Verizon joins in the effort...

The Verizon Foundation the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, matches both volunteer hours and employee contributions by giving a monetary donation to Florida Guardian ad Litem. Click below to read what happened in Tampa Florida...

Guardian ad Litm: A short explanaton

The Florida Guardian ad Litem Association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide additional resources for the Florida Guardian ad Litem Program and its affiliated circuit non-profit organizations. Guardian ad Litem's goal is to provide representation for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Florida's system.

A volunteer Guardian Ad Litem is a representative for the child before the court, social service agencies, and the community. Guardian Ad Litem responsibilities include, monitoring the child's case to insure proper services are received, protecting the child from insensitive questioning, speaking for the child in court, and reporting information to assist the Court in determining the best interests of the child. A Guardian Ad Litem is a person who cares and has time to devote to children. Each volunteer must attend more than 30 hours of training and successfully pass a thorough background screening.

The state system is overbooked with child abuse and neglect cases. It's the communities job to lookout for these children.

The Guardian ad litem program is a great idea. To be a GAL is one step up from up from being a mentor to an abandoned child. I as an undergraduate have looked into being a volunteer, but I do not want to jump in head first and disappoint a child or a supervisor. I plan to practice law and think that i will do a majority of my pro bono work for this program.