This Thursday, February 23 the House Judiciary Committee will meet to consider HB 641.  This meeting is a public hearing where testimony regarding the bill will be heard.  Before the hearing, please take a moment to reach out to House Judiciary committee members and express your support of the bill and ask them to vote yes for HB 641.

With SB 127 out of the Judiciary Committee, it waits to be voted on in the Rules Committee.  Should that happen, the bill will then go to the Senate for a floor vote.  (If HB 641 is passed out of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday, the same goes.)  One version of the bill must be voted on and passed by “Crossover Day,” the last day of the 40 day session for a bill to move from one chamber to the next.  This year’s crossover day is March 7^th. 

I predict that the next two weeks will be busy ones. To get updates on the bill, consider joining the JUSTGeorgia coalition.  This is the best way to stay in the loop on this bill and get information on how and when you can be helpful with contacting your elected officials in support of it.  For more information, email jneighbors@justga.org.

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After warm hellos and the legislative briefing, JUSTGeorgia coalition members and CASA volunteer headed to the Capitol for a group photo with Governor Deal and then off they went to meet their legislators.  The day ended with a drop-in luncheon where many legislators stopped by and grabbed a bite to eat with their constituents who continued to chat with them about the important work they’re doing on behalf of children in their communities.  All in all it was a good day – citizens got a chance to visit with their elected officials to tell them what’s important to them, legislators have a better understanding of why it’s so important to update Georgia’s juvenile code, and Georgia’s children are a little closer to having a set of laws that respects them and treats them appropriately.

Check out photos from the event on our Facebook page.

Governor Deal’s official photo with the group.

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This act is a comprehensive revision of the Georgia Code’s juvenile court provisions, which govern the state’s response to children and their families in case of abuse, neglect, violations of the law by children, and other circumstances requiring court intervention.

The Act reorganizes the code for ease of understanding and application, modernizes substantive provisions to reflect advances in research and practice, and brings Georgia into full compliance with federal laws applicable to juvenile court proceedings. Furthermore, communications between agencies will be improved in order to create a coordinated plan for each child in the system.  It includes a new set of provisions designed to help children in foster care learn necessary skills for independence as adults. It also creates a new approach for intervening with children who are currently considered “unruly.” This includes children who have committed an act that would not be against the law but for the fact that they are children, such as skipping school, running away from home, and violating curfew.  The Act divides the juvenile courts section into 12 clearly delineated articles to ensure that children’s cases can be dealt with in a more orderly fashion.

Helpful links:

• SB 127/HB 641 Summary
• SB 127/HB 641 Background
• Did You Know?
• JUSTGeorgia Coalition Website

What can you do?

Tell elected officials at the state and county level that you support this Act.  Tell your friends and family to do the same.

Email your state Senator and State Representative. (Find them by clicking here)

Email the House and Senate Leadership and Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees:

• Lt. Governor: Casey Cagle
• President Pro-Tempore:  Sen. Tommie Williams (404) 656-0089
• Senate Majority leader:  Sen. Chip Rogers (404) 463-1378
• Senate Minority Leader:  Sen. Steve Henson (404) 656-0085
• Senate Judiciary Chair (SB 127 Sponsor):  Sen. Bill Hamrick  (404) 656-0036
• Speaker of the House:  Speaker David Ralston  (404) 656-5020
• Speaker Pro Tempore:  Rep. Jan Jones  (404) 656-5072
• House Majority Leader: Rep. Larry O’Neal  (404) 656-5052
• House Minority Leader:  Rep. Stacey Abrams  (404) 656-5058
• House Judiciary Chair (HB 641 Sponsor):  Rep. Wendell Willard  (404) 656-5125

Children 1st Funding

The proposed elimination of the $2.8 Million in the FY 13 budget will effectively end the Department of Public Health’s Children First program.  We do not want that to happen (and I daresay, cannot let it happen) and here is why:

Children 1st identifies children who are at risk for poor health and developmental outcomes, so that needed interventions can be made to ensure the optimal health and development of the child.  It is the “Single Point of Entry” to a statewide system of numerous prevention based programs and services, such as Babies Can’t Wait. Here is what would happen with the proposed cuts:

• Over 8,500 low birth weight and very low birth weight infants will not receive nurse home visit services.  
• Approximately 30,000 children with potential medical and/or developmental concerns will not be linked to the appropriate medical/developmental services.
• In SFY11, 46,905 newborns/children were identified as needing and or developmental services.  Of these 46,905 newborns/children, 70% will not receive additional medical or developmental services. 

