FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Carolina Schwarz

Voices For Children Foundation

Tel: 305.324.5678 ext. 12

Miami-Dade Guardian Ad Litem Program launched Kinship Care Project
to expand representation to children placed with relatives other than parents

January 25, 2007- Miami, FL- The 11th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Program has officially launched its Kinship Care Project, which expands GAL Program representation to children placed by the Dependency Court with caretakers other than parents who have a family relationship bond to the children. In an emotional ceremony on Thursday, January 18, Joni Goodman, the 11th Judicial Circuit GAL Program Executive Director, officially opened the doors to the Project offices together with Angela Orkin, the Statewide Florida GAL Program Executive Director, visiting from Tallahassee.

The Kinship Care Project has the goal of making sure that children in kinship placement arrangements receive appropriate services to ensure their stability and protection. It will mainly focus the courts and providers on the unique needs of this overlooked population, bring community volunteers to advocate for families and children, create and distribute materials that will be helpful to families (handbook), and bring research-based information and practice to the courts. The Project is expected to employ 5 advocates, 5 attorneys, and 2 support staff. “The GAL Program is at 72% of representation. This project will enable us to get closer to our goal of 100% representation for the children we serve. Our hope is that through this project we can get closer to the community and develop expertise in working with families that have children placed with them through the courts. This specialized knowledge will allow us to be better prepared to advocate for this sometimes overlooked population,” said Becky Calderon, Project Coordinator.

Fifty-two percent of children in Miami-Dade County are placed with family members. In Florida alone, 258,982 children are living in grandparent headed households. Of these, 151,492 do not have either parent present. Over 86,000 children are living in households headed by other family members. As of January 2005, DCF had more than 29,360 children under supervision in out of home placements, 14,776 were placed with kin (48%). The Kinship Care Project is the first project of its kind in South Florida and will serve as pilot project that can be replicated by other Guardian Ad Litem Programs throughout the nation.

The mission of the Guardian Ad Litem Program is to advocate for the best interests of abused, abandoned, and neglected children and who are involved in dependency court proceedings. There are approximately 3,800 children in court proceedings who need representation, with the Guardian Ad Litem advocating for nearly 70% of them at any given time. To become a Guardian Ad Litem volunteer, call 305.638.6861.

The mission of Voices For Children Foundation is to raise funds to ensure that every abused, abandoned, and neglected child in Miami-Dade County has a court appointed Guardian Ad Litem and that financial assistance and other resources are available to meet their needs. Be a Voice, visit www.voices4.org.

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