The Indiana Child Advocates Network and the State Office of GAL/CASA of the Division of State Court Administration held a rally at the Indiana Statehouse Monday morning to highlight the need for and the importance of court appointed special advocates.
Registrations for the 15th annual GAL/CASA statewide conference must by postmarked by Sept. 26. The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Indianapolis Marriott East, 7202 E. 21st St., Indianapolis.
The state sees improvement, but aims to do better.
For foster youth who are about to age out of the system or have already done so, there often is no support system. That decreases one’s chance of getting a good education and increases the likelihood that the former foster youth will end up homeless or become involved in illegal activity and be arrested after aging out.
The Indiana Office of Guardian Ad Litem/Court Appointed Special Advocate is one of 16 programs in the National CASA Association
that will use a pilot program to help young adults leaving foster care.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted three transfers Thursday to cases involving what manner an appellate court could reverse a revocation of probation, how to calculate guardian ad litem fees, and whether there is a rebuttable presumption that children ages 7 through 14 can't be found contributorily negligent.
In a significant opinion about the funding of child welfare cases, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today that any guardian ad litem or Child Appointed Special Advocate fees associated with a child in need of services case must be paid by the county and not the state agency that lawmakers gave more oversight power to in the past year.
While more than 4,000 Indiana children remain on a waiting list for advocates in cases that involve abuse and neglect, Guardian Ad Litem/Court Appointed Special Advocates programs recruited and trained 911 new volunteers, a 50 percent increase from 2007, according to the 2008 statewide Court Appointed Special Advocates statistics made available today.
Kids' Voice of Indiana learned today the organization's application to become certified by the United Way has been approved.