Become a GAL or CASA

There is not much that really perturbs me. I have an attitude that allows me to face most adversities with a, shall I say, 'stuff happens' mindset. One of the things that I hear often are complaints from the average members of society who don't like some policy or law imposed upon them or some shortcoming that they see. Generally my response falls somewhere between vote and get on the deciding body.

Lately I have been embroiled in a case involving a GAL and his attorney who both engaged in a deliberate course of conduct to get a parent's custody taken away. This included lying to the parent about the court's order and lying to the judge.

I assisted in exposing the truth, publicized these actions and am now working on writing a code of conduct and rules for child custody evaluators. It may take some time to get the Indiana Supreme Court to adopt my proposals though. So in the meantime all these efforts aren't going to change the make-up of the pool of GAL's that include those who aren't motivated by the welfare of children.

The way to do that is by those of us who care about the well-being of children instead of perpetuating our personal biases joining the ranks of GAL's. So today I submitted my name to be a volunteer as a GAL/CASA. The task is not an onerous one. If you care about children then I assure you that you will not find the time dedicated to this as a burden or effort but, rather, a rewarding opportunity.

So, I ask you to join me and request information on being a GAL/CASA.

If you would like to become involving in advocating for child-friendly policies then please visit my website and contact my scheduler to make an appointment to meet with me.

If you would like to follow my activities more closely then send a friend request to my Political FaceBook page.

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More information about child custody rights and procedures may be found on the Indiana Custodial Rights Advocates website.

©2008, 2013 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.