proposed GAL guidelines as “long overdue.”
“There’s just never been a group that came together to put this forward and think it through and do the research and all of that,” Dunn said. “That’s what this group did.”
In her previous role as state director of GAL/CASA, Dunn said the program received plenty of complaints and questions about the lack of guidelines for GALs, given that other states offer such guidelines.
Likewise, Tavitas said there are rules for everything in the justice system, so there should be rules for GALs, too.
“We have rules for everything — way less important things than the best interests of children,” Tavitas said. “The bottom line is, ‘What is in the best interest of the children?’ And that’s what the guardian ad litem’s goal is, to represent the best interests of the children or child. But everyone else that’s involved in this also has a stake in this and everyone needs to play by the same rules.”
Mandatory training
While the advocates say the proposed guidelines contain what most people would expect, they agree that the training requirements may be the most significant piece.
Attorneys are already required to meet a set number of CLE hours each year, so adding additional training requirements for GALs could seem like more work. However, certain CLEs would count toward the proposed GAL training.
For example, given that she practices mainly in family law and child advocacy, Kelsey said many of the CLEs she would take would most likely count toward the GAL ongoing education. If there wasn’t that overlap, she said, then there would be a concern about the number of attorneys willing to serve as GALs.
Tavitas said the training is important particularly for nonattorney GALs who may not understand the legal process as well as their attorney counterparts.
Dunn said there have already been questions about the training requirements. Once the public comment period is closed, adjustments can be made.
Further, once the guidelines are adopted, Tavitas noted they can be adjusted as necessary in the future.
Other requirements
Aside from training requirements, the 12-page proposed guidelines lay out various other roles and responsibilities of GALs. That includes proposed Rule 3.7, which provides, “The GAL must have a reasonable amount of in-person contact with the child.”
“I think that’s a fundamental part of being a guardian ad litem is seeing the child and speaking with them, or if they’re not verbal, still seeing them in their environments,” Dunn said.
Dunn noted there isn’t a specific definition of “reasonable” in the proposed rule. Instead, it says, “Reasonable contact is determined by the age of the child, the child’s developmental needs, the child’s physical and mental health, the facts and circumstances presented in the case, and any other relevant factors.”
Other requirements include an explicit rule that GALs “must advocate for the child’s best interests at all stages of the proceedings.”
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask people to have training or background checks or things like that when you’re going to be making recommendations to a judge about the future of a child and the best interests of a child,” Dunn said. “Those are important, life-changing decisions.”
Legislative efforts
Efforts to create guardian ad litem guidelines were paired in 2023 with House Enrolled Act 1493, authored by Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville. The bill provides, among other things, that alternative dispute resolution funds may be used to pay for GAL services.
HEA 1493 was signed into law in May and took effect July 1.
Dunn said she worked on the ADR fund legislation 20 years ago, but that original legislation didn’t include coverage for GALs. Now, with HEA 1493 in effect, she said there have already been questions about receiving funding.
House Enrolled Act 1172, also passed by the Legislature this year, originally dealt with representation for minors in child in need of services and termination of parental rights cases. That language was eventually struck, but bill author Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, said it’s an issue he still wants to address.
“The proposed GAL rule doesn’t address the representation issue we were trying to address in HB 1172, because it looks at a different category of cases,” Clere said. He added that one of the concerns with his bill was whether there would be enough resources available to support representation of minors in CHINS and TPR cases.
During committee discussion about HEA 1172, Rep. Ryan Hatfield, D-Evansville, questioned whether lawmakers needed to address the issue of GALs rather than the issue of representation.
“I think the guidelines do provide clarity and guidance in an appropriate way that will help structure their duties and roles before the court,” Hatfield told Indiana Lawyer. “GALs are in difficult situations, often where their responsibility is to the court and to the child, and they often find themselves between two parties in difficult circumstances, so any guidance is positive. However, it’s impossible to address every situation.”•
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