Quarterly newsletter, 2012 May

Governor's Office for
Children and Families

QUARTER 4 MAY 2012

Meet Our Staff
Katie Jo Ballard
Executive Director
Cora Alexander
Family Support Grants Specialist
Jo Ann Berry
Finance Director
Dahlia Bell Brown
Family Violence Research Analyst
Thorne Brown
Finance Officer
Sarah Dempsey
Communications Specialist
Hayley Howell
Deputy Finance Director
Heather McDaniel
Youth Development Division Administrator
Quincie McKibben
Family Violence Grants Specialist
Frances Milton
Finance Officer
Raelene Noles
Youth Development Grants Specialist
Keith Parkhouse
Juvenile Justice Detention Monitor
Alicia Parks
Abstinence Grants Specialist
Ann Pope
Family Violence Grants Specialist
Danielle Ruedt
Family Violence Division Administrator
Helena Schneider
Administrative Assistant
Carole Steele
Prevention and Family Support Division Administrator
Joe Vignati
Justice Division Administrator

Quarterly Newsletter
Don't Forget to Join GOCF on Facebook!
The Governor's Office for Children and Families invites you to like us on Facebook! Stay current on GOCF grant opportunities and awards, training and event announcements, and grantee news through our Facebook page. You can also view photos of our most recent community events and trainings.
Click here to connect with us on Facebook!

GOCF Says Farewell to Sarah Dempsey!
GOCF says farewell to its Communications Specialist, Sarah Dempsey, who has assisted the agency in its mission to serve Georgia's children and families since May of 2010! She is now leaving the state of Georgia and will be missed!
Newton Juvenile Court Receives OJJDP/MacArthur Grant Award for Improving Practices for DualInvolved Youth!
GOCF is excited to announce that Newton Juvenile Court, one of its current grantees, has been selected as one of four sites in the country to participate in the MacArthur Foundation, OJJDP and Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corp project to study and develop best practices for children who are involved in both delinquency and deprivation in the juvenile court system. This research will be instrumental in assisting other jurisdictions in identifying and addressing the needs of dual system involved youth.

GOCF Advisory Board
Members
First Lady, Sandra Deal, Chair
Judge Steve Teske, Vice Chair
Andy Barclay John Bowden Gaylyn Cole Ken Dobbs Rachel Ewald Michelle Girtman Brittany Jean Mika Kawana Shaquita Ogletree Linda Parker
Gene Pope Dan Provence Michele Smith Duane Whitley

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 4: PAGE 2

North Georgia Healthcare Center Receives the Partnership 2000 Award for Their Work to Lower Dropout Rates
North Georgia Healthcare Center (NGHC), a GOCF grantee, was awarded the Partnership 2000 in May 2012. Sponsored by the Catoosa County Board of Education since 1988, the award is presented to an organization which has worked to lower the county's dropout rate and to improve the education of young people. NGHC provides care coordination, Parents as Teachers services and counseling for students who have been targeted as at-risk for future behavior problems and dropout.

GOCF's Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Grant Program Request for Proposal Release
GOCF released a Request for proposals (RFP) for the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Grant Program of the Division of Prevention and Family Support on May 25, 2012 for new applicants. Visit GOCF's future grant opportunities' page on its website at www.children.ga.gov for more information about this funding opportunity.
GOCF's Upcoming Abstinence Education and Youth Development Grant Program Request for Proposal
GOCF will release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Abstinence Education and Youth Development Grant Program on June 11, 2012 for new applicants. The grant program will focus on the implementation of abstinence education within a positive youth development framework for middle and high school youth. Visit GOCF's future grant opportunities' page on its website at www.children.ga.gov for more information about this funding opportunity.
GOCF Community Grant Awards
GOCF currently provides 128 community-based service grant awards throughout the state of Georgia. A total of $22,462,708 in grants are awarded to communities to support programs that have a statewide impact on juvenile justice, youth development and abstinence education, family violence, child abuse and neglect prevention, and system-of-care.
Continuation Community Strategy Grants Awarded
GOCF awarded eight (8) continuation grants to support Caring Community programs. The grant awards total $330,369 and were given to communities all across Georgia.
Juvenile Accountability Block Grants Awarded
GOCF awarded six (6) new grants to support Juvenile Justice Accountability programs. The grant awards total $349,835 and were given to communities all across Georgia.
To find resources in your community that GOCF funds, please visit the complete list of GOCF's FY2012 grant awards by clicking here or visit www.children.ga.gov.

We Unite and Empower Communities So They Can Unite and Empower Families
GOCF Trainings & Conferences

QUARTER 4: PAGE 3

Teen Empowerment Workshop
June 6, 2012 - Marietta, GA
On behalf of GOCF, Jackie Brewton of MotivationN3D, LLC will be conducting a teen empowerment workshop. During this workshop, Ms. Brewton will educate, empower, and equip today's youth to dream bigger dreams, maker better decisions, and discover their destinies. Some of the topics to be discussed are purpose, identity, delayed gratification, love, and healthy relationships. All youth attendees must be in the seventh grade or higher and be accompanied by an adult.
For more information about the workshop and to register, click the following link: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=chhsnveab&oeidk=a07e5nryd2hf0e3206b

Web-Based Training Sessions for Parents and Service Providers
GOCF has partnered with Care Solutions, Inc. to provide several online trainings for parents and service providers each quarter! Currently, Care Solutions is offering a total of three web-based trainings that provide participants with important skill sets when caring for children as well as information that relates to child welfare, child and family development, and child care. Participants that take the online trainings are offered CEUs free of charge. To view a list of these trainings and access their registration, click here or visit GOCF's Prevention & Family Support training page at www.children.ga.gov.
Mental Health Training Series on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
As part of its statewide initiative to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), the Governor's Office for Children and Families is pleased to offer community trainings that raise awareness about the incidence, identification, intervention, and prevention of CSEC. These workshops target law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, mental health clinicians and specialists, and medical care providers to train them how to effectively and ethically work with potential or confirmed victims of CSEC. Training participants improve their understanding of the community context of CSEC and its effects, and they are given introductory resources to best serve victims and connect them with resources, identify their needs, and support their fair and comprehensive treatment. Offered throughout Georgia, the metro-Atlanta area, and in some cases, remotely, most of these workshops qualify for continuing education credits within the respective professional discipline, and they are offered free of charge. To date, nearly 1,000 professionals have attended one of GOCF's CSEC trainings, and we will continue to offer our community trainings throughout June of 2012.
If you or someone you know is interested in attending a training workshop, please visit our website at www.children.ga.gov, and click on the Youth Development Division "Trainings and Events" tab to learn more about these trainings and to find out when they may be held in your area.
To view all upcoming trainings and conferences that GOCF is currently sponsoring, click here or visit www.children.ga.gov and visit the training section.