an overview georgia program improvement plan - Department of ...

BARRIERS TO ACHIEVEMENT:
E25 ACTION STEPS: Monitor new pilot project taking place in Fulton County where Superior Court Judges have delegated adoption
jurisdiction to Juvenile Court Judges for adoption cases where the deprivation petition originated in the juvenile
court.
START
DATE
COMPLETION
DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PERSON(S)
MEASURABLE
BENCHMARKS
May 2002 December 2002 Michelle Barclay A qualitative report will assess the impact of the pilot to
determine if the delegation is beneficial for adoptions and
any other impact on the child welfare system.
Recommendation for statewide implementation will follow
if appropriate.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
3 rd Quarter Report: Goal Achieved. The pilot project in Fulton has been monitored. Only 30 adoptions have been done this past
year. Since so few adoptions have been done, delegation of jurisdiction appears to have made very little change in the time from TPR
to adoption. This monitoring will continue and we hope to examine this jurisdiction delegation in another county this year.
4 th Quarter Federal Response: State should provide a copy of the qualitative report, and if possible, continue to monitor
effectiveness of pilot in another county.
5 th Quarter Report: Interview Report of Adoption worker, juvenile court judge and attorney child advocate is attached. Another pilot
is difficult since it involves convincing another county's superior court to delegate adoption jurisdiction. However, CIP staff and the
Office of the Child Advocate approached the Governor's office asking for assistance on selecting a county and asking for another
pilot. The request was well received and CIP staff promised to follow up in a few months.
5 th Quarter DOCUMENTATION: Fulton County Juvenile Court Adoption Day Report.
Safe Futures – A Plan for Program Improvement
Georgia Department of Human Resources
November, 2004 Quarter 8 - Work Plan E Page 19