June of 1996, The Law Office of the Hamilton County Public Defender was granted a contract to provide GAL services to neglected, abused and dependent children. This service is provided to more than 2,000 children involved within the dependency court system.
In June 1996, our office started with 1 Director, 2 Attorneys, 2 Non Attorneys, 1 Records Manager. With increased cases it was decided to have an Administrative Assistant to help maintain, organize, handle increase volume of telephone calls etc., within the Division.
Therefore, I have been with the Guardian ad Litem since August 8, 1996 to present. I have learned so much about the history of the GAL and their responsibilities which gives me great appreciation towards their hard work and dedication to these children who are at no fault of their own.
It is necessary to have administrative structure within our office.
My responsibilities and duties:
- I have implemented documents, forms and programs from 1996 to present.
- Maintain and manage all office equipment, telecommunication systems, hardware, office supply, maintenance, etc.
- To maintain the safety and wellbeing of our staff during home visits, travel, emergencies etc., I implemented the idea of our GAL staff carrying Pagers (1996) - -IPhone currently present.
- Maintain upkeep, lost or damage, upgrades, User Agreement forms for New Hire, Distribution of Monthly Summary Reports to all USERS (GAL and Drug Court-Felony)
- Create legal jackets for GAL Attorneys.
- Maintain Master Scheduling calendar for Leave, Conference, Trainings, Staff meetings and Interviews.
- Assist Training Coordinator with GAL Mandatory Retreat/Training, CLE Training.
- Daily Scanning of closed case/document/files, open case case/document/files being transferred to an outside party.
- Daily maintaining and managing all calls, faxes, email, mail and air supplier-(Fed-Ex, UPS).
- Responsible for New Employee administrative training, and Exiting Employee Interview.
- Assist at 800 Broadway in qualifying citizens in need of a Public Defender Panel Attorney for Dependency Court.
- Notary Public of the State of Ohio
I am proud to be a part of our growing staff of 34!
When I started working for the Guardian ad Litem Division in 1996, I wanted to give back to the community somehow. Therefore, immediately, I started reaching out by letters, faxes, phone calls to communities, companies, private agencies, neighbors etc., to have toys, clothes, coats and books donated to these kids especially during the Christmas Season. This was and still is a huge success! Our donors continue to grow and I can’t thank everyone enough for all their support, love and generosity to these many kiddos.
