Attorneys needed for aging-out foster kids.

The day Peggy Quince became chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, she asked lawyers to volunteer for the Fostering Independence Project to help youth aging-out of foster care become productive citizens.

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Smiling among the well-wishers in the packed courtroom at the passing-of-the-gavel ceremony was Dennis Moore, interim executive director and general counsel of the Florida Guardian ad Litem Program.

He knows that too often when foster children turn 18 or 19, they are dumped into the world with no one.

What can happen when a child has no family, no plan, no one to call? Homelessness. Trouble with the law. No job. No hope.

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"We know that is really the problem. They are just alone in the world," Moore said. "If you have no real role model, or if you have no one who potentially cares about your problems, I think it causes you to drift into some bad company and bad ways."

Lawyers can be a force of goodness to the rescue.

Chief Justice Quince has embraced the Fostering Independence Project and plans to speak at community groups and voluntary bar associations. The goal is to recruit lawyers to step in as volunteer guardians ad litem when the child is 16 and 17--time enough to forge a relationship and craft a workable plan before the child officially "ages out" of foster care and dependency court jurisdiction at 18 or 19.

As Quince said at her swearing-in ceremony: of 6,500 volunteer GALs, only 700 are lawyers, yet "lawyers really do have the skills that can be effective in bringing children's issues up before the court."

Currently, about 700 "aging out" youth have GALs, according to the statewide office, but approximately another 2,000 need representation.

"It really is her initiative and her vision to provide advocates for all children in the dependency system," Moore said. "We're really fortunate to have her pick up that initiative and we're going to assist her by providing the framework for making that happen."

If you are willing to represent a foster teenager, there is a streamlined eight-hour training available on DVD and on online that you can watch from the comfort of your own home. The training is free of charge and qualifies you for CLE credit and an hour of ethics is included.

You won't be flung out on your own in unfamiliar territory, Moore assures. You will have the support of a GAL program attorney and social worker as you deliver special pro bono service to teens.

Some of the children...