About the Maine Guardian ad Litem Institute

 
Mission Statement

The Mission of the Maine Guardian Ad Litem Institute is to improve the welfare of Maine's children through strengthening the institution of the Guardian Ad Litem by advocating for improved standards of practice, education, and compensation for those individuals serving as Guardian Ad Litem and providing mutual support and assistance on issues relating to the work of Guardians Ad Litem.

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Mentoring

Guardian work is, by its very nature, isolating. It is also work that depends, to some degree, on experience. Every Guardian runs into cases that are particularly difficult to work with or to decide. To decrease the isolation of Guardians in performing their duties, we have developed a mentoring program in which we try to match experienced guardians with those who would like to have a mentoring relationship. Some of these relationships are informal, on an "as needed" basis. Some are more formal, shadowing an experienced Guardian in a case or consulting frequently with an experienced Guardian on one of your cases. If you are interested in being a mentor, or would like mentoring, please contact Abbie Teachout at: abbie.teachout@verizon.net. Once you have a mentor, the extent of the relationship will be between the two of you.

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Legislative Advocacy

We are interested in furthering our profession and making it easier to do our work. In the 2005 legislative session we proposed legislation that would: (1) Standardize our work in every court in which we practice, including the probate court, using the "best interests of the child" standard; (2) Give GALs who practice in Probate Court the same quasi-judicial immunity that Guardians receive in District Court; and (3) Exempt GALs from state charges for obtaining criminal and driving records from state agencies. The first two items were passed into legislation but the third ran into a roadblock at the Judiciary Committee and will have to be renewed in order to pass into legislation.

We also have another project we have been working on, which is creating a legislative definition and support for the position of "parenting coordinator", providing definitional language, scope of powers, judicial immunity, and compensation for this position. This position provides an "out of court" solution for those high-conflict families who continue to argue over the meaning of and the peripheries of child custody orders and who otherwise would return to court frequently. It provides a decision-making process for disputes not worthy of full-blown litigation in the Court System.

A third project seeks to enable mental health-guardians (those who are guardians by virtue of their mental health profession licensure) to be appointed to Title 22 cases. At present federal law which provides funding to states for child protection court activities provides that states must provide a GAL in every case who is either an attorney or a CASA volunteer. Although mental health-GALs are fully rostered GALs, and sometimes former DHHS case workers, the courts are not authorized to appoint them in Title 22 child protection cases as a routine matter. We think this should change.

If you are interested in working on legislative advocacy (testifying, talking to legislators, drafting legislation, obtaining testimony, etc.), contact Toby Hollander at tholland@maine.rr.com.

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Amicus Curae

We are presently constituting a legal advocacy committee which will guide and organize our legal advocacy in the Maine Courts and elsewhere as "amicus curae" on issues of importance to Guardians ad Litem or the children we represent. If you are interested in serving on such a committee please contact Toby Hollander at tholland@maine.rr.com.

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List Serve

The Maine GAL Institute operates a "list serve" in which members can post an email that is delivered to every other member who has an email address. This is one of the ways in which we share expertise and information and alert each other to resources or upcoming events. In the future, we are working to make this service archivable and searchable so past advice and/or resources are available to members no matter when they log on. We are seeking to make these emails available either as a digest or by direct delivery or through logging on to the Internet. Access to this list serve is restricted to dues paying members of the GAL Institute.

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Lending Library

We are in the process of developing a Lending Library of books and videos that may be borrowed by GAL Institute members. We have recently reached an agreement with the Kids First Center in Portland to supplement their library and to use it as our lending library accessible to all GALs.

If you have materials that you could contribute to the Lending Library and/or have suggestions for materials that the Institute should obtain, please contact Abbie Teachout at abbie.teachout@verizon.net .

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By-Laws

Our By-Laws were adopted at our first formal meeting in Augusta in April 2004.

