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

E6 ACTION STEPS:
Develop strategies in partnership with the law department that will urge the SAAGS to file TPR within
30 days of receipt of complete legal services referral and prepare court orders within 15 days of
termination hearing:
Develop a protocol for counties to report overdue petitions and court orders to DFCS Legal Services to address
with law department. Problems in complying with this requirement will be reported to the Commissioner.
START
DATE
COMPLETION
DATE
RESPONSIBLE
PERSON(S)
Sept. 2002 July 2004 Vivian Egan, Linda Doster, DFCS Social
Services Section
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
MEASURABLE
BENCHMARKS
Decrease in length of time to file TPR.
5th Quarter Report: Requesting to revise benchmark to
"Creation of the reporting document". Reason: to place
more emphasis on the action step.
Goal achieved and ongoing.
As of August 2002, reports of delayed court orders are received from county departments on existing forms used to monitor Title IV-E
compliance. Delays are reported to the Law Department by the Legal services Office. A form to be used by counties to report delayed
terminations will be prepared and included in the Foster Care manual distributed to county departments.
4 th Quarter Federal Response: This step is noted as achieved based on development of policy and protocol packets. However, there
is also a measurable benchmark of decreasing length of time to file TPR. Was this benchmark (also the goal for this work plan) placed
in this step in error? If not, State must show progress on this benchmark as well, before this step is noted as achieved.
5 th Quarter Report: The benchmark 'Decrease in length of time to file TPR' was placed in this step in error. The appropriate
benchmark should be: 'Creation of the Reporting Document.'
This step was reported as achieved and documentation of the SSMT dated 4-21-03 that included protocol packets was included in the
documentation submitted in the 3 rd Quarter Progress Report. However, we have found the counties are not complying with the request
to report overdue petitions and court orders to DFCS Legal Services. A new mandatory reporting form has been developed and will be
sent to the county DFCS Directors and Field Directors in February 2004. Memo to DFCS Directors and Field Directors will be
attached in the 6 th quarter report.
Safe Futures – A Plan for Program Improvement
Georgia Department of Human Resources
November, 2004 Quarter 8 - Work Plan E Page 5