Quarterly newsletter, Aug. 2010

Governor's Office for
Children and Families

QUARTER 1 AUGUST 2010

Quarterly Newsletter
The Governor's Office for Children and Families is proud to provide you with the first edition of its new quarterly newsletter! GOCF and your communities work hard to strengthen Georgia's children and families. So, the intent of this publication is to keep you updated with recent events, new trends and research, and upcoming opportunities that are being provided by GOCF and your communities. We hope that it will be a useful resource for you!
New Research and Publications
GOCF Releases online Compendium of Best and Promising Practices GOCF announced the release of its new online compendium. This service will provide current and future grantees with easy access to evidence-based programs and practices associated with the strategies and indicators embedded in the SOC taxonomy. For full article, please click here
Connecting the Dots: A White Paper on the Co-Occurrence of Family Violence and Child Maltreatment released by the Governor's Office for Children and Families GOCF recently released the Co-Occurrence white paper to demonstrated the intersection of child maltreatment, family violence, and negative health and behavior outcomes. To view publication, please click here
2010 Georgia KIDS COUNT release Annie E. Casey has released its 2010 Georgia KIDS Count which shows that Georgia trends since 2000 have improved on five of 10 child well-being measures. To view the release, please click here

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Truancy Intervention Project Conference October 27 - 28, 2010
STATE AWARDS
National EUDL Award
On behalf of the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center, Georgia was selected as a recipient for the 2010 OJJDP Success Story Award. GOCF accepted the award for the state of Georgia at the 2010 12th Annual National EUDL Leadership Conference "Building Community Futures with Blueprints for
Success" on August 20, 2010.
For more information, please visit:
www.udetc.org/ SuccessStories.asp

We Unite and Empower Communities So They Can Unite and Empower Families

We Unite and Empower Communities So They Can Unite and Empower Families

QUARTER 1

RFP Releases and Funding Updates

Abstinence Education
The Title V, Section 510 State Abstinence grant program was recently re-authorized by the Federal government. GOCF will be applying for these funds on behalf of the state of Georgia. For more information, click here

Home Visitation
Georgia was recently awarded a $2.4 million home visitation grant. This funding will give GOCF and its collaborative partners the opportunity to develop a statewide plan for serving communities with a lack of quality home visitation programs and best meeting the needs of families that are at risk of poor health and development outcomes. For more information, click here

Grant Awards

System of Care: Caring Community Grant Program Awards The Governor's Office for Children and Families announced eight (8) new Caring Community Grant Program Awards on August 15, 2010. The grant awards totaled $2,103,703 and were given to communities all across Georgia.
City of Gainesville/Hall County Community Service Center: $274,616 Clayton County Public School System: $275,000 DeKalb County Government: $272,054 Lily Pad, Inc.: $223,273 North Georgia Healthcare Center: $269,573 Prevent Child Abuse Gordon County: $268,968 Prevent Child Abuse Habersham: $245,682 The Sheltering Arms: $274,537
System of Care: Community Strategy Grant Program Awards The Governor's Office for Children and Families announced ten (10) new Community Strategy Grant Program Awards on June 7, 2010. The awards totaled $796,079 and these Educated-focused grants are located in communities all across Georgia.
Berrien County Board of Education: $87,681 Coastal Coalition for Children Inc.: $93,144 Columbus Consolidated Government: $55,390 Cordele Housing Authority: $48,100 Georgia College and State University: $86,435 Hall County Board of Commissioners: $94,317 Laurens County Board of Commissioners: $98,325 Prevent Child Abuse Athens: $85,302 Thomasville Community Resource Center: $84,660 Towns County Board of Education: $62,725

We Unite and Empower Communities So They Can Unite and Empower Families

QUARTER 1

Trainings and Conferences

HOLLA BackAtCha! Youth Summit

On Saturday, May 1, 2010 GOCF the "HOLLA BackAtCha!" youth summit in Macon's Christ Chapel at Sportstowne. Nearly 1,000 youth, ages 13-18, across the state united to attend this youth development conference. To view photos or access more information on the youth summit, please click here
2010 Georgia Truancy Intervention and Delinquency Prevention Training Conference

Photo taken at Youth Summit

This conference will be held Wednesday, October 27 through 29, 2010 at the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center and is sponsored by the Governor's Office for Children and Families. The purpose is to:

Provide statewide networking and collaboration on issues surrounding truancy and delinquency prevention within Georgia Provide educational, criminal justice, and community organizations with an opportunity to improve their programs and services which will thereby improve the likelihood of keeping students in school and out of the juvenile system. Communicate the most up-to-date knowledge and practices
If you are in child welfare and juvenile justice fields and would like to attend, please register by visiting
www.regonline.com/chartingthecourse

Community Highlights
Georgia Care Connection Office

The Gwinnett-Rockdale-Newton Community Service Board received a grant in 2009 to establish the Georgia Care Connection Office (GCCO). GCCO serves as a single point of contact for anyone who seeks assistance for child victims of commercial sexual exploitation. In its role of independent care coordination, GCCO leads a dialogue among a multi-disciplinary team of family, child, and involved agencies and providers to develop a single, comprehensive care plan that ensures the child's commercial sexual exploitation is addressed. The staff "connects the dots" of the child's actions and finds the best opportunity for intervention.

Dale Alton with Georgia Care Connection and
Susan Muscari with Drop Dead Gorgeous

Realizing that intervention and treatment are costly, the Safety Gap Fund as has been established in order to maintain adequate funding so that victims can remain in a safe house treatment setting as long as needed to receive the services vital for recovery. On May 20th, Drop Dead Gorgeous (DDG) held Cocktails & Couture to benefit the Safety Gap Fund and show support to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Celebrity hosts were Bre Scullark of America's Next Top Model and Brandon Rudat of CBS Atlanta. DDG donated 80% of their net proceeds totaling $4,552.

Visit http://www.safetygapfund.com/ to make a contribution.