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Brown Bag Lunches
Pinellas
Friday October 20
11:30 AM
Icot Office
Pasco
New Port Richey:
Friday October 20
12:00 PM
NPR office
8324 Corporate Way
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SURROGATE PARENT" ORIENTATION
Become a certified Surrogate Parent/Educational Guardian.
Required orientation after which you will be ready to complete an on-line training.
October 12th 6-8 PM
Icot Office
14102 - 58th Street North Clearwater, FL 33760
To register contact Kerry Kelly, FDLRS Gulfcoast at
kellyke@pcsb.org
by October 6th
Bring laptop
9th Annual Child Advocacy Expo
Angels Against Abuse, Inc. hosts this free event annually to promote all of our community non-profit partners with an opportunity to network with one another and interact for a one-day event to learn what resources are available for the children, youth and families that we advocate for.
When: Friday, October 6, 2017 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Where: St Pete College Seminole Campus
9200 113th Street
Seminole, FL 33772
Questions contact
On line Trainings
Florida GAL website
:
Just in Time Foster Parent Trainings:
Florida Center for Child's Welfare:
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Stars of the Month
Karen Crowe
Steven See
Sheila Slater
Joann Bryan
Judy Brunner
Ethan Roman
Mary McMannis
Mardee Harvey
Susan White
Amanda Liddy
John Tarrant
Gala Badgley
Carmen Feliciano
Kerri Shaver
Elizabeth Samuelson
Molly Camp
Judy Warrick
Sam Dulberg
Melodie Menzer
Kathleen Minidis
Joe Incorvia
Thomas Seriani
Special Thanks to
Thank you Guardian ad Litem Foundation of Tampa Bay (GALF) for your support for our kids, volunteers and staff.
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Attardo, Linda
Davani, Jack
Ensminger, Tyler
Hensley, Diana
Rivera, Maria
Rojas, Edith
Staff Changes
Alexandra Regan, is joining our staff as a full time CAM in New Port Richey. She graduated from Trinity College of Florida with a bachelors in Psychology and comes to us with experience in the area of services, having worked for Operation PAR as a Clinical Assessor and Counselor. She also has experience dealing with children of all ages as an after - school teacher. She volunteers at her church with the middle and high school kids, has in the past volunteered at an art camp for children who suffered the loss of a loved one, and she loves taking care of animals. She and her husband have two dogs, one turtle and one bearded dragon. Welcome Alex!
Melissa Soler- Welcome to Melissa Soler, who is a new CAM in Pinellas. Melissa started as a volunteer in 2014.
Rebecca Dilley- Congrats to Rebecca, who has been promoted from Administrative Assistant to CAM. Rebecca started with GALP as a volunteer and staff in 2016. She will be located in the ICOT office.
Pam Smith- Welcome to Pam Smith, who is a new CAM in Pinellas! Pam started with GALP as a volunteer in 2015.
Welcome to Judy Warrick, who has been a GAL volunteer since 2015 and is now working part time as an Administrative Assistant.
Congratulations to
Paulette White!
Paulette was promoted to a CAM Two. Paulette holds a Masters of Divinity, and has been with GALP since 2005. Recently she was a member of the Pinellas Early Childhood Court Team from inception, to work collaboratively with agency team members to strengthen bonds for babies and their families.
Paige Cable-Nirenberg moved to Tallahassee. Paige has been a valued CAM since 2012 and will be missed tremendously.
Alex Diaz, Pinellas CAM has left to return to the business arena. We wish him well.
Rebecca Broeuder, Pinellas Best Interest Attorney, has left GALP to work at the State Attorneys Office, where she will continue to work in the field of child protection. Thanks for your advocacy and service Rebecca!
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Great Peeps to Tweet!
Special Kudos for GAL
Angie Staley-Koebel who took her youth out to dinner to celebrate his
successful completion of his GED. They went to a Brazilian steak house and ate themselves into a meat coma. They discussed future goals, what has opened up, family, and college. They then went to Walmart to get a couple of things he needed.
Kudos to
Ardy
and
John Young
for joiningWendy's team and taking on two cases. Also
Madison Lovell
for also joining Wendy's team and taking on a case. Thanks to
all Wendy's GALs
for the outstanding job that they do!
Kudos to
Kim Melick who is part Guardian ad Litem, part guardian angel, who makes sure that the kids she represents have everything they need and then a little bit more! She goes above and beyond and often brings treats and even special meals to her home visits. She makes sure foster parents have all the necessary equipment for children placed in their homes. Her kids know that Kim really cares because of the kindness, love and respect she shows them.
