Ms. Liz Magee, Juvenile Officer
115 North Eighth Street
Columbia, Mb 65201-4841

Dear Ms. Magee:

Thank you for the notification of the meeting of the Juvenile Courts and Law Committee at Columbia on Friday, May 9,1997. I will be involved in a week long malpractice jury trial and will not be able to attend. I notice however from the agenda that there will be discussion on the duties and responsibilities of guardians ad litem under the new rule. I would like to make some comments regarding the problems I believe will be faced in rural areas.

In the 18th Circuit (Pettis and Cooper Counties) we have utilized as guardians ad litem in juvenile cases local attorneys who are willing to accept appointments even though in many instances they will be paid for their services by the County upon the order of the Court taxing costs including their fees to the County. Because of the financial condition of the Counties, the Judges have been somewhat reluctant to award fees at an hourly rate that attorneys in the area generally charge and the attorneys who accept such appointments understand that and appreciate the condition of the County Treasurer. it has been our practice to award approximately $75 for the first hour and $50 per hour for each hour thereafter up to as much as ten hours.

The concern is now that not only do the attorneys have to be willing to go through the guardian ad litem training program (3 local attorneys have already done that) but they are required to attend permanent planning sessions and other conferences with the DFS, counselors and other similar type consultations, investigations, etc. I am told that at the recent training sessions the attorney/guardian ad litem present were advised that if they failed to do so they would be considered as guilty of legal malpractice. I have been advised by some of the local lawyers who have heretofore been willing to serve as guardians ad litem that they will refuse appointments or if appointed will demand to be paid a full hourly rate for all such conferences because they are usually scheduled in the middle of their busy appointment day and without much notice ahead of time. This situation is obviously going to create substantial problems for the Juvenile Courts in the rural sections of the State where there are such very limited funds available for such purposes.

At the present time, I know of no volunteers of suitable non-attorney persons who would act as a Court appointed special advocate under the CASA program. Additionally, I have been somewhat reluctant to consider any substantial utilization of CASA personnel partly because it adds another layer of persons who must be involved in every juvenile case whose schedule will have to be accommodated along with the schedules of the DFS personnel, the guardian ad litem/attorney, the Juvenile Office, the Court calendar and the various professional witnesses who have to be present. As it is, it is sometimes almost impossible to find a Court hearing time when all of the people involved can be present. Adding another layer only complicates the problem.

Additionally, adding another person to the mix who has little idea of what due process is and in many instances probably don't care, preferring to believe what they know is in the best interest of the child and the family and that lawyers and juvenile officers and judges who want to follow due process are simply getting in the way also is a complication to any reasonably expeditious resolution of juvenile cases. In the rural areas we simply do not have juvenile staffs and attorneys and Courts which are dedicated only to addressing juvenile matters, but are forced to make time for such cases in an already crowded trial calendar.

I don't expect you or your committee to have some magic answer that will solve all of these problems, but if anyone has a suggestion I would appreciate knowing it. I believe the system we have followed by utilizing attorneys who have been willing to invest enough time to become experienced and literate about juvenile matters and services available to meet the various types of juvenile problems has worked well for us. I hate to lose the services of attorneys who are dedicated to helping juveniles by piling upon them such obligations that they cannot financially afford to accept appointments.

Sincerely,

Donald Barnes
DB:ddb

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