Free I Speak For This Child: True Stories of a Child Advocate by Gay Courter

terribly wrong but had been ignored. The last page of her records was her most recent discharge from high school before going to juvenile detention. Attached to it was a bill for a book that had never been returned to the library: The Complete Works of Robert Frost.
    Later that day Lillian called to say she had discussed my access to Lydia at the Tabernacle Home with the circuit director. “Nancy reviewed the documents and found a few unusual aspects to the situation. First of all, the Tabernacle Home is not a licensed HRS facility, although since Lydia was placed there by her parents voluntarily, it does not have to be. Also, the courts have never declared Lydia a dependent or a delinquent. Ironically, she has been given an interim status as a ‘child in need of services,’ with HRS providing some supervision, but as it turns out, no services.”
    Lillian then put Nancy Hastedt on the phone.
    “Are you saying that there is nothing we can do?” I asked her.
    Nancy gave a throaty laugh. “Don’t forget, the court appointed you as her Guardian ad Litem, and there is an administrative order saying no agency may interfere with a Guardian ad Litem. According to the judge, Lydia must complete the one-year program there; thus in accepting her, the Tabernacle Home has contracted to keep her in accordance with the rules of the court. That means that the Tabernacle Home may not interfere with your duties.”
    “What if they threaten to throw her out if I demand to see her?”
    “That would be a breach of contract and they might be in contempt of court.”
    “Is fighting them really in Lydia’s best interests? Maybe the best thing would be to leave her alone and do the most minimal supervision.”
    “Do you feel comfortable with that, Gay?”
    “No, but—”
    “Why don’t we wait until I’ve visited the place. Lillian and I have an appointment tomorrow. Mrs. Shaw insisted we come without you.”
    The next afternoon Nancy phoned me with her report. “Hi, we just met with Mrs. Shaw.” I waited, expecting her to have a different take on the situation and somehow find me at fault. “It’s far worse than you led us to assume,” Nancy groaned.
    On the other line Lillian chimed in. “I can’t believe that woman! The first thing she wanted was our rules listed in writing so she could show them to her lawyer.”
    Nancy continued. “Mrs. Shaw said the Tabernacle Home was private and did not accept funding, and that their attorney advised that a lawsuit against them would not hold water. And this is before we had a chance to say anything or even take a seat in the room.”
    “We tried to defuse the situation,” Lillian interjected. “I told Mrs. Shaw that you said that Lydia wants to stay at the Tabernacle Home, and that you reported that it was a very adequate facility. In a conceited manner, Mrs. Shaw replied that of course it was. Then she went on to say that Lydia could not go off premises for six months, as stated in their student handbook.”
    “Oh, and Mrs. Shaw gave us a typed list of instructions for you to follow,” Nancy added. “My response was to tell Mrs. Shaw that I trusted the good sense and integrity of my volunteers and so I would not dictate to you, or anyone else.”
    “What did she say?” I asked, imagining Mrs. Shaw’s pique at a structure that did not have workers blindly obeying their superiors.
    “As you might gather, Mrs. Shaw was very defensive, and again, rather than respond to the point, she attacked. She said she was very unhappy that I had accompanied Lillian without making it clear that it was going to be ‘two against one.’ “
    “I wouldn’t want to have to be on the opposite side of the room against you two either!”
    We all laughed.
    Nancy then became more serious. “Unfortunately, Mona—Lydia’s HRS caseworker—was there the day before and tried to clarify the Guardian ad Litem’s role to the Shaws. She did us no favor, and probably hurt us by explaining that since