Roles of Advocates in the Juvenile Justice System
Updated October 13, 2026
Several different adults can be involved in a juvenile’s case: a guardian ad litem or CASA volunteer in child-welfare proceedings, and a juvenile probation officer in delinquency cases. Each has a different role, authority, and set of duties, and none of it is uniform nationwide. None of them replace a youth’s right to a defense attorney in a delinquency case.
Juveniles move through two very different tracks in the justice system, depending on why they’re there. Dependency and abuse-and-neglect proceedings deal with a child’s safety and custody. Delinquency proceedings deal with a young person accused of an offense. The adults involved, and what they’re legally allowed to do, change depending on which track a case is in and which state it’s in — there’s no single, uniform system. Here’s a look at three roles you’ll hear mentioned most often: the guardian ad litem, the CASA volunteer, and the juvenile probation officer, along with what each one can and can’t do.
More than 370,000 children are in foster care in the U.S. on any given day (National CASA/GAL Association, 2024), and many of the dependency cases tied to that population involve some form of court-appointed representation for the child. Whether a specific child receives one, and under what title, depends on state law and the type of proceeding.
The Guardian ad Litem
A guardian ad litem (GAL) is a court-appointed representative assigned to a case, not a legal guardian of the child. What the GAL actually does- investigate and report back to the court, represent the child’s best interests, or, in some models, represent the child’s own expressed wishes- depends on the jurisdiction and the specific appointment order. Whether a GAL has to be a licensed attorney varies too: some states require an attorney GAL for certain proceedings, while others appoint trained nonattorneys. A GAL can also be appointed while a child’s parents remain actively involved in the case; appointment doesn’t require the parents to be out of the picture.
CASA Volunteers
Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, work primarily in abuse, neglect, and dependency proceedings rather than delinquency cases. In 2024, CASA/GAL programs nationwide had more than 79,000 volunteers working with 214,000 children (National CASA/GAL Association, 2024), almost entirely unpaid. How a CASA volunteer’s role relates to a GAL varies by state: in some systems, a CASA volunteer serves in a GAL-type role directly; in others, an attorney GAL handles the legal representation while the CASA volunteer handles the ongoing relationship and reporting. Screening and training requirements come from the local or state CASA program, layered on top of whatever the court or state separately requires.
Juvenile Probation Officers
Juvenile delinquency cases run through a different track, and the numbers are large: courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 549,500 delinquency cases in 2022, about 1,500 a day, and two-thirds of adjudicated delinquency cases that year received a disposition of probation (OJJDP/National Center for Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Court Statistics 2022). That’s where a juvenile probation officer comes in, and it’s worth being direct about the role: supervisory court personnel, not the young person’s independent advocate.
Juvenile probation officers may be employed by a court, a probation department, a county, or a state, depending on the jurisdiction. Responsibilities can include monitoring probation conditions, preparing reports for the court, coordinating services, and recommending how the court should respond to a violation, but which of those apply, and how they’re carried out, varies by jurisdiction and by the specific court order. A probation officer can recommend a response; the court decides the disposition.
Advocacy Isn’t a Substitute for Legal Representation
None of these roles replace a young person’s right to a defense attorney. In delinquency proceedings, that right to counsel is a constitutional protection established by the U.S. Supreme Court in In re Gault (1967), and it covers the legal defense of the case itself, not the broader best-interest advocacy a GAL or CASA volunteer provides. A youth in a delinquency case can have defense counsel, a probation officer, and, depending on the case, other court-involved adults at the same time, each doing a different job.
What Rights Apply, and Where
How much privacy a juvenile gets, how accessible the records are, how much the system leans toward rehabilitation over punishment, and whether a case can be transferred to adult court are all set by state law and vary from one state to the next. The constitutional right to counsel in delinquency proceedings is the one constant. Beyond that, check the specific state’s statutes, or talk to an attorney, before assuming a rule from one state’s juvenile system applies in another.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a guardian ad litem and a CASA volunteer?
It depends on the state. In some systems, a CASA volunteer is trained to serve directly in a GAL-type role. In others, an attorney GAL handles the legal representation while a CASA volunteer handles the ongoing relationship with the child and reports back to the court. Neither model is universal, so the actual division of labor comes down to where the case is filed.
Are juvenile justice advocates paid?
It varies by role and jurisdiction. CASA volunteers are generally unpaid. Juvenile probation officers are paid employees of a court, probation department, or other government agency. Whether a guardian ad litem is compensated depends on whether they’re a private attorney, a public-appointment attorney, or a volunteer, which again comes down to the state.
What does a juvenile probation officer do?
Duties vary by jurisdiction, but commonly include monitoring a young person’s compliance with probation conditions, preparing reports for the court, coordinating services like counseling or drug testing, and recommending how the court should respond to a violation. The probation officer makes a recommendation; the judge makes the decision.
Does a guardian ad litem or CASA volunteer replace a defense attorney?
No. In a delinquency case, a defense attorney handles the legal defense, a right guaranteed since the Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling in In re Gault. A GAL or CASA volunteer, where one is appointed, serves a different function focused on the child’s circumstances or best interests, most often in dependency and abuse-and-neglect cases rather than delinquency.
How does someone become a CASA volunteer or a guardian ad litem?
CASA volunteers apply through a local CASA/GAL program, which runs its own screening and training on top of any court or state requirements. Becoming a guardian ad litem depends on the jurisdiction: some states require a licensed attorney for the role, in which case that person’s law license comes through the state’s own bar admission process, separate from whatever GAL-specific training or eligibility rules the court or state sets.
Key Takeaways
- Delinquency and dependency are different tracks – a guardian ad litem and a CASA volunteer work mostly in child-welfare and dependency cases; a juvenile probation officer works in delinquency cases, and the rules for one don’t automatically apply to the other.
- Roles and titles vary by state – whether a GAL must be an attorney, whether a CASA volunteer can serve in a GAL-type role, and what a probation officer is authorized to do, all depend on the jurisdiction.
- Pay depends on the role – CASA volunteers are generally unpaid, juvenile probation officers are paid employees, and GAL compensation depends on how that state structures the position.
- None of this replaces defense counsel – the constitutional right to an attorney in a delinquency case, established in In re Gault, stands separately from any GAL, CASA, or probation involvement.
Want the bigger picture? See how the courts fit together with law enforcement and corrections in our guide to the three components of the criminal justice system.