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>  About the Guardian Ad Litem Program

About Voices for Children

The Mission of Voices for Children Foundation is to raise funds to ensure that every abused and neglected child in Miami-Dade County has a court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem volunteer and that financial assistance and other resources are available for their accompanying health, educational and social needs.

Voices was founded in 1984 by three Juvenile Court Judges who were moved by the vulnerability of the abused and neglected children who entered their courtrooms. Realizing these children lacked even the most basic necessities, the judges organized a group of GAL volunteers to administer a small fund of paid fines and donations, which eventually became Voices for Children Foundation.

Today, Voices is part of a unique collaboration with the 11th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Program, serving as its fundraising arm, with the goal of ensuring that a Guardian Ad Litem represent every abused child in Miami-Dade County. Voices also provides financial assistance to child victims for a variety of their needs, such as medical, dental and mental-health services, medication, food, clothing, furniture, school supplies, tutoring, day care, after-school care, eyeglasses, summer camp and more.

As a public/private partnership, Voices provides vital support to the GAL Program, enabling it to represent more children, while leveraging state support with donations from the private sector.

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About the Guardian Ad Litem Program

The 11th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem Program recruits, trains, supports and supervises court-appointed volunteers to represent Miami-Dade's abused and neglected children. The statewide program resulted from statutes mandating the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) – a trained and committed adult who gets to the know the child and speaks up for his or her best interests – in all child abuse, neglect and abandonment proceedings. "Best interests" include:

• preservation of the child's physical safety and emotional well-being, permanent placement in a nurturing home environment that will foster the child's healthy growth
   
• development and education, and
   
• protection from further harm by virtue of the child's involvement in the legal or child welfare system.

Begun as a grassroots organization in 1981, the 11th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem Program is the largest in Florida and is currently one of the most nationally respected GAL Programs, serving one of the largest urban populations of child abuse, abandonment and neglect in the nation. It is part of a nationwide network of advocacy organizations under the umbrella of the National Court-Appointed Special Advocates Association (NCASAA).

For more information about Voices for Children, please visit the website.

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