15-11-9

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15-11-9.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'court appointed special advocate' means a volunteer who has been screened and trained regarding deprivation, child development, and juvenile court procedures and has been appointed as a guardian ad litem by the court in a deprivation case.
(b) The court at any stage of a proceeding under this article, on application of a party or on its own motion, shall appoint a guardian ad litem for a child who is a party to the proceeding if the child has no parent, guardian, or custodian appearing on the child́s behalf or if the interests of the parent, guardian, or custodian appearing on the child́s behalf conflict with the child́s interests or in any other case in which the interests of the child require a guardian. A party to the proceeding or the employee or representative of a party to the proceeding shall not be appointed. In deprivation cases, a person appointed as a child́s guardian ad litem must have received before the appointment training appropriate to the role that is administered or approved by the Office of the Child Advocate and may be an attorney or court appointed special advocate, or both. For attorneys, the preappointment training required pursuant to this Code section shall be satisfied within attorneyś existing continuing legal education obligations and shall not require attorneys to complete additional training hours in addition to those currently required by the State Bar of Georgia. The Office of the Child Advocate shall exempt from the training required by this Code section attorneys who have practiced as guardians ad litem in juvenile court deprivation proceedings for three or more years and, when such determination is made by the court, have demonstrated a proficiency in child representation.