Grandparents group lauded for rights efforts

AUGUSTA – A group of local grandparents who were instrumental in the passage of a new law that gives more rights to guardians and the children for whom they care, will be honored Thursday for their efforts with Giraffe Awards.

The Bangor Family Connections Group will be one of three honored with the Maine Children’s Alliance 11th annual Giraffe Awards, which honor those “who stick their necks out” for children.

A Saco Middle School pupil who stood up to bullies and a relatively new legal aid program in Bangor and Portland to support children and their families also will be recognized with Giraffe Awards.

Bob and Lucy Dawes of Milford, Christine and Herb Lavoie of Orrington, David and Becky McCullough of Glenburn, Amy Cooper of Bangor, Clyde Tibbets of Enfield and Lisa Savage of Lincoln make up the Bangor Family Connections Group, which is a grandparents support group at Bangor’s Families and Children Together, a local social service agency.

“To be recognized is just wonderful,” Bob Dawes said Tuesday, adding it was more than they expected. “We were just tickled to death to get the bill through.”

At the FACT support meetings, the local residents discovered that guardians – more specifically, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings – lacked standing in many of the guardianship procedures that determine where children live and how they are brought up.

“They began talking to each other because they had all been in our Bangor support group for a while,” Barbara Kates, FACT administrator who nominated the group for the MCA award, said Tuesday. “They thought: ‘Couldn’t things be better?’ and ‘Couldn’t the laws be better for families?'”

The group researched laws in Minnesota and Kentucky and came up with new legislation for Maine, LD 1402, “An Act to Provide Guidelines, Standards and Rights for Children and the Guardians Who Care for Them,” which Gov. John Baldacci signed into law in June.

The new law provides guidelines for probate court judges to use when deciding what is in the “best interest of the child” and gives 13 factors to consider in assigning guardianship.

LD 1402 allows courts to recognize a de facto relationship between the child and guardians who have cared for the child, or children, for at least two years and uses parental participation as a tool for gauging rights of parties involved.

It also allows de facto guardians to be appointed as legal guardians and gives guardians the right to choose a co-guardian. It also changes the burden of proof for terminating one’s guardian status, and for those who cannot afford a lawyer, the law allows the state to provide one for contested actions.

The grandparents group “found a missing piece in the way we consider guardianship for Maine’s children and worked persistently and effectively to improve the law,” Elinor Goldberg, MCA president and CEO, stated in a press release.

The MCA and FACT supported the creation of the new law, and state Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, at the time a state representative, submitted the bill on behalf of the group.

“It says to judges, ‘You have to look at the whole picture to make sure the right thing is being done for these children,'” Kates said.

The 2000 Maine census numbers show 11,000 children are being raised by family members and that there are 5,000 grandparents raising their children’s children.

The other Giraffe Awards will recognize:

. Drew Landry, who entered sixth grade at Saco Middle School in September 2004 and was a witness and victim of bullying. He turned his adversity into an amendment, LD 564, which changed the Student Code of Conduct when it was signed into law by the governor in July.

. KIDS Legal Aid of Maine, which is located within the Pine Tree Legal Assistance offices in Bangor and Portland.

In the past year, KIDS Legal Aid has opened more than 300 cases statewide to help low-income Maine children enroll in school, to get health issues addressed, to obtain safe and secure housing and to ensure a safe work environment, along with other services.