Juvenile “Good Behavior bill” Advances Through Senate Committee

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House Bill 373, also known as the “Good Behavior bill,” which pushes for more discretion among juvenile court judges, has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC). The measure seems to have a track record of advancing just in the nick of time. Last Monday – just two days before the critical Crossover Day deadline – it got pushed through to the Senate. Yesterday Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Commissioner Amy Howell had about 20 minutes to drive to the State Capitol to testify on it after it was unexpectedly added to the SJC agenda. “I don’t know what happened I had just left the capitol; I was told that it wasn’t on the schedule and then all of a sudden I get this call from [committee chairman Bill] Hamrick’s legal assistant that I needed to turn around and come back,” says DJJ spokeswoman Scheree Moore.

Family Feud: Family Connection Partnership and its $8M Budget in Limbo

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Buried in the Governor’s budget is a plan that is stirring up conflict among children’s advocates in Georgia, pitting supporters of two child welfare agencies against each other. The plan would fold the Georgia Family Connection Partnership, a 20-year old statewide public-private collaboration, and its budget of nearly $8 Million into the Governor’s Office for Children and Families (GOCF) effective July 1, 2011. Currently the Partnership is attached to the Department of Human Services. Officials of the GOCF say the change would save the state money and simplify access to information and services. Opponents of the move counter that it would undermine the Partnership’s commitment to community-based decision-making, jeopardize its private funding, and increase the size of state government.

Deal Announces New Director for Georgia Division of Family and Children Services

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Rachelle Carnesale has been named as the next director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.   Governor-elect Nathan Deal’s transition team put out the word this week. Carnesale replaces Mark Washington, who left the post in September to become COO of FaithBridge Foster Care, Inc., a non-profit family services agency in Alpharetta. Carnesale is a lawyer with a background as both a prosecutor in child abuse cases, and an administrator of a child welfare agency.  She is currently acting director of the Office of the Child Advocate. As deputy director of the OCA she ran the Child Fatality Investigation Program and developed the Child Abuse Training Academy.   She has also been a prosecutor in DeKalb and Cherokee Counties.

Fathers’ Rights Attorney to Head Office of the Child Advocate

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A Cobb County lawyer who represents fathers in divorce and custody cases will be the next Director of Georgia’s Office of the Child Advocate. Governor-elect Nathan Deal has named Tonya Boga as the state’s child welfare watchdog. Boga lives in Marietta and is a partner in the Boga & Edwards Law Group.  Her law practice promises “Advocacy for Fathers who want to maintain a strong healthy relationship with their children.”

According to Boga’s profile, she’s a Juvenile Court Mediator, Guardian Ad Litem, and a member of the National Association of Counsel for Children.  She is past president of the Cobb County Bar Association Family Law Section.  She has two law degrees, including a Master of Laws from Loyola University in Chicago, and the University of Tennessee. Boga is also active in Republican politics.

Letter from Juvenile Justice Commissioner Garland Hunt

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Commissioner Garland Hunt sent a heartfelt letter to his DJJ staff on Thursday.  The letter comes in the wake of news that he will not be reappointed to the post.  Governor-elect Nathan Deal has nominated Deputy Commissioner Amy Howell, who will be the first woman ever to run the Juvenile Justice agency. Hunt‘s letter, addressed to the “DJJ Family”, praises their work and resonates with sadness.  Here’s how it starts:
It is with much regret that I must inform you of the Deal Administration’s decision to not reappoint me as the Commissioner. In a very short time, I developed a sincere love for all of the young people that have been entrusted in DJJ’s care. I quickly realized that we must encourage and believe in them.  Our success as an agency is determined by their success in life. I would encourage you to always keep hope in your hearts for a change in their lives.

Deal Taps First Woman to Lead Ga. Juvenile Justice Agency: Amy Howell Named New DJJ Commissioner

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Governor-Elect Nathan Deal has nominated Amy Howell as the next Commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Juvenile Justice. She will be the first woman to ever lead the agency.  Howell is a DJJ veteran, an attorney who currently serves as Deputy Commissioner.  She is slated to replace Commissioner Garland Hunt in mid-January. DJJ Board members who must approve the appointment, got the word this morning by email. Howell is a long-time child advocate.  She was hired at DJJ by then-Commissioner Albert Murray, who promoted her within the agency. Amy Howell is an alumna of the Barton Clinic at Emory University, where she started in 2002 as an Equal Justice Works fellow, and became Managing Attorney of the Southern Juvenile Defender Center.  According to the Barton website, Howell helped develop protocols for pre-trial mental health assessment, detention alternative policies, and public education on the juvenile justice system.  She has written a manual called “Representing the Whole Child: A Juvenile Defender Training Manual.”

Howell is also past president of the Young Lawyer’s  Division of the State Bar of Georgia. Before she became a lawyer, Howell taught elementary school and worked with special needs and gifted children in North Carolina.  She got her BA from Connecticut College and her JD from Temple University.

Deal Taps Reese as Next DHS Commissioner

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Governor – elect Nathan Deal has nominated Clyde Reese to run the Department of Human Services.   The announcement came Friday afternoon, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Clyde Reese is an attorney and currently serves as Commissioner of Community Health, which administers Medicaid, Peachcare and the State Health Benefit Plan. He was appointed to the post last April by Governor Sonny Perdue.   The DCH website describes Reese as a health care regulatory and administrative law specialist. He’s also been General Counsel for the State Health Planning Agency, and an Assistant Attorney General.

Normer Adams: Shifting the Child Welfare Culture at DHS

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Last week Governor-Elect Deal nominated Clyde Reese as the new Commissioner of Department of Human Services pending the expected approval of the DHS Board.  Clyde Reese is currently serving as the Commissioner of the Department of Community Health. Present Commissioner of DHS, B.J. Walker has served as its Commissioner since May of 2004.  During that time the Department has made remarkable progress in shifting the child welfare culture to family centered practices, increased family engagement and outcome based management and decision making.  Faced with sanctions and fines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a child protection system busting at the seams with nearly 15,000 children, B.J.Walker's mandate from the Governor was to bring about reform and improved outcomes for children. The numbers tell the story of these past six years.  Since 2004, the number of children in foster care has been reduced by 50%.  The re-abuse rate for children identified by the Department has declined by more than 70% and is half the national standard. Georgia has the fifth lowest rate of recurrence of child maltreatment in the U.S.   In 2004, more than four thousand children had overdue investigations.  Today that number is zero. Commissioner Walker in a letter to the board of DHS says, "I came here with much enthusiasm and energy.  I leave that same way.  Some of the most remarkable people I have ever known have worked for me here, put forth unbelievable efforts on behalf of the "right work, the right way," and never let lack of time, money or resources take away from their desire to achieve greatness."