14 Friday, May 16 1986 , THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Judge John J. O'Brien hears testimony from CASA volunteer Marilyn Levine. An unwed white mother and her 18- month-old bi- racial child were living with the woman's sister. The mother wanted to live . with her new boyfriend. Her married sister petitioned the Oakland County Pro- bate Court for guardianship of the in- fant. The mother contested her appli- cation. What should the court do? Until last November, the court would have "borrowed" a caseworker from its juvenile court division to in- vestigate the case. Thanks to the Greater Detroit Section, National Council of Jewish Women, that proc- ess is no longer necessary. Six months ago, NCJW launched the first Legal Guardianship advo- cacy program in Michigan. The proj- ect is the newest extension of NCJW's CASA (Court Appointed Special Ad- vocate) Program, which since 1977 has provided a cadre of trained volun- teers to investigate approximately 100 foster care placements in coopera- tion with the Probate Court. For the bi-racial baby, an impar- tial team of two trained volunteers worked to assure the child a safe, stable and healthy home environ- ment. After a series of in-depth home studies, the CASA volunteers recom- mended that the aunt be granted guardianship for both the baby and the mother. The Legal Guardianship program has provided a badly needed service to the Probate Court and Oakland County children. Ann Zousmer, chairperson of NCJW's Children and Youth Services, says that "unlike the area of foster care, where juvenile court caseworkers do routine home studies, no such examinations were performed in guardianship cases. Traditionally, if a guardianship was protested, a judge would draw from the caseworkers of the juvenile court to investigate." If Wayne County had had such an advocate program last year, perhaps little Shaun Gates might still be alive. The four-year-old's murder last December by legal guardians his father had chosen for him exposed the issue to public scrutiny: Unless an in- dividual contests a guardianship peti- tion, no evaluation is performed by the probate court to determine the ARDIAN F THE KIDS BY DEBBIE WALLIS LANDAU Special to The Jewish News