Agency: Courts

Line Item: Guardian ad Litem

Function

The Office of Guardian ad Litem (GAL) and Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a separate line item within the court's budget. The program provides state-funded attorneys to represent the best interests of minors in Juvenile Court when there is an allegation of abuse, neglect, or dependency. A GAL may also be appointed in juvenile court for child protective order, emancipation, or delinquency cases. A GAL may also be court-appointed to represent minors when allegations of abuse or neglect arise in the District Court during divorce or custody proceedings or in a criminal case when the victim is a child. The Office also administers the private GAL program which provides trained private attorneys to serve as GAL for children in custody disputes which do not involve allegations of abuse and/or neglect. There are Guardian ad Litem offices in all eight judicial districts. The GAL office includes a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) system that uses trained volunteers to assist attorneys in representing the best interests of children in the juvenile courts.

Statutory Authority

Several sections of Utah Code guide the operations of the Guardian ad Litem.

• UCA Sections 78A-6-901 and 902 establish the office, provide an organizational framework, and assigns duties,
• UCA 78A-2-227 outlines the requirements for Guardian ad Litem involvement in District Court,
• UCA 78A-2-228 sets conditions for private attorney use as a Guardian ad Litem in District Court, and
• The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, 42 USC 5106a(b)(A)(ix) also guides this program.

Intent Language

Under Section 63-J-1-603 of the Utah Code, the Legislature intends that appropriations of up to $500,000 provided for Guardian ad Litem in Item 26 of Chapter 11 Laws of Utah 2012 not lapse at the close of Fiscal Year 2013.

The Legislature intends that the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) develop broad based, funding options to include federal, local government, and non-profit organization/ private donations where possible and submit these to the Legislative Fiscal Analyst office and the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee for review and input during one of the 2013 interim meetings.

The Legislature intends that the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) develop several options to measure performance and submit these to the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Subcommittee for review and input during one of the 2013 interim meeting. Measures should include industry benchmarks, metrics from model state GAL offices, and other relevant metrics. After receiving input from the Subcommittee, the GAL is to report measures annually to the Subcommittee.

Funding Detail

As in most of the judicial budgets, funding is mostly General Fund - over 80 percent of the budget is General Fund.