Thank you from Kristi Anson to
Linda Poulette for finishing a Hillsborough County Courtesy Case. Also to
Patricia Bailey for always advocating for her out of county kids. Kudos to '
Big Rich" for driving all the way to Wesley Chapel to visit teenagers! Also to
Fred and
Karen Twilla for advocating and always being there for a foster family with a young baby.
Steven See is amazing! He goes above and beyond to advocate for a difficult out of county case.
Kassie Hutchison for advocating for her sibling group of 3 and driving to Hillsborough county for court.
Kudo's to
Angelynn Taylor for advocating that her GAL child has her dental procedure completed.
Karen Wingert who wrote her very first court report which turned out to be an MBI report. She did a stellar job on it! Lisa Holland who came to the office to work with the VTL in one afternoon to get in a JR that had to be submitted on very short notice.
Many thanks from Andrea to Khedjia Nottingham for really looking out for the best interest of the children she serves.
Thanks to Kay Brulo for her remarkable educational advocacy regarding the child that she represents.
We are grateful to Nancy Blount for her travels across the State of Florida visiting the children that she represents.
Kudos to Andrew Maurin, Esq. for an outstanding in-service regarding services to teens aging out. Great Job!
Thanks to Judy, Area Coordinator and Rebecca for their ongoing assistance.
Thanks to Melissa Jagger, Esq... for the tin supply!
Kudos to Jona Witherspoon for her hard work and diligence on her cases.
Thanks to Kerri Shaver for her excellent representation of her children.
Thank you Sally Starzel for your transportation assistance!
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Street Beat
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Left to right: Jean, Salina, Alyssa and Michele at the Dependency Summit
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Left to right: Reginald and Judge Lynn Tepper celebrating his 18th birthday!
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Nine Years
Seven Years
Chiszar, Sandy
Six Years
Mathis, Paul
Smith, Cynthia
Five Years
Hunt, George
Letendre, Clement
Berrien, Lakia
Southerland, Elizabeth
Robinson, Jeana
Four Years
Shanks, Mitchell
Horowitz, Richard
Hoagland, Jamie
Kirschbaum, Denise
Samlick, Kathy
Miller, Carol
Three Years
De Rosa, Vincent
Debord, Denise
Brodeur, Rebecca
McArdle, Patricia
Maglott, Jonilyn
Burton, Lisa
Burns, Peggy
Two
Smith, Kathy
Lund, Lyn
Raven, Dianne
Baird, Dawn
Walker, Nancy
Greenberg, Taylor
Schimkat, Dory
One
Clayton, Michelle
Exelby, Misty
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GUARDIAN AD LITEM FIVE CORE COMPETENCIES
Commitment to Children- The children for whom we advocate are our most important priority.
Communication Built on Trust- The Program has a culture of open communication, active listening, teamwork, and regard for the views of others. This includes being honest and straightforward with the children we represent in keeping with their level of age and maturity.
Collective Empowerment-
Each circuit has the authority and responsibility to make and implement the best decisions to meet the children's needs. This empowerment must be passed on to volunteers, staff and attorneys.
Collaboration- The Program proactively seeks to develop relationships that promote the well-being of the whole child.
Courtesy- The Program values all who engage in this challenging work and ensures they are treated with respect and dignity.
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Mariela Ollsen,
Circuit Director
"Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a persons life" Jackie Chan
I hope that this newsletter finds you and your family doing well and on the road to recovery from the recent stress of Hurricane Irma. I also want to take a moment to thank our amazing volunteers and the effort each of you put into making sure we knew where our kids were during the storm and that they returned safely. You guys are amazing!!
I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about monthly visitations. They can often be one of the most effective ways to get to know your child; however, it can often be difficult to know what to ask or focus on. It's a good time to remind everyone the different types of information we want to gather during a visit. The more information we gather, the better we can advocate for our child. Remember, that at least every other visit should occur at the child's placement. We want to see the place where our kids spend most of their time and we want to speak to the people who are in the child's life day in and day out. Visitation notes should include information such as:
- Date, time and location of visit. Visits can occur at school or after school program. Remember when visiting at school to be sensitve to the timing to not disrupt important instruction time or tests/standardized testing.
- Was the visit announced or unannounced?
- What did the child look like both physically and emotionally? If the visit is at the home, what was the interaction of the caregiver and the child? What about other kids in the home? This will help us determine whether the child is adjusting to the placement.
- How is the child doing in school? Does the child have an IEP, 504 and if not, should they have one? If they do, when is the next meeting? Does the child need tutoring, as many of our kids are educationally behind.
- What is the discipline at the home?