All of this will significantly lessen the chance that those kids will grow up healthy and ready for school.  Loss of this program will also increase the demand and cost of special services by delaying treatment from a time when it would be most effective.

What can you do?

Email or call Appropriation Chairmen in each chamber to let them know how important these funds are:

• House Health Appropriations Chair:  Rep. Butch Parrish  (404) 463-2247
• House Appropriations Chair: Rep. Terry England  (404) 463-2247
• Senate Health Appropriations Chair:  Sen. Renee Unterman (404) 463-1368
• Senate Appropriations Chair:  Sen. Jack Hill (404) 656-5038

Public Benefit Requirements

There have been quite a number of bills introduced this session that would require applicants for public benefits (such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), unemployment insurance and food stamps (WIC)) to undergo drug tests, community service, or “personal growth activities” in order to receive such benefits.  One bill in particular, could have adverse effects for the children of extremely poor families.

Senate Bill 292, which would drug test Medicaid and TANF applicants, was presented in the Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee on Healthcare Delivery on Monday.  No vote was taken as the sponsor, Sen. John Albers, was planning to return with a substitute to the original draft.  As the bill reads today, adult applicants would have to pay for a test of bodily fluids to detect illegal drugs and get reimbursed from their first month’s benefits if the test is negative and they qualify otherwise. (Medicaid payments go directly to providers, so it is unclear how anyone would be reimbursed.) The bill says children would still be eligible, but if an applicant (a parent of guardian) tests positive, the child/children would need another adult to receive the check who would also have to pass a drug test. The family’s TANF benefits would be reduced by the parent’s portion.

While bill sponsors do believe that children are held harmless in these pieces of legislation, there is some concern that the unintended consequences of these bills would lead to the endangerment of the safety net on which these children rely.

A little background: The income limit for TANF eligibility is less than half of the poverty level.  That means that to be eligible for TANF, a family of three must have income below $9,408, resulting in, at most,  $280 a month of TANF benefits for such a family.  These families cannot afford to pay for a drug test and then wait for reimbursement.

In September 2011, there were only 4,278 Georgia adults who were part of a TANF grant and 26,678 children receiving TANF in child-only grants.  The families targeted by this bill are usually out of money, and often the children are hungry by the time they apply for TANF.  In the case of a parent receiving a positive result, time spent by children waiting for results from either an appeal (an issue the bill does not address) or another adult to apply, could delay much needed resources and support for those children.  Additionally, there is some question as to whether or not children would be more likely to become wards of the state should parents and/or caregivers test positive. 

What can you do?

Contact your State Senator to object to SB 292. (Find by clicking here)

Contact members of the Senate Healthcare Delivery Subcommittee to oppose the bill:

• Sen. William Ligon (Chair)  (404) 656-0045
• Sen. Johnny Grant  (404) 656-0082
• Sen. Greg Goggans  (404) 463-5263
• Sen. Miriam Paris  (404) 656-5035

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Despite the flagging economy, the number of uninsured children in America decreased by 1.2 million since CHIPRA was signed into law on February 4, 2009. While the children’s poverty rate increased by 3.4 percent between 2008 and 2010, the children’s uninsured rate decreased by 1.3 percent over the same period of time, according to the Census’ American Community Survey data.

“Meeting the challenge of covering every child will require more public education, but states also need to streamline their process for enrolling children,” said Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia’s Children. “We can eliminate unnecessary red-tape in the application process, like mandatory interviews, in order to help children get vital care.”

The reauthorization of CHIP expanded the successful children’s program, and was one of the first major pieces of legislation signed by President Obama. The program helps children and pregnant mothers with family income too low to afford health coverage but too high for other services. Georgia’s program, PeachCare for Kids, provides coverage for nearly 250,000 children in Georgia.

“The Children’s Health Insurance Program has proven vital for families struggling to provide care for their children,” said Bill Bentley, president and CEO of Voices for America’s Children. “Even during the worst of this ‘Great Recession,’ CHIPRA has contributed to a drop in the number of uninsured children. This progress, which has brought the children’s uninsured rate in this country to its lowest level on record, is even more striking given that childhood poverty and adult uninsured rates jumped sharply over the same time period.”

