CPP newsline [Vol. 6, no. 1 (Winter 2003)]

Vol. 6 No. 1 Winter 2003
CPP Newsline
The Supreme Court of Georgia Child Placement Project Newsletter
Welcome to the CPP newsletter. The format of this newsletter will focus on the implementation of improvements to the child deprivation process and will strive to keep our readers informed of the
progress of the CPP.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Signs of Progress
Changes Over the Years CPP Happenings
Happenings Around the Nation Happenings in Georgia

Signs of Progress

By Judge Stephen Goss Superior Court of Dougherty County

A "snapshot" study of the court process of child deprivation cases was done this past summer by the Child Placement Project (CPP). Summer legal interns and staff reviewed 79 case files were reviewed and 64 courts were observed in 9 counties. The report is posted on the CPP website located on the bottom of this newsletter.
Good news was discovered! Much in the court's processing of child deprivation cases has improved over the past six years. The state of Georgia has made a significant investment in the juvenile courts with HB 182 which provides state funding for juvenile courts. The return on

The bad news is that we still have much room for improvement. Uniformity of case documentation is still needed in order to truly measure how we are improving as a state. There is still too much variety in the record keeping to accurately measure if court time frames are being met. We also need better documentation of permanency hearings and we still need better representation of parents in deprivation cases. Case plans still were not present in every court case file and they need to be.
This snapshot will again be repeated this

that investment appears to be a better supported judiciary which in turn has improved the processing of processing these children's cases. Children in juvenile court were better represented, better documentation existed in the case files and the case files were better maintained and better organized in most counties. Very few continuances in children's files and the court observations are seen. Judges and court clerks reported that their case loads were more manageable and that they have more resources to do the work than they did in 1996.

summer and every summer of the CPP's existence to continue to measure our progress improvement. Lori Bramlett of the Model Court Project will be directing this summer research. A sample of courts will be chosen and I urge you to participate in the process if your court is chosen. Making sure that children who are abused and neglected in Georgia are fully protected and reach permanency is fundamental to our society. These children live and grow in our communities. We must make sure that the state treats these children and their parents fairly and that we as judges personally make sure every child gets to a permanent placement.

Next Page

Back to the Supreme Court Home Page Back to the CPP Home Page

Changes Over the Years
Significant Change Over the Past 6 Years
By Michelle Barclay
The people working in the child welfare field have difficult jobs. Those on the front lines see so many needs without enough services. Thus, it is important to take inventory every so often to see that progress has been made. Below is short and by no means inclusive list of positive developments since 1996.
State Funding assisted with the appointment of over 15 new juvenile court judges Kiosks, Computers, and other equipment are now more prevalent in Juvenile Courts. DFCS SAAG salaries were increased by $7.50 per hour DHR has gotten a budget increase for child welfare funding for 2 years in a row and possibly this year as well, including 200 new caseworker positions and raises. Visitation Centers for deprived children have been created in at least six counties. The Office of the Child Advocate was created. Tuition support was passed for children in foster care. Kinship care subsidies now exist to better support relative placements.
Those of you who made these positive developments happen should be most proud. Of course, much more should be on this list. Write the CPP if you have suggestions to add to this list!
Foster Parent Notice and Opportunity To Be Heard
A survey was done over the summer by interns and a paper with that information was written recently regarding how foster parent's rights to notice and opportunity to be heard is being handled in Georgia's juvenile courts. The paper did not show that much difference in opinion between court personnel and foster parents, but we have work to do in making sure that all foster parents are uniformly be able to exercise their rights across the state.
Recommendations from the paper are:
1. Continuing education for all involved about foster parents' notice and opportunity to be heard. 2. Clarify who is responsible for providing notice 3. Adopt a standardized form for foster parents. 4. Provide for regular meetings and training opportunities between DFCS and the foster parents both
at a state and local level to improve communication (not to talk about individual cases, but about system process improvement).
You can download the complete paper from: http://www.childwelfare.net/activities/research/fosterparents/ASFA4_index.html

Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Hampshire are states that have gone further than ASFA requires. Some of these states have made foster parents full parties in cases.
A summary of legislation passed by states related to the right of foster parents' opportunity to be heard exists on the web site below. http://www.childrensrights.org/policy/adoption_and_safe_families_foster_parent_notice.htm
Visitation Center Manual
A "How To" manual for creating a visitation center has been written by students at the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic. This manual was written at the request of the CPP and DFCS to help courts and communities create visitation centers. One of the areas where the state needs to improve as a whole is providing visitation for children in foster care for both their parents and their siblings. One of the biggest problems is not being able to provide visitation on evenings and weekends.
Several counties have asked churches to help them with creation of this visitation centers and many judges have been the leaders in getting these started. These centers are often staffed by volunteers and are one positive way the community can assist government in the care and protection of foster children.
http://www.childwelfare.net/resources/VisitationCenterManual/VisitationCenterManual2.pdf
Next Page