- Is the child enrolled in age appropriate activities and if not, do they want to be?
- Is the child on any medications? If not, should they be? If so, what are they taking and how much? How is it effecting the child?
- Is the child involved in any specialized therapy? If so, what kind and how often. If not, should he be. This can include tings such as speech and physical therapy? It can include counseling or play therapy. Some other services may be things like, occupational therapy or behavioral therapy.
- Does the child have any siblings and if so are they visiting? Is the child visiting the parents and is there any change in the behavior after the visit.
- If the child is age appropriate, do they want to attend Court?
Although this is not meant to be an all inclusive list, it should be used as a guide to the information we should gather at our monthly visits. Any questions should always be directed to your CAM who will provide additional guidance and support.
I would like to give a very speical thanks to everyone who participated and attended the ACT Review Thursday, September 28. Everyone did a wonderful job in presenting their cases, and it was amazing to see the support from all of our volunteers.
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Sixth Circuit Vital Statistics:
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2765 (>)
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Of those without a GAL
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1049(
>)
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Case Volunteers
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799 (>)
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Transportation Approved Volunteers
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256 ( same)
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Please make every attempt to schedule your visits well prior to the end of the month. This will allow for additional time in the event that a visit must be rescheduled. Foster Parents and caregivers may need to cancel. Sometimes, an appointment is made and a GAL learns at the last minute that the child has been taken for a medical appointment. As a result, rescheduling needs to be addressed.
Please be sure to maintain parental contact and check in with your parents, documenting your calls and any attempts to reach parents. Please confirm if parents have received referrals, if they have made the needed appointments as per their case plan tasks and if visits, either supervised or unsupervised are taking place. When you see parents in court, please bring the needed releases with you and meet with your parents before or after court.
Never hesitate to call your CAM and/or your Child's Best Interest Attorney regarding any issues or concerns. If your CAM and/or Child's Best Interest Attorney, is out of the office, there is always someone available to assist you.
Last, we do send out many emails. Please be kind enough to review these emails as there is much information available in regard to in-services and other important updates.
Thank you GALS!
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BEST EVIDENCE FOR TRIALS AND EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS
For the purposes of this article, Best Evidence is what the Court will allow to be heard (admissible) at a trial or evidentiary hearing (where evidence rules are most strictly applied) and what is most persuasive. If it cannot be considered by the Court, it is of limited value in getting the legal outcome desired. Understanding what comprises Best Evidence should assist and guide you in your information gathering efforts. In order for information to be admissible and persuasive, it must be relevant. Relevant evidence is evidence that tends to prove or disprove the matter at issue. It should concern things that impact the child whose best interest we are representing. In dependency cases, families are often dysfunctional, often lie, are rude, and violate traffic and other rules. Don't get caught up with or too focused on the family feud, people lying, making allegations against each other, driving without a license or that the person is not nice, etc. In addition, the court will not typically consider misconduct that is more than 5 years ago, unless it is extraordinary such as murder or sexual battery. It is considered too remote in time, especially if the conduct has not continued. If you are on unsure, contact your CAM to arrange for a meeting or phone call to get guidance from the assigned Child's Best Interest Attorney (CBIA) if needed.
Often times, we have letters written by children or service providers that seem relevant for the trial. However, unless the parents' counsel and the Legal Service provider for the Department (State Attorneys Office in our circuit) agree, such
information will not typically be admitted into evidence at trial without an authenticating witness. The reason the letters are not admissible is that the testimony of the person who wrote the letter is the Best Evidence. They can be
questioned by all parties, whereas a piece of paper cannot be. Sometimes the questioning may be limited to testifying that a written document or photograph is a correct copy of what it is declared to be and that it was created at a certain
time by a certain person. This is called authentication. Written documents and photographs are easier to authenticate when they have identifying information on them such as the date of creation, author name and title, letterhead, signature, and website address, etc. It is important that GAL volunteers and staff consult the assigned CBIA immediately if they become aware of a document or photograph that could be used at trial. The CBIA will review for relevancy and if necessary arrange for certified copies, authentication, or the writer to be a witness if needed.
Finally, witness testimony is often highly persuasive, especially when testimony is about one's own observations, such as GAL volunteers' observations of parents at visits and elsewhere, observations of the child in the caregiver's home or in daycare/school, observations of the conditions of parents' home, etc. This kind of testimony is unquestionably admissible, as is testimony about commonly understood things, such as weather conditions, distance, the expression on
somebody's face, the tone of somebody's voice, the smell in a house, or the loudness of the TV. Generally, non-expert witnesses cannot testify about things that require expertise, such as medical conditions or psychological conditions, and their treatment. However, GAL volunteers should be able to testify that they have relied on the report/opinion of an expert, such as a psychological evaluation report, leaving the content and explanation of the report to an expert witness.
