From Communities Digital News:
CONNECTICUT, April 8, 2014 — According to Massachusetts attorney Maureen Martowska, her son Matthew Martowska was going through a difficult custody case for several years when she noticed something irregular on guardian ad litem Barry Armata’s bills in 2012. Attorney Martowska could not understand why the Connecticut State Comptroller would purportedly cut a $988.12 check to Armata for his work on the case, when the family had been following court orders to pay Armata thousands of dollars out of their own pockets.
While Martowska does not rule out the possibility that Armata’s bill may have been a clerical error, she said the mistake raises serious questions about how GALs in the State of Connecticut are paid.
Last week, the Judiciary Committee approved RB-494, which if passed by the State Legislature, would set limits on the way the State’s out of control guardian ad litem system does business.
During public hearings on the bill, dozens of parents and professionals alike explained that they were targeted by unethical family court industry professionals and scams which involved the family court’s programs and vendors, many of which are paid and overseen by the State’s Public Defender’s office.
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This post was originally published April 1, 2014. Updated April 10, 2014.
Family Court in America 
As the custody evaluator answers the mother’s question, he pauses to change his speaking style to that of a pre-teen. Using the word “like” every few words, he explains his unproven theories about working memory, habituation, and the irrelevant sound effect in (child-friendly language?) to the ten-year-old child he’s about to evaluate. While there doesn’t seem to be any information anywhere about the effects of habitual auditory distractors on childrens’ friendships and parenting skills, there’s plenty of information about the importance of oversight and accountability for those who have anything to do with the shaping of our society.
This is an incredible tape, and I totally believe it’s true. Most evaluators are incompetent. This one was incompetent to the point that I can’t believe he passed a high school English class or learned how to unplug a radio. So who referred this poor family to this idiot? And how much was he paid? Is it really true he gave the child and the parent over 500 questions to respond to? But that’s the point, isn’t it? Keep these unfortunate victims of the system in the system until they are broke or broken? And if you get assigned a competent, intelligent evaluator, would there be a competent judge to look over the “evidence”?
That’s why, in cases where there are two fit, loving parents, it’s time to automatically start granting equal custody. The child isn’t alienated from the other parent, and the evaluators and experts have to find new careers, hopefully careers that don’t impact the lives and futures of any other human beings.