The issue of Guardian ad litem reform continues with questions about oversight and what can be done to change the badly broken system.
Another view: Guardian ad litem system long overdue for reform | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
Presented here is a response to the Maine Guardian ad Litem Institute article that came out on March 27th of this year. There is growing concern on how GALs operate in the state of Maine. Check out the the view and leave a comment. Feedback is always appreciated.
Our concern about the Chief Justices promised reform is that she will round up "the usual suspects, ie, , MEGALI, to assist her in drafting a plan. MEGALI is the Maine Guardian ad litem Institute, the "trade organization", or "union" for the GAL industry. MEGALI is there to lobby for the "special interests" of GALs in the legislature or elsewhere, it fights for GALs in trouble, and it generally does what a union would do for members. They come to the aid of any member under criticism. While MEGALI claims to be a public service for children, they have no record of dealing with members who might be "rogue" GALs. They don't police their membership as far as we can tell. Any member is automatically "the best"!! All 328 Maine GALs are "the best"! How do they evaluate member functioning?
ReplyDeleteIt is our very real fear that MEGALI will try to co-opt GAL reform, as any "special interest" will try to do. While they should have a "seat at the table" should they have 7 seats, as they did in 2008? Especially when NO seats were allocated for "consumers in that Judicial Branch planning process. The JB and MEGALI have sometimes looked on activist "consumers" as "bad sports", dissatisfied with the judgements they've been given.
ReplyDelete"Bad sports" are most apt to be in evidence when the game is played unfairly. We are all "bad sports" when secrecy and private communications impair the judicial process. We rebel at the anti-democratic nature of such actions.
Was George Washington a "bad sport"?