Voices for Georgia’s Children is a member of Voices for America’s Children, the nation’s largest network of multi-issue child advocacy organizations.  Voices for America’s Children was one of the first national organizations to accept U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s “Connecting Kids to Coverage” challenge to insure the five million children eligible for CHIP and Medicaid health services but not currently enrolled in either program.

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The Child Protection and Public Safety Act (SB 127/HB 641), currently being considered by both the Senate and House, is the answer to her call for reform. The “Children’s Code Rewrite,” as we like to say, is a complete rewrite of Georgia’s juvenile code, and when enacted, will improve the lives of court-involved children and youth. (This includes children in the juvenile justice and foster care systems.) If you’re unfamiliar, the Children’s Code Rewrite effort is being led by JUSTGeorgia, a statewide coalition of more than 500 members, including Voices, and is the result of six years of stakeholder engagement and feedback. 

To learn more about the Children’s Code Rewrite and JUSTGeorgia, including how to become an advocate for this important change, visit the coalition’s website: www.justga.org . You can also contact me, JUSTGeorgia’s project manager, at jneighbors@justga.org.

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Governor Deal urged the Special Council to limit its focus to changes that affect the adult prison population. I agree. We must take this one step at a time. But today, I would like to plant a seed for your future consideration. In the last year, I have heard from many of our state’s juvenile judges, who have the best interests of our young people and their families at heart. With state cuts in mental health services, child welfare services, group homes and alternatives for children who do not need to be behind bars, juvenile judges are too often faced with sending young people to locked facilities to get some kind of treatment, or sending them home to get nothing at all. So today I offer you a postscript: The same reforms we are recommending to you for adults must begin with children.

Perhaps you have heard the parable about the group of people who were standing at a river bank when they watched an infant floating by and drowning in the river. One person promptly dove in and rescued the child. But then another baby came floating by. And then another, and another! Frantic, everyone jumped in to try to save the babies. But they noticed one person was walking away. Accusingly, they shouted, “Where are you going?” He answered: “I’m going upstream to stop whoever is throwing babies into the river.”

In Georgia, we are throwing children into youth prisons. They are technically known as Youth Development Campuses, but many YDC’s look, feel and sound just like adult prisons. Some of our children are serious, violent, repeat offenders, and we must protect our citizens from them. But many are behind bars because juvenile judges have nowhere else to send them; because no one intervened before it was too late.

According to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, during the last three years, nearly two thirds of the more than 10,000 youths locked behind bars have some kind of substance abuse problem; more than one third have been diagnosed with mental health conditions. As with adults, we have learned that our get-tough tactics have failed to scare juvenile offenders straight.

A recent study by The Annie E. Casey Foundation found evidence that our reliance on incarceration for young people provides no benefit to public safety, does not reduce their future offending, wastes taxpayer dollars and perhaps worst of all, exposes children to high levels of violence and abuse. In other words, our youth prisons are a pipeline to adult prison. Consider this: Within three years of juveniles’ release from youth prison, up to 72 percent are convicted of a new offense, depending on the state.  

Children who drop out of school, get involved in drugs, develop mental health problems, are unruly, disrespectful, and out of control without ever getting any kind of intervention are strong candidates for becoming adult criminals. We must face the reality that for many of these children, Georgia’s youth prisons are mere incubators for adult crime.

Tasha Hamilton was well on her way down that path to adult prison. Tasha was 8 years old when her mother abandoned the family, leaving her behind along with her baby sisters. Although their father worked, they had little money and at times they slept in a car. Tasha grew up angry and defiant. By 11 years old, she was smoking marijuana. By 12, she was hanging out with an older crowd and drinking. By 13, she was hooked on methamphetamine.

Tasha bounced in and out of Georgia’s YDCs and boot camps — spending 90 days here, another few months there — often for minor infractions. By the time she was 16, Tasha had been in trouble so many times that she was committed to the State. And this time, they sent her away for nearly a year.

Tasha describes the YDC as a “miserable” place full of “miserable people wanting to do harm.” Tasha says youth prison “doesn’t bring out the good in anybody.” In her own words, she says: “You take away a little bit bad with you. You come out knowing worse people than when you went in, and you build relationships with them.”

But something happened to Tasha that made all the difference. She had a probation officer, Jennifer King, who genuinely cared and refused to give up on her. Jennifer worked in the Douglas County Juvenile Court under Jenny McDade, Director of Juvenile Programs. Together, they made sure Tasha got the help she needed. Tasha got her G.E.D., she got drug treatment and ultimately she got a job. Without Jennifer, she says, it would have been easy for her to graduate into adult prison. She sadly wonders how many are in adult prison today who never had a Jennifer in their lives — someone who said to them when they were teenagers: You can do it, when they had no hope that they could.