The prohibition on hearsay (
fn.1) testimony generally prevents our GAL volunteers from testifying to what other individuals have said or written. This is because the best source of the other individual's statement or writing is the person's
testimony or perhaps the document itself. This limitation is meant to allow meaningful challenge by questioning and to reduce inherent changes that occur when multiple people attempt to serially relay information. Still the GAL volunteer may be able to testify to what a parent has said directly to or in the presence of the volunteer, under an exception to the hearsay prohibition. Therefore, it is important to meet with the parents, listen to what they have to say, and keep notes of this, because memory tends to fade. So when it comes to case plan compliance, documents are of primary importance, but do not tell the whole story, as observation and other witnesses are often more revealing as to behavior and personal relationships.
Submitted by,
Christina Clemenson, Esq.
Senior Child's Best Interest Attorney
GAL Clearwater Office
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fn.1
Hearsay definition-out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted.
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Recently, I read the following excerpt in an article entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins of Recruiting Volunteers" written by Thomas W. McKee....
"We needed people in our organization to volunteer for a short-term project. I made the announcement, wrote articles in our newsletter, had people who had been involved give a five-minute plug in several monthly meetings, and did a special mailing demonstrating the benefits for being a part of this special team.
The results were very disappointing. What was wrong? What had I done wrong? I thought that the challenge would motivate leaders to get involved.
I went to lunch with a person who was a mover and shaker and asked him, "Why didn't you volunteer for this project? I could see your name on it all the way." I'll never forget his response. Bill said, "If you wanted me, why didn't you ask? I'd be happy to work with you on this project, but I would never volunteer."
I learned an important lesson 20 years ago that I have not forgotten. Many people will never volunteer. Why aren't people volunteering? Because people want to be asked.
I have found that good people know good people and asking is something we all can do. As we approach the conclusion of 2017 and look forward to 2018, would you mind doing GALP a favor? Will you ask at least one person to become a child advocate? Or ask if they will simply attend one of our Information Sessions to find out more about becoming the voice of an abused, neglected or abandoned child? There are many platforms on which we can ask...in person, via FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, email, post card.....and the list goes on. There is an old saying that says "We have not because we ask not". So let's start asking so the 6th Circuit's abused, abandoned and neglected children can start "having".
FOR ALL YOU CONTINUE TO DO.....THANK YOU!!!
Larnelle Scott
6th Circuit Community Outreach Coordinator
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Pasco GAL(s) of the Month
Ethan Romans and Mary McMannis
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Ethan Romans
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It is hard to pick the GAL of the month, when you are lucky enough to have a team of outstanding volunteers. However, I will like to nominate both Ethan Romans and Mary McMannis as my volunteers of the month. Ethan first became a GAL in August of 2015
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Mary McMannis |
and he brought on Mary in March of 2016. They work great as a team. Ethan has taken on three cases since becoming a volunteer and Mary has two. The cases that Mary and Ethan have taken on are very complicated and deal with multiple issues for both the children and the parents. These two GALs work with the parents and caregivers along with the case managers for the best interest of the children and have no problem expressing their desires to do what is best. Both Mary and Ethan work their cases together and do multiple visits to each child on their caseload. Ethan and Mary are awesome volunteers and have managed to help out on any case when there is a need. In addition, they have mentored other GALs and work to help new GALs understand the program and the program's goals. Despite not always agreeing on the outcome, Mary and Ethan are outstanding in advocating for the children that are on their case load. Thank you Mary and Ethan for being apart of my team!!
Wendy Kelly
Child Advocacy Manager
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Pinellas
GAL of the Month
Ricky Gnatowsky
Ricky Gnatowsky became a GAL with Pinellas 6th Circuit in 2016. In just this short amount of time, Ricky has made a big impact on the life of a teenage boy who was lingering in the foster care system. When Ricky came to me for his final screen, his number one priority was making a lasting impact on a child's life-he asked "where can I do the most good Daniella?". Ricky accepted a first case with a teenager, which can be challenging enough-but this particular teen had been longing to find a forever family and he and his brother had been in and out of the system since he was an infant. This teen was starting to lose hope and was very depressed, thinking that no one would ever want him. Thanks to Ricky's persistence and constant support, this teen is now placed with an adoptive family. I recently received a touching email from the adoptive parents expressing their gratitude for Ricky and the impact he has had on their new son and their family. Ricky always has a positive attitude and shows real strength and skills in building positive relationships with not only his GAL child, but with his service providers, caretakers and case management. Because of this constant and open communication, this teen is very close to permanency with a scheduled option in November. Ricky has a passion for children and giving back to the community. Ricky works with children who have communication disorders in addition to his role as a GAL and working. Ricky is always reading about children's issues and has a strong interest in philosophy and producing hip hop music with a positive message. Ricky has recently become a GAL volunteer mentor so he can assist new GALS who work with difficult teen cases. When Ricky came to me, I did not have very many volunteers on my team. I have been blessed with a very strong team of volunteers, all whom do amazing things to advocate for their children on a daily basis. Reflecting on how far Ricky's case has come, and the impact that his presence in his child's life has made, I am reminded of just how important a GAL volunteer like Ricky is in a child's life. Ricky you have made a difference for your teen. It is volunteers like you that remind us of why we do what we do. Thank you for your advocacy!
