Judge Pitch in to Save Guardian Ad Litem Program By Meredith Hobbs, the Fulton County Daily Report, June 22, 2012

For want of $25,000, a popular pro bono program that protects low-income children in cont-ested custody cases was almost lost. 

But when the 20 judges of Fulton County Superior Court heard an unexpected grant cut would end the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation's program providing guar-
dians ad litem to the court, they stepped up and made personal donations to keep it
alive. 

 AVLF's director, Marty Ellin, learned at the end of May that Fulton County's Office of Grants and Community Partnerships wouldn't renew a $25,000 grant that
covered part of the salaries of the lawyer, Liz Whipple, and paralegal, Jessica Caldas,
who coordinate the program. Whipple and Caldas also run AVLF's domestic violence program. 

 Fulton Superior Court, which handles the county's divorces, asks AVLF for
volunteer guardians ad litem to discern what's best for the children in highly
disputed custody cases, when a judge needs more insight into what's going on
and the parents can't afford to pay a lawyer.

 "The judges only see the parents when they are in court and don't know what's going on in the home," said Whipple. "The guardians ad litem get to the root of what's going on with the family, so they can make the most balanced and sound recomme-
ndation for the best interests of the children."

 Lawyers from the private bar volunteer to serve as the guardians ad litem. After receiving training through AVLF, they visit the children's schools and homes and interview the children, their parents, teachers, neighbors, doctors and other people in their lives. 

Last year 60 lawyers volunteered their time as guardians ad litem through AVLF in 44 new custody cases involving 67 children, said Whipple. 

 It's a big time commitment. For the 18 cases from 2011 that have closed, the
volunteer lawyers put in 484 hours - an average of 27 hours per case. So far this year, AVLF has taken on 19 custody cases, representing 29 children. 

 But this year the Fulton County Commission cut funding to the Office of Grants and Community Partnerships from $4.6 million to $2.1 million, and the office made only half as many grants as last year. AVLF's guardian ad litem program was one of the casualties. "The economic downturn is finally catching up to Fulton County's grantmaking entity," said Dedrick Muhammad, the office's division manager.
He said this was the first time its grant budget had been cut in its more than 20 years of existence. 

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