As an integral part of the North Carolina Judicial System, the Guardian ad Litem program was established in 1983 by the General Assembly to be a voice for the children in the community. Volunteers for the Guardian ad Litem program speak up for abused and neglected children in court. The term “guardian ad litem” comes from Latin, and means “guardian for the case.”

“Our district is Wayne, Lenoir, and Greene counties,” said Colleen Kosinski, District Administrator for Guardian ad Litem. “There are 3200 children in North Carolina who do not have guardians right now. There is a desperate need for guardians all across North Carolina.”

Interested parties can make a difference by volunteering for the Guardian ad Litem program as a way to give back to the youth of the community. The application process includes a criminal background check, a screening interview, and Guardian ad Litem volunteers will go through 30 hours of training, usually in the evenings or on the weekends. Upon completion of the training process, most Guardian ad Litem volunteers will have one to two cases at a time. The application and more information can be found at https://www.volunteerforgal.org.

”Right now, we have volunteers who are doubling up and having multiple cases so that we make sure every case is covered, that’s gotten exhausting,” said Kosinski. “Our volunteers take real pride in making sure no child goes without an advocate. If we can make sure we have enough advocates then no child will go without. That is critical to me.”

According to the Guardian ad Litem website, in North Carolina, approximately one out of every 100 children, or about 1% of the state’s child population, are abused or neglected. Volunteers are never on their own. Each volunteer is paired with a supervisor and an attorney.

“We do an amazing job protecting children and making sure the best interest of every child is protected,” said Kosinski. “I tell volunteers that they are here to serve the children, but we are here to serve them.”