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Spring 2017
Spring 2017The Sentinel SevenPage 1 of 8
Judicial District 7 Guardian ad Litem ProgramsEdgecombe, Nash, & Wilson Counties
Contact Us
Sue AdamsProgram SupervisorEdgecombe & Wilson252-823-0420252-823-2821 (Fax)PO Box 10Tarboro, NC [email protected]
Judith JonesProgram [email protected]
Teresa [email protected]
Angela McBrideActing District Administrator Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson252-641-5079252-823-2821 (Fax)PO Box 10Tarboro, NC [email protected]
www.volunteerforgal.org
The Sentinel Seven
Guardianship Assistance Program
The NC GAL office has created a summary of the new Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) for GAL use. The program is administered by our local DSS agencies. The program’s purpose is to provide financial support for eligible youth (usually 14 – 17) who have been placed in the legal guardianship of
Message from the District Administrator
Hello awesome people! I hope that this newsletter finds you doing well. We are still modifying our format for newsletters and have worked very hard to make it as “user friendly” as possible. We are going to try to keep it short, sweet, and to the point!
In an effort to improve our office functions, I will be emailing out a survey to each one of you. This is an anonymous way for our office staff to gather information and feedback from you. It is very important to us that we offer you the support that you need so that you can successfully advocate for your children. This survey will come to your email by way of “Survey Monkey”. Please respond to the survey as soon as you can. I am hopeful to have the results of the survey presented to you by the end of April. I look forward to reading all of your responses.
As many of you know, April is child abuse awareness month and volunteer appreciation month. We are working on a few exciting ideas for the upcoming months. We will keep you posted. Make sure you are checking your email…
“If your life inspires just one child, your life has been a success” –Mark Desvaux
Welcome to “our” program, Teresa!!
Upcoming Events
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FYIFYI
Guardianship Assistance Program
The NC GAL office has created a summary of the new Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) for GAL use. The program is administered by our local DSS agencies. The program’s purpose is to provide financial support for eligible youth (usually 14 – 17) who have been placed in the legal guardianship of
I am Teresa Webb, recruiter for the GAL program covering Edgecombe, Nash & Wilson Counties. I have recently moved back to my hometown, Tarboro, after moving to Carteret County 8 years ago. I attended Barton College in Wilson. I previously worked at Embarq Telephone Company until my early retirement, after 28 years. I worked in many various positions at Embarq, mostly in the customer service areas. In Carteret County I worked for Carteret Craven Electric in the customer service department. I love working with and helping people, especially children. I have two sons, Landon & Chase. I also have two grandsons, Brayden and Warren. I enjoy family time and still enjoy going to the beach as much as possible.
I am looking forward to working with this program. Any suggestions or assistance would be greatly appreciated. You can reach me at 252-823-0420 or [email protected]
Child Abuse Awareness Month activities: We will be participating in the Hospital event again this year on April 29, 2017 at Vidant Hospital in Tarboro. We will have a table set up with displays about our program. We will be using this event as an opportunity to educate our community about our program. This is an annual event. If you are in the area, please stop by and visit Sue and Teresa. There will be fun activities for children throughout the event. This will be from 10 – 2 on April 29th.
Volunteer Appreciation activities: Volunteer Appreciation Event - Carolina Hurricanes vs. Dallas Stars – April 1, 2017 at PNC Arena. We had 27 volunteers participate in this event this year. Yay! I hope each of you that participated had a wonderful time! Maybe next year we can have even more!
New GAL Training - March/April 2017We are really excited, we began new GAL training on March 9, 2017. We have 15 people enrolled in training and it is going well. We are scheduled to complete training in April.
Training Opportunity for all GAL volunteers: Please mark your calendar for Thursday, May 2th, 2017. We are pleased to offer to our GAL volunteers this awesome training. The training will be from 10:00 am – 12 noon, entitled: “Our Children’s Place (children of incarcerated parents)”. This will be held in the auditorium at the Administrative Building in Tarboro. 201 St. Andrew Street, Tarboro, NC 27886. We look forward to seeing all of you!
North Carolina Court of Appeals Opinions
Each entry lists the case name, county, type of order appealed, and the outcome (in red), along with a link to the opinion. Matthew Wunsche, GAL Appellate Counsel, has also provided a short summary of the published opinions. The following are the rulings made by the North Carolina Court of Appeals since January 1, 2017 through March, 2017:
In re E.S.E. and G.S.S-E. (New Hanover County): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35098)
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In re C.A.W. (Guilford County): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35210)
In re E.C., H.C. (Surry): PP, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35211)
In re H.S. (Bladen): PP + CRE, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35188)
In re P.M. (Mecklenburg): ADJ + DISP, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35207)
In re R.D., M.D. (Henderson): ADJ + DISP, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35187)
In re S.C.H., and J.A.H., Jr. (Robeson): ADJ + DISP, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35212)
In re T.Y., V.Y., I.Y., S.Y. (Lee): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35159)
In re Y.L.M.C., F.J.C.C., S.I.C.C. (Wake): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35206)
In re Z.A.W. & T.L.C. (Alamance): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35213)
In re J.H., J.H., J.H. (Robeson): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35158)
In re B.W.S., A.N.S (Surry County): TPR, Affirmed (https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35271)
In re O.J.W. & A.X.B. (Wake): TPR, Affirmed (https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35269)
In re R.L.D., Jr. (Northampton): TPR, Affirmed (https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35273)
In re V.G. (Wake): TPR, Affirmed (https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35268)
In re J.T. (Orange): TPR, Vacated (https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35272)
In re C.P., C.P., J.C., J.T. (Mecklenburg County): PP, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35274)*
* Although unpublished, the Mecklenburg County case includes a lengthy and interesting discussion of the verification of a guardian’s resources. After noting that the proposed guardian’s testimony alone would not have been sufficient, the COA essentially took judicial notice of other prior orders in the matter on behalf of the trial court to supplement the testimony and court reports presented at the hearing. This is a much different analysis than the Court has employed in other recent cases. But, unpublished, it is not binding precedent.
