Safe Futures A Plan for Program Improvement - Department of ...

Model Courts project, SAAGs, and child advocates. The report was also presented at the Juvenile Court Judge's May 2003 Spring
Symposium, is posted on the Court Improvement Project's website, and is presently being implemented in some of the courts
participating in the project. Some of the improvements in practice and policy already completed by the state have, in fact, occurred as
a result of the workgroup process (earlier availability of funds to contract for children's Life Histories, development of termination
protocol and packet, request to legislatively make requirements for post termination judicial reviews more frequent). The State will
continue to seek additional opportunities to build upon the recommendations contained in the report.
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.
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Safe Futures – A Plan for Program Improvement
Georgia Department of Human Resources
March, 2004 Quarter 5 - Work Plan E Page 32