With the help of the Douglas County Juvenile Court system, under the able leadership of Judge Peggy Walker, Tasha was accepted into West Central Technical College. Today, she works fulltime in insurance, taking care of her two daughters — as a tax payer, not a tax burden. Today, Tasha has that hope in her life she once lacked. And today, it’s still important to Tasha that she continues to make her probation officer proud.

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The report, titled “Modernizing Medicaid and PeachCare: Promising Program Design Options for Georgia’s Children,” was commissioned by Voices for Georgia’s Children and Georgians for a Healthy Future and compares Georgia systems for child health coverage and access to those in a variety of other states.  Researched and prepared by Kellenberg Consulting, the study sought to identify existing programs that have improved health care outcomes, ensured access to vital services, controlled the utilization of available health care resources, and generated administrative cost savings.  The report is part of a larger initiative supported by Georgia Healthcare Foundation – Care for Georgia’s Kids: Modernizing Medicaid and PeachCare – which focuses on the importance of optimizing the provision of health care to Georgia’s neediest children.

The issuance of the new report comes as the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) conducts a broader study as prelude to a redesign of the state’s Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids programs.  DCH’s Medicaid & CHIP Redesign Process follows Georgia’s transition six years ago to a managed care environment for its Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids programs.

In a cover letter transmitting the report to DCH officials, Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia’s Children, and Cindy Zeldin, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, wrote: “Even in these difficult times, we believe Georgia has significant opportunities to make real progress in improving coverage, access and quality of medical care for the state’s neediest children.  Measures implemented in other states make it clear that Georgia can greatly increase the number of children covered under PeachCare, even as we trim administrative costs and improve quality outcomes.  In the Southeast alone, Alabama and Louisiana have paved the way with initiatives that have yielded impressive results.”

According to the Voices/GHF study, Alabama has been particularly aggressive – and successful – in taking advantage of opportunities to expand coverage to children under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Renewal Act of 2009.  In 2010, Alabama exceeded its enrollment target by nearly 133,000 children. Now, 94% of children in Alabama have health coverage.  As a result, Alabama earned far and away the largest bonuses granted by the federal government for successful enrollment programs – a combined total of $94.6 million for 2010 and 2011, and have just been award nearly $20 million for 2012. The State of Georgia earned no federal bonuses for 2010 or 2011 two-year period, and were awarded only $5 million for 2012.

Similarly, the report says, Louisiana has made significant strides by streamlining its enrollment procedures and transitioning to technology systems that allow data sharing between Medicaid and other public assistance programs.  This so-called Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) system enabled the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) to enroll more than 10,000 children the month after the program was launched, and within a few months that number reached 14,000.  More than 30 percent of newly enrolled children in the Louisiana program have already used their coverage to obtain care, particularly dental services and prescription drugs, according to the study.

Other state-based initiatives which the report said hold potential for Georgia include:

• The Texas Health Passport program, a web-based electronic health records system used by state officials, managed care plans and providers to share medical history and coordinate care for children in the state’s foster care system.  The Texas Health Passport system was developed with a $4 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
• The State of Utah’s electronic notifications project, which has helped cut that state’s administrative and mailing costs by giving residents on various types of public assistance (including Medicaid, CHIP and Child Care Assistance, among others) the option of receiving important state communications electronically, either by email or text message.  By the end of the second quarter of the Utah pilot, nearly 120,000 people had signed up for the program – and 11 percent of those had opted to receive all of their state correspondence electronically.  The state’s governor has estimated savings from the program to reach $6 million.
• Rhode Island’s Pediatric Practice Enhancement Project is an eight-year-old initiative aimed at improving care to children and youth with special health care needs.  This program relies on a system of specially trained parent consultants, called Family Resource Specialists, who work in participating pediatric practices to identify medical resources for children whose needs exceed the practices’ capabilities.  Among the results from this program were significant reductions in both inpatient utilization and patient costs; indeed, program participants saw a 39 percent reduction in their annual healthcare costs after beginning to participate in the program, according to the Voices/GHF study.