CPP Happenings
A status report of CPP projects:
Summer 2002 Court Snapshot
Please See our report on the CPP web site.
Progress Report
Please see our Six Year Progress Report on the CPP web site.
Committee Appointments
Dr. Normer Adams, executive director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children (GAHSC), was recently appointed to the CPP Committee.
Model Courts Project
The AOC is now funding the Model Courts Project. This work is assisting several courts with achieving the aspirational standards set by Georgia and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Lori Bramlett is the Project Coordinator to the Council of Juvenile Court Judges. Recently, the Model Courts Project held a meeting at Judge William Tribble's home. The product from that meeting is entitled: Best Practices in Termination and Adoption Cases and will be publicly available by May. More information about the Model Court Project can be obtained by contacting Lori at jlbramlett@ellijay.com.
Stakeholder Meetings
To encourage better communication between all the participants in deprivation cases, the CPP will pay for lunch! The meetings must be arranged and hosted by the court and the judge. Their purpose is not to talk about individual cases, but to discuss ways to improve the process for kids in your court.
Computers
The CPP has been providing some computers, but will be suspending these purchases until the next funding cycle.
Case Plan Project
Over 12,000 case plans are now in the on-line Case Plan Reporting System (CPRS). All 159 counties are using the system. The judges are not using the system as much as DFCS. The CPP has hired a project manager named Betsy Hyder, just for the CPRS. The DHR and the CPP have added some enhancements recently, including the addition of court orders and panel review paperwork. . Betsy's

contact info is betsy@childwelfare.net or 404.713.0943
To see a demo of the CPRS, see: http://www.gacaseplan.org/
Grant Writing
The CPP has written for several grants on specific projects for local courts. One big grant coming up is for Visitation Centers, probably around May 1. Please contact the CPP if you want to be part of this grant
Court Calendar on the Web
A prototype of the web based calendar has been developed and is about to be piloted in Judge Mark Murphy's circuit. A short report on its success will be released after those judges have used it for a while.
Travel for Judges
The CPP will assist with travel expenses for any juvenile court judge in Georgia to attend national conferences about deprivation law and process.
Trial Manuals
These manuals have been posted on the Internet and have been getting much use. Several of you have pointed out that they need to be updated and the CPP plans to do that this summer.
Cross-Training
The CPP, in conjunction with the Department of Family and Children Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children, held our third annual Child Placement Conference in Peachtree City. The list of invitees included DHR Placement Staff, Supervisors, Resource Development Staff, Independent Living Staff, Administrative Staff; Juvenile Court Judges and Attorneys; Community Volunteers; and Private Providers. Almost 600 people attended the 2002 conference. The 2003 conference will take place in Atlanta on November 12-14. And the CJCJ will be joining as a partner!
See: http://www.gahsc.org
Next Page

Happenings Around the Nation
Review of the Children and Family Services Review and Program Improvement Plan work is on-going for the federal government. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado,
Connecticut, Georgia, Delaware, North Carolina, Minnesota, District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia have all been reviewed. Their reports and their plans for improvement are located on the web site below. http://www.nrcitcw.org/resources/resources_cfsr.html
The other states are undergoing a review during 2003. Georgia will be under-going a follow up review during the summer of 2004. At that time, we must be in compliance with our PIP or Georgia will pay penalties in federal funding.
Experts Disagree About Benefits of Child Welfare Privatization
From these case studies, the authors cite a number of lessons learned:
Public agencies should not expect cost savings from privatization. Greater efficiency will not be achieved simply because a private agency assumes responsibility for service provision. A "phased-in" approach to privatization (including broad-based community planning, pilot projects, and/or transitional contracts) is most successful.
A brief report on the privatization efforts of Kansas, Florida, Arizona is located on the website below. http://www.calib.com/cbexpress/articles.cfm?issue_id=2003-03&article_id=610
Next Page

Happenings in Georgia
Governor's Action Group for Safe Children
The CPP participated in the creation of the report which is now published! See: http://www.georgia-kids.com/
Voices for Georgia's Children
A new umbrella organization is coming together to provide statewide advocacy for all children's issues from mental health to child care. A website has been set up to collect input from the public, see http://www.georgiavoices.org/
Georgia is now one of the 10 Juvenile Sanctions Center Demonstration Sites
Judge Michael Key's court in Troup County was chosen as one of 10 sites that will receive technical assistance and training from the Center and its consultants in 2003. The Juvenile Sanctions Center is a multi-year project funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention with the purpose of creating or improving juvenile accountability-based sanctioning programs in communities for minor or intermediate level juvenile offenders.
Expanding Services to Children, Families and the Courts
The AOC has contracted with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government for an assessment and a report to be presented to the Judicial Council of Georgia regarding the needs of courts that serve children and families, focusing on cross-jurisdictional issues in particular. Former juvenile court judge, Karen Baynes, now Associate Director at Carl Vinson is managing that project.
Creation of a Georgia Association of Counsel for Children
The Office of the Child Advocate has created a GA Chapter of the National Association of Counsel for Children which will be creating a website and a listserv. For more information, please contact Allyson Anderson with the Office of the Child Advocate. See: http://gachildadvocate.org
Celebration of Excellence!
June 17, 2003 at the Fox Theater. Last year, over 220 children in foster care came to this event to participate in their graduation ceremony. T-shirts and mugs are available as a fund-raiser for this event. Please contact cara@gahsc.org to get yours. http://www.celebrationofexcellence.org/
Next Page