Leadership Letter

Dear colleagues, partners and staff,

We are on our way ... Georgia's Program Improvement Plan (PIP) received federal approval in August and is effective September 1, 2008.

As many of you know, we did not wait for federal approval, however, to begin our critical work to child welfare in Georgia. We began several important initiatives this past year, including preliminary work to develop a Family-Centered Practice Model, a Permanency Unit in Region 4, foster family initiatives in Regions 13, 14, 17 and part of Region 10, a paternal involvement initiative in Region 16, "Every Child, Every Month" caseworker visitation training, and an important collaboration with the state's Court Improvement Project.

Thanks to all who participated in the planning workgroups and PIP development process; your input was extremely valuable. While not all workgroup recommendations could be incorporated into the final PIP, which was negotiated with the federal Children's Bureau, this plan represents a solid foundation for improving our work.

Thanks also to all who are involved in our many improvement initiatives - local, regional and statewide - and to all who are striving to improve child welfare outcomes in the state.

We are very excited about the work on our Family-Centered Practice Model. I know many of you are already focusing on engaging families as well as children, and we want to make sure our policies, training, practice and documentation statewide support that work.

In addition, we are receiving federal technical assistance from National Resource Centers to help us improve our practice, not only for our Family-Centered Practice Model, but also in the areas of risk and safety assessment, caseworker visitation, permanency, adoptions, independent living and court processes.

We appreciate the critical work that all of you do in supporting at-risk families and ensuring children are safe!

Sincerely,

Isabel Blanco
Deputy Director of Field Operations
Division of Family and Children Services