“Georgia has made admirable progress in many ways in recent years,” said Rebecca Kellenberg of Kellenberg Consulting, who led the study.  “The state’s current review of its Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids program is obviously aimed at identifying opportunities to improve the health care delivery system and make it more efficient.  The purpose of the study commissioned by Voices for Georgia’s Children and Georgians for a Healthy Future is to help identify proven initiatives that could be adapted to Georgia.”

For more information, including a link to the full report, visit our Modernizing Medicaid & PeachCare webpage.

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For many, there are hopes for ethics reform, tax reform, healthcare reform, and education funding reform, among others.  I have my own hopes for child issues our organization covers, but overall, my hopes can be summed up into one thing:  I hope that this year will be the first “Year of the Child” (to be followed by many).

There are a number of telling child and family statistics from Kids Count and the U.S. Census, among others, that can bring perspective to lawmakers as they vote on legislation this session. For example:

• Children from birth to 18 years make up 28% of GA’s population
• The Federal Poverty Level is a mere $22,350 for a family of 4 ($5,587/family member)
• Nearly 1 in 4 of GA’s kids live in poverty
• 75 instances of child abuse/neglect are substantiated each day in GA alone
• In 2009, nearly 111,000 GA grandparents had primary responsibility caring for their grandchildren
• Approximately 70% of kids locked up in GA’s jails are in for non-violent offenses. Of that number, about 40% are in for statutory offenses.
• In 2011, approximately 14,000 low birth weight babies were born in GA (less than 5.5 pounds, 38 babies/day)
• About 60% of low income homes contain no reading material for children
• I could go on, but isn’t that enough?

Such figures should inspire one simple question, which, if asked by lawmakers with every policy consideration, can change the future of our state both socially and economically.  That question is:

Is it good for kids?

Please, ask your elected official to keep that question handy, and to use it at every turn. 

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The Children’s Code Rewrite was first introduced in April 2009 as a Senate bill, then in April 2011 as a House bill, and has been the subject of many public hearings and stakeholder meetings.  And while I remain encouraged at the level of attention this important legislation has received by advocates, stakeholders and legislators, I urge those of you who want to see this bill pass to continue to do what is necessary to make that happen. A list of opportunities are below.

• Email, write, call, or visit your legislators and tell how important this bill is to our children and communities
• Write a letter of support to your local juvenile court judge or district attorney
• Write a letter of support to your county commissioner, who may be concerned about the short-term costs associated with the bill
• Encourage a friend or co-worker to join the JUSTGeorgia coalition (or join yourself if you have not)
• Attend the JUSTGeorgia/CASA Day at the Capitol on February 7

Questions or suggestions? Email me at jneighbors@justga.org.

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This year, as with all years, there is a lot for GA-CAN! members to pay attention to and work on to ensure Georgia’s kids have the best possible environment in which to grow and prosper. I have consolidated many of our individual legislative priorities into a Top 10 list for GA-CAN!. If I have inadvertently left out an issue near and dear to your heart, please don’t take offense.  Chances are, I will try to talk about it in another post at another time.  And please, don’t hesitate to give us feedback!

Top 10 Issues for GA-CAN! in 2012 (In NO particular order):

1.  Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids – expansion, redesign, provider reimbursement, and 12-month eligibility

2.  Children’s Code Rewrite

3.  Child-serving agency budgets (DPH/DHS/DECAL/DBHDD/DJJ/DOE ) – waivers, child screenings, and school budgets

4.  Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) – funding at the Federal level and allocation by the state

5.  Foster children – right to representation, education, homes and services, and expansion of services for kids transitioning out of foster care

6.  Tax reform – $1 tobacco tax (pro), tax on groceries (against), tax on select services, and balanced approach to revenues and cuts

7.  Sexual abuse and sexual exploitation – elimination of statute of limitations for sexual abuse, mandatory reporting, study on services provided to victims of trafficking, and school for “Johns”

8.  Oral health – increased access to dental care and prevention of further cuts to services

9.  Child nutrition and hunger – medical foods coverage, food deserts, and access to healthy foods at schools and elsewhere

10.  Community and work supports – transportation, unemployment insurance, flexible paid time off, and refugee services state barriers

So, feel overwhelmed yet?  Well, don’t.  The beauty of a list like this is that each piece counts, so if you work on even just one issue, it makes a difference. We ask that you be aware of all these issues though.  If you want more information on any of these topics, don’t hesitate to contact us. Not a member of GA-CAN!? Consider joining our cause!

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