Historically, it has always been believed that parents took care of their children's best interests, but this fallacy became apparent in 1962 when Dr. Henry C. Kempe published The Battered Child Syndrome, and it was recognized for the first time that such a clinical condition existed and threatened a child's life (Heartz, 1997). The child protection movement gained momentum, and by 1967, every state had laws which required professionals working with children to report suspected child abuse and neglect to law enforcement officials designated for this task or to the child protection authorities.
Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in 1974, requiring the states to provide appointed Guardians ad Litem (GAL) to qualify for grants from the National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect, however it did not specify what the qualifications were for the GAL (Heartz, 2004). In the United States, it is English Common Law that forms the basis of the Guardian ad Litem in court proceedings (Guardian ad Litem History, 2004). There are still 8 states in which GAL appointments are discretionary or only required in certain cases, and there is considerable variation in the way states define Guardian ad Litem (GAL). Twenty states define it in terms of specific duties described in statutes, court rules, or state policies; only five of these have a comprehensive description of the duties for the GAL.
A judge in Seattle conceived the idea of using volunteers from the community, specially trained, to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children (Guardian, 2004). He called these volunteers Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). The idea caught on in other states and today there is a National CASA Network of over 710 programs employing approximately 42,000 men and women who are speaking on behalf of the country's abused youth. For instance, the State of Florida GAL program resulted from the Fed...