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When the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism
and Community Service recently recognized 106 state residents
for significant contributions to their communities through volunteer
service, Jackson County’s winner found out he’d won
over the radio.
“A friend who’d heard it on WRGC said, ‘Congratulations,
Bill,’ so I called up the radio station,” said Bill
Kirwan, a volunteer with the Guardian ad Litem program and Jackson
County’s sole recipient of the N.C. Award for Outstanding
Volunteer Service for Western North Carolina, an award given each
year since 1979 to honor citizens who have shown concern and compassion
for their neighbors.
Mary May and Pat Steinbronn, the district administrator and program
supervisor of the Guardians ad Litem of Macon, Jackson and Swain
counties, said they nominated Kirwan because “he goes so
far above and beyond what a volunteer is expected to do.”
Bill Kirwan, recent recipient of the N.C. Award for Outstanding
Volunteer Service for Western North Carolina, says more volunteers
are needed for Jackson County’s Guardian ad Litem program.
The Guardian ad Litem program, part of the N.C.
judicial system, is a group of advocates appointed by the juvenile
courts to represent the best interests of abused or neglected
children.
“He puts in innumerable hours and makes a full commitment
to represent the child in court. You have no idea how committed
that man is,” said Steinbronn.
Kirwan attributed the honor to the strength of the Guardian ad
Litem program.
“Rather than a reflection on me, I think it’s a reflection
on the program. There are wonderful volunteers in Jackson County
from all sorts of organizations that contribute more than I do,”
he said.
Kirwan, who has served as a Guardian ad Litem since retiring from
the post of Western Carolina University librarian, likes to tell
others that he’s “very positive about the program.”
Appointed to child abuse or neglect cases by a judge, Guardians
ad Litem work with an attorney advocate to represent the needs
of the children involved.
That means contacting the children at least once a month “to
get the confidence of the child, try to find out the wishes of
the child, to find out whatever the child can tell you about the
situation, and inform them about what is happening in regard to
the court,” Kirwan said.
The duty also involves contacting parents, family members, social
workers, school officials, health providers and others knowledgable
about the child.
“One of the jobs is to interview parents, teachers and relatives
of the child and then report the facts to the judge. I make a
recommendation as to where the child should be placed,” Kirwan
said.
What is unique about the program, Kirwan said, is that it specifically
represents the needs of individual children. “Department
of Social Services is obligated to try to reunite the family,
but the Guardian ad Litem program is for the best interest of
the child,” he said.
Before the program began 20 years ago, “kids were not represented
at all. They did not have a voice. When the courts appointed attorneys
for children, they didn’t have the time to go out and talk
to kids. They needed volunteers to write a report about what is
best of the child,” Steinbronn said.
Kirwan says he normally works on about two cases at a time. He
is involved until the child is permanently placed, which can mean
the child is returned to parents or guardians, adopted or permanently
placed in a home. Usually, the maximum for a case is three years,
Kirwan said.
Currently, Jackson County has 17 volunteers in its Guardian ad
Litem program, Steinbronn said, but she could use about 10 more.
“We really need more volunteers in Jackson County because
in North Carolina, the number of children coming before the courts
is higher than ever before,” said Kirwan, adding that a retiree’s
schedule is a good match for the requirements of the job.
Steinbronn, who also coordinates the preparation of Guardian ad
Litem volunteers in the district, plans to hold a training session
in January.
“It lasts about 30 hours, and then the volunteer is sworn
in by the court,” she said.
Participants must be mature adults of sound character with good
verbal and communication skills. They must be able to interact
with people of various educational and ethnic backgrounds, be
objective and non-judgmental, and show a sincere concern for the
well-being of children.
Both Kirwan and Steinbronn urge anyone interested in volunteering
to call the Guardian ad Litem office at 349-2409.
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