  1. NAME: The name of this organization is the Maine Guardian ad litem Institute ("Maine GAL Institute").
  2. MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of the Maine Guardian ad litem Institute is to improve the welfare of Maine's children through strengthening the guardian ad litem profession by advocating and providing for improved standards of practice, education, and compensation for those individuals serving as guardians ad litem and providing mutual support and assistance on issues relating to their work.
  3. ORGANIZATIONAL ENTITY: The Institute is a voluntary non-profit association.
  4. MEMBERSHIP: All persons who engage in court-related activities as guardians ad litem and their employees are eligible for membership and become members upon paying the annual dues as established by the Executive Committee.
  5. OFFICERS: The officers of this Institute shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
  6. DUTIES OF OFFICERS:
    • PRESIDENT - Calls and presides over meetings, appoints committees and chairpersons as needed.
    • VICE-PRESIDENT - Assumes the duties of President in his/her absence.
    • SECRETARY - Records the minutes of each meeting, initiates and responds to all official correspondence, and maintains a record of all such material.
    • TREASURER - Maintains and keeps the financial records and manages the financial affairs of the Institute.
  7. OFFICERS' TERMS OF OFFICE: Two (2) years.
  8. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: By a majority vote at the annual meeting of the members.
  9. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: A standing committee of the Institute authorized to carry out the Institute's general business and day-to-day operations. It is comprised of the four (4) officers and five (5) other persons chosen from the membership each even-numbered year at the annual meeting. Thus, the Executive Committee shall consist of nine (9) members. Until the first annual meeting, the Institute's Steering Committee shall serve as the Executive Committee .
  10. VACANCIES: Shall be filled for the unexpired term of an officer or Executive Committee member by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Executive Committee.
  11. QUORUM FOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Five (5) members of the Executive Committee, which shall include at least one officer, shall constitute a quorum to carry out official business of the Institute.
  12. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VOTING: Issues shall be decided by a majority vote of the members present or via e-mail or telephone.
  13. PUBLIC STATEMENTS AND POSITIONS: Shall be articulated or promulgated by the President after approval by the Executive Committee.
  14. DUES: Shall be fixed annually by the Executive Committee and paid on an annual basis no later than 31 May by the members.
  15. ANNUAL MEETING: Shall be open to all the members on a date in May and at a site chosen by the Executive Committee. This date shall be announced no later than the first day of March of each year.
  16. AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS: May be made by an affirmative vote of six (6) members of the Executive Committee at any meeting of said committee.
  17. MEETING AGENDA: Shall be selected by the President.
  18. MEETING PROCEDURE: Shall be conducted by the President with Robert's Rules of Order in effect only when deemed necessary in the judgment of the President.
  19. DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS: In the event that a decision is made to dissolve the Institute, all financial assets will be distributed in a manner in consonance with the goals of the Institute and be acceptable to a majority of the Executive Committee.

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Executive Committee

President
Toby Hollander
112 Ludlow St
Portland, ME 04103
tholland@maine.rr.com

Treasurer
Abbie Teachout
P.O. Box 834
Windham, ME 04062
abbie.teachout@gmail.com

Vice President
Joseph Saunders, Esq.
P.O. Box 67
Monmouth, ME 04259
jrsaunders@ctel.net

Secretary
Susan Wiggin, LMSW
209 Main Street
Freeport, ME 04032
mediation@suscom-maine.net

Beth Ray, Esq.
PO Box 616
Dixfield, ME 04224
elizray@verizon.net

Maureen Dillane
PO Box 138
Winterport, ME 04496
medillane@aol.com

Gordon Miller, Esq.
RR 3, Box 321
Bridgeton, ME 04009
dagmiller@adelphia.net

Terry Hayes
PO Box 367
Buckfield, ME 04220
terry@megalink.net

Heidi Pulkkinen Jordan
P.O. Box 651
Farmington, ME 04938
hpjordan@gwi.net

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Dues

Our dues are presently set at $30.00 per year, due at the annual meeting every Spring.

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Meeting Minutes

We will post our future meeting minutes in this space.

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