UPDATE: the status of one of the recent guardianship opinions from the Court of Appeals, In re C.P., C.P., J.C., J.T., 16-808 (filed 7 March 2017), where the COA affirmed an order awarding guardianship. Although originally filed as unpublished opinion, that case was significant because the COA relied on judicial notice of prior court orders to support the trial court’s verification that a guardian had the resources to care for one of the children. Through the efforts of our pro bono appellate attorney, Abigail Williams of K&L Gates, the opinion is now published and can be cited as binding precedent in other cases.
Published Opinions
In re R.P. (Mecklenburg County): PP, Reversed and remanded (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35357): The COA held that the trial court erred by failing to make a finding that the father acted inconsistently with his constitutionally protected parental status before awarding guardianship. The prior adjudication of neglect and dependency were not sufficient to satisfy the requirement that the trial court make such a finding. Moreover, the father did not waive his right to raise the constitutional issue on appeal by failing to raise it in the trial court, because the trial court did not allow the parties to present evidence related to guardianship at the permanency planning hearing, but improperly limited the hearing to the issue of visitation.
Unpublished Opinions
In re C.C., C.C., C.C. (Watauga County): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35311)
In re E.P.H. (Guilford): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35338)
In re G.W., E.W., and J.W. (Rockingham): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35360)
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In re I.S.D. (New Hanover): CRE + TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35355)
In re M.B. (Johnston): ADJ + DISP, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35358)
In re M.B. (Orange): ADJ + DISP, Reversed/remanded in part (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35362)
In re G.G.R. (New Hanover): Appeal by DSS from order Dismissing Petition, Reversed and remanded (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35339)
In re G.S., C.G., M.P. (Iredell): PP + CRE, Affirmed in part, Vacated in part (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35356)*
* Yet another guardianship verification case. In this one, the COA held that there was no evidence presented to support a verification that the proposed guardians had adequate resources. The COA noted GAL’s argument that it’s recent unpublished holding in J.M. permitted it to take judicial notice of prior orders, but found that the orders did not contain any findings that would support the verification of adequate resources. I think it’s important to note that the COA did not reject the judicial notice outright, but just found that it couldn’t save this order.
In re S.M.C. and V.M.J.C. (Buncombe): TPR, Affirmed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35361)
In re T.E., K.E., Jr. (Ashe): ADJ, Appeal Dismissed (http://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=35363)
Born and raised by grandparents in Washington, DC. I stepped into marriage at 17 that produced 5 children. I retired from the Department of Defense as a logistician at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology after 30 plus years and eventually relocated to Wilson, NC by chance. I stepped into an abusive marital relationship that lasted 18 years and left me a single parent with young children. Stepping out on faith would prove to be a challenge for me as a mother who needed to work multiple jobs.
Spring 2017The Sentinel SevenPage 5 of 8
Spotlighta
GALVolunteer
In the news…
I had no written instructions on how to raise children with abusive scars and no matter how well you think you might have been as a parent there is always the possibility that children will fall prey to making bad decisions. On a sunny morning while reading my local newspaper (Wilson Times) an article asking for volunteer Guardian ad-litem jumped off the page and I knew in an instant this was something I wanted to do. What could I offer these children? (a listening ear). How could I make it better and bearable for them? I wanted to take the sting out of their heartache. I wanted them to have a chance at being children (happy children) in spite of.
Becoming a GAL has been at times VERY heartbreaking. Family crisis can pull on your heartstrings. I have been able to see through the eyes of these children the hurt, anger and frustration of being separated from family and friends, and in some cases where families have given up their parental rights. I desire to be a GAL who one day will get a phone call or visit from one whose life I have touched, with hope that what seems to be a generational curse merry-go-round will be just a memory.
County Name of staff Total number of children assigned to this staff member
Number of children who do not have a volunteer assigned in supervisor caseload
Number of “unique” (counted only once) volunteers appointed to family groups supervised by this supervisor
Edgecombe Sue Adams 32 5 9Wilson Sue Adams 22 3 7Courtesy –Cumberland Sue Adams 1 0 1Subtotal for Sue: 55 8 17Nash Angie McBride 44 0 16Courtesy- Cumberland, Cumberland, Randolph
Angie McBride 3 0 3
Subtotal for Angie: 47 0 19
Spring 2017The Sentinel SevenPage 6 of 8
Progress
Report on
District 7
Total for District: 91 8 * 36
*Currently we have 8 uncovered cases. An “uncovered” case is a case that does not have a Guardian ad Litem volunteer assigned. As you can see, we still have a need for volunteers. You are our best advocate for the program. Please know that we would love to support you in telling others about our program. We have several avenues to assist you - printed material, our recruiter, Teresa, can help. Sue and I can also help…. let us help you spread the word about our program!
Type of Permanency Number of childrenReunification 5Civil Custody Order 4Custody Order Entered 7Guardianship OrderAdoption 3APPLA Transferred out of state/district 2TotalAged out - turned 18 and left the court system without a permanent legal guardian
1
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Your accompl
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