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

social-emotional (behavioral), educational needs, along with the proximity of an available foster home to their parents, etc.). The
psycho-social/sexual behavior of some children is so provocative that placing their siblings with them compromises their safety and
well-being.
Documenting the number of newly recruited homes willing to accept sibling groups is an on-going process. While Georgia directs
considerable attention to its foster home recruitment efforts, the percentage and types of homes needed statewide is very difficult to
accurately establish and track. This is partly due to the fact that children in need of care are a fluid population, meaning that it is
unpredictable how many children will come into care at a given time; how many of them are part of a sibling group; how many have
issues or circumstances requiring separate and/or specialized placements, etc. Georgia recognizes that as many children requiring
placements into approved foster homes with their siblings are entering care, still others are exiting care, returning to their birth
families, thus freeing up foster homes. Simultaneously, Georgia gives priority to placing children with their family members first,
which means that relative resources cannot be identified until the child/children come into care.
5 th Quarter DOCUMENTATION:
Foster Care and Adoption Services Recruitment Statistics -- Fulton and Appling County DFCS
6 th Quarter Report: The state considers this item achieved. The curriculum for training foster parents is being revised and will
include a specialized segment on managing sibling groups. The revisions are scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2004.
Monitoring our progress in this regard will be on-going as new homes are recruited and approved.
6 th Quarter Federal Response: State should continue to monitor the progress in this area in the subsequent quarterly reports.
G7: As per the State's request to renegotiate an evaluation method for the benchmark, the State must produce information verifying
that '5% of all new foster homes will accept sibling groups.' A baseline will need to be established.
7 th Quarter Report: The recruitment of placement resources is an on-going activity within the Division. Therefore, our efforts and
accomplishments continue to be monitored. The most recent data from the Foster Care and Adoption Recruitment Quarterly Reports
for April 2004 – June 2004 indicates that of 3,020 approved and active foster homes, 1,284 were identified as accepting of sibling
placements. This represents fifty-four (54) per cent of the total population. During the second quarter, of 2,382 approved and active
homes, 1,289 (54%)were willing to accept siblings. During the first quarter 2, 693 approved and active homes were identified, of
which 1,440 (54%) were willing to accept sibling groups.
In an effort to establish a baseline, as requested by the federal agency, we reviewed the totals for the first three quarters and
determined that an average of fifty-three (53) per cent of all approved and active homes are willing to accept sibling groups. We
Safe Future – A Plan for Program Improvement
Georgia Department of Human Resources
November, 2004 Quarter 8 - Work Plan G Page 7