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Many of the youth who enter our doors are
directed to us due to circumstances of abuse and/or neglect.
These kids need help, and Guardian ad Litem provides an
opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child
before he or she enters the juvenile justice system.
Department of Juvenile Justice personnel
understand the need for child advocacy because we stand as
the last measure in a long line of societal entities that
serve at-risk youth. Guardian ad Litem’s advocacy for abused
and neglected children parallels the Department’s focus on
prevention. The youth served by DJJ have already fallen
through the cracks in our communities. Guardian ad Litem
stems the breach by engaging individuals to volunteer as
advocates for abused and neglected children. Comprehensive
free training is provided to volunteers, who are supported
in their advocacy by an attorney and a volunteer supervisor.
DJJ’s sister agency, the Department Children
and Families (DCF), works most closely with Guardian ad
Litem. Consider the numbers: DCF reports 165,546 child
protective investigations for 2009-2010. For the same time
period, 75,382 youth statewide were referred to DJJ, but
only 22,252 children at DCF had the help of Guardian ad
Litem volunteers. The numbers accentuate the need.
Volunteering for Guardian ad Litem bolsters the work of both
agencies in our efforts to do good work for the children of
Florida.
The abused and neglected children of today
are tomorrow’s delinquent juveniles. Please help our kids to
stay off the path to delinquency.
Please click here to learn more about volunteering!
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