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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />Resolution Recognizing Gretchen Aylsworth <br />WHEREAS, Gretchen Uzzle Aylsworth is retiring after seventeen years of tireless and <br />talented service to the children of Orange County as Director of the Guardian ad Litem <br />Program for Judicial District 15-B; and <br />WHEREAS, the mission of the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Program across the State of <br />North Carolina since 1983 has been to recruit and train men and women from amazingly <br />diverse backgrounds to serve in court proceedings as the SOLE NEUTRAL ADVOCATE <br />FOR THE CHILD involving alleged abuse or neglect or other child custody issues; and <br />WHEREAS, the GAL program has served the best interests of thousands of children <br />over the years, in cases allowing many to return home, others to live with family <br />members, and still others to be adopted, with some 4,767 trained volunteers serving <br />17,189 children this past fiscal year alone -always with the goal that each child <br />represented by each GAL remain safe and in a permanent home; and <br />WHEREAS, the challenge for each GAL. volunteer is to become totally involved in <br />investigating each case, requiring persistence and dedication in winning the child's trust <br />and interviewing parents, teachers, doctors, social workers and other significant <br />participants in the child's life; and <br />WHEREAS, each GAL must then be prepared not only to report information gleaned <br />from his or her investigation to the presiding judge in court, but more importantly to <br />advocate strongly and courageously for what the GAL has come to determine is in the <br />BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD -even when the GAL's conclusions in the matter <br />differ from those of the parents, the Department of Social Services, or even the judge; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, when Gretchen Aylsworth assumed the directorship of the important GAL <br />program in Orange and Chatham counties in 1992, she was the only staff member, had <br />only nine volunteers, had no office and no training facility, had to perform work and <br />training from her own home, and found most open court cases unassigned; and <br />WHEREAS, under Gretchen Aylsworth's superb leadership, the GAL Program in District <br />15-B has achieved a reputation as one of the finest in North Carolina, having expanded <br />to encompass some eighty-three (83) active volunteers serving two hundred fifty-two <br />(252) children, including eighty-nine (89) families and one hundred forty-five (145) <br />children in Orange County; and <br />WHEREAS, the impact of the Guardian ad Litem Program in Orange County is beyond <br />measure in every juvenile court proceeding involving abused, neglected and needy <br />children where the presiding judge is fortunate to have the advocacy of an informed GAL <br />to weigh in deciding the best interest of each child; <br />NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Orange County Board of <br />Commissioners, are honored to recognize Gretchen Uzzle Aylsworth and the <br />extraordinary Guardian ad Litem Program and extend heartfelt thanks to Ms. Ayslworth <br />for every day of her seventeen years of labors on behalf of Orange County's children. <br />This the .14th day of May, 2009. <br />Valerie P. Foushee, Chair <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />