The article begins with the historical and legislative development of GAL appointments in abuse and neglect proceedings. It then reviews the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 and the implementation of the GAL requirement by States. Major problems with the current GAL system are then discussed. They include lack of compliance by half the States, inadequate guidance regarding who should be the GAL and what the responsibilities are, and problems encountered by attorneys who serve as GAL's. The next section of the article includes a brief history of the development of volunteer court appointed special advocates (CASA)/GAL programs and presents studies that have researched the effectiveness and benefits of having volunteer involvement. Finally, the article proposes comprehensive duties of the GAL that, if adopted, would improve GAL performance. Two critical first steps for improvement are the use of trained CASA/GAL volunteers as well as attorneys and the use of one accepted set of duties for a GAL that are uniformly implemented by courts. Ten GAL duties are outlined in this article. 103 footnotes