Daniella Saiz
Child Advocacy Manager
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Self Care Tips
Post Irma Self Care
Irma has passed and most of us fared better than originally anticipated. However, all Floridians were impacted in some way. I hope that everyone has had some post Irma down time to practice self-care. We all felt the stress of the storm in similar and different ways. I decided to take a day afterwards just to destress and take stock of how fortunate I felt knowing it could have been worse. So what I did was spent some time outdoors in my back yard and I journaled about the experience, the emotions I felt with the uncertainty of what life would be like after the storm, worrying about my family and friends and whatever popped into my head. For me just seeing the words on paper was helpful. It helped me to think about how I reacted and if there were ways I could have improved or things I would do different in the future. One thing I was grateful for was that I have some great neighbors and we all supported each other leading up to and after the storm. As far as doing anything differently, it made me see the need to simplify my life and think about what really is important to me especially when it comes to material items. When it was time to go back to work I was actually looking forward to some normalcy and catching up with my coworkers and seeing that they were all ok too.
This
was an unusually
stressful time for our families and all of our wonderful GAL volunteers who were so concerned with their GAL kids. Some people also have loved ones living in areas where the impact of this year's hurricanes was worse and are dealing with this stress additionally.
Whether it is something you learned about yourself or just taking stock of things you are grateful for; I hope that you were able to get some rest and recuperate and if not that you are able to take time even if just a day or part of a day soon to rejuvenate. As caregivers it is natural to think of others at times like these but we sometimes need to do something for ourselves so that when we do go back to our jobs or our volunteer work, we are up to the task.
Here is a hurricane resource from the EAP website:
Don't forget to seek assistance if you need to speak to a counselor or look up resources on a variety of topics through our EAP at 1-844-208-7067 or visit:
Karen Malo
Pinellas Community Outreach Coordinator
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A POET'S PAIN
A "poet's pain" was mentioned to me by a GAL Executive so kind.
Of course many thoughts immediately came to this poet's mind.
What about our children? Sometimes their pain is not that visible.
But our GALS observe and document, with notes now admissible.
Thank you GALS for all of the attention you give, all that you always note.
You see a child's pain, the child's silent plea for help, you captain the boat.
Thanks to your efforts and your strength, you also bear this painful weight.
You are the voice and your voice is heard; you are the best, ever so great!
Submitted by Diana Aboussir, Child Advocacy Manager
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A special note from Diana;
Thank you GAL Team for being so diligent during my medical leave. You are the
greatest GAL team on earth! I am grateful to each and every one of you. Without my team, the ship is rudderless and this CAM would be splashing around in muddied waters without direction.
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Fundraising Events For the Children
2nd Annual I Am For The Child: A Taste of Pasco
Fri, October 20, 2017
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM EDT
Little Coronas Cigar Lounge
6324 Grand Boulevard
New Port Richey, FL 34652
Click here to purchase tickets or learn more
Applebees Pancake Breakfast
Come enjoy an old-fashioned pancake breakfast sponsored by the Honorable Mayor Leslie Waters of Seminole and the GFWC Seminole Junior Woman's Club benefitting the Guardian ad Litem Foundation of Tampa Bay
Sat, October 21, 2017
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM EDT
7995 113th Street
Seminole, FL 33772
Click here to purchase tickets or learn more
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Eckerd Thanks GAL Volunteers
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Each month, each of the case management agencies honor and thank a GAL Volunteer or Staff for their hard work and partnership to support children and families. For September,
Eckerd honors
Jack Sheppard
THANK YOU JACK!
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Case Managers of the Month
Each month we honor and thank a case manager from each county, in the spirit of partnership and apprciation for their dedication.
Pasco is
Darrien Hanrahan
Thank you Darrien!
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