Photo By Martin Egnash | Community leaders from Onslow County cut a blue ribbon at a Guardian ad Litem ceremony...... read more read more
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — When children go to court in cases where child abuse or neglect is an issue, they are appointed a representative who advocates for their needs. These people are the voice for the mistreated children. They fight for the children’s needs, and act as a second opinion for court cases. In North Carolina, these people are from the Guardian ad Litem program.
Guardians ad Litem, latin for appointed guardians, are used all across the United States. Unlike other states, North Carolina appoints both an attorney and a Guardian ad Litem volunteer. In Onslow County, children are represented by Guardian ad Litem District 4, and due to the large military presence in the area, the program accommodates children from military families.
“The military community in Onslow County is tremendous,” said Rusty Brown, the District 4 administer. “Helping children from military families makes up a large part of what we do in this district.”
Brown said their goal is to develop a working relationship with military families, train with communities that are associated with military organizations and find more military-oriented volunteers who are familiar with how the armed forces work.
“It’s different working with military families,” said Brown. “We try to get volunteers who have had some military experience to work with the children that live on base. That way they know more about their environment.”
Sylvia Sulvai, the military coordinator for Guardian ad Litem District 4, believes that taking care of abused or neglected military children is an issue that many people do not realize.
“Those kids don’t have a voice,” said Sulvai. “Somebody has to fight for them so the court knows what they need. We have to be their voice.”
The symbol for child abuse prevention is a blue pinwheel. Similar to the more popular pink ribbon associated with breast cancer, supporters of the cause wear blue pinwheel pins and decorate their community with the popular children’s toy.
“It’s suppose to represent the shining future for the children, that we want them to have,” said Sulvai. “My hope is that the blue pinwheel will one day be as popular as the pink ribbon. The more people aware of child abuse, the more we can do something about it.”
People who would like to volunteer to help the Guardian ad Litem cause can find more information on the District 4 website at http://www.gal4kids.org
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.14.2012 10:42 |
| Story ID: | 88396 |
| Location: | NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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