Berrien County Collaborative, Inc.

VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERISTY TO STREAM PLAYOFF FOOTBALL ONLINE

2010-11-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

U.S. Education TV will provide a free live webcast of the Division II playoffs

The NCAA Division II playoffs will be broadcast live online Saturday November 20, 2010 at 1:00pm as the Valdosta State Blazers (VSU) take on the North Alabama Lions. Fans of both teams are encouraged to check out the free, high definition live webcast at the Valdosta State athletic site (http://www.useducationtv.com/default.aspx?sid=286), a partner of the U.S. Education TV platform.

VSU students will facilitate on-site production, allowing fans to get an up-close view of the college football battle. The HD-featured event will be broadcast with zero commercial interruptions, offering all viewers an ideal football environment.

U.S. Education TV, a Georgia-based media company, delivers full-production internet broadcasting and production packages, enabling high schools and colleges to connect, interact, communicate, relate and experience local and regional events through the eyes of its students, staff and community. All events uploaded to the network are free to view, providing fans with a high-definition medium to watch their favorite teams play.

For more information, please contact Todd Woodruff 229-356-1375 or email at todd@useducationtv.com

www.useducationtv.com

SMOKED BOSTON BUTT, HAM, & TURKEY SALE!!!!

2010-11-10T07:01:00.001-08:00

Don't forget to buy your BUTT, HAM, and or TURKEY before they're ordered next week. They will be delivered the day before Thanks Giving Break - November 23rd. Please contact Elaine Grice for Details at 229-686-6576 elain.douglas@berrien.k12.ga.us. This partnership with Rotary will help support CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Berrien County

2010-10-11T15:12:00.001-07:00

Berrien County and the City of Nashville are thrilled to announce the beginning of construction on the new Berrien County Boys and Girls Club Building. This project is being funded through DCA's Community Development Block Grant with J. Glenn Gregory as architect and Eastern Corporation for primary contracting and construction. This beautiful new building will be used to facilitate Boys & Girls Clubs afterschool activites for the children and youth of Berrien County. Currently, the Berrien County Collaborative, Board of Education, and Boys & Girls Clubs conduct afterschool activities for students in grades Pre-K-12th grade. Constance Thomas, program coordinator stated, "The new building is truly a gift, and the success of this project is directly reflective of the great work being done for kids in Berrien County". The dedication of the County Commission, City of Nashville, Board of Education, and Berrien County Collaborative is a great example of putting others first, dropping personal agendas and working for the good of the community. This new building will be a source of pride for the citizens of Berrien County for years to come.

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit receives support from District Attorney's Office.

2010-10-11T09:45:00.001-07:00

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit received over $8,000 from District Attorney's Office. Cathy Helms right(District Attorney) and Sarah Surratt middle (Victims Assistance Coordinator) presented a check to Elaine Grice left (CASA Director) on Thursday, October 8, 2010. Funds were part of the 5% allocation from collected fines and fees in Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier. This support will be used recruit and train volunteers for the over 60 children in need of a CASA in our judicial circuit.

CASA Receives Expansion Funding

2010-10-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

The Promoting Safe and Stable Families grant under DHS has provided funds for expansion of CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit that serves Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier counties. These funds will be used to advocate for our abused and neglected children in fostercare. To put this in perspective, 4 out of the five counties in the Alapaha Judicial Circuit are in the top 16 counties for child abuse and neglect in the state.

CPPC 2009 Report

Lanier #1 2009

Berrien #9 2009

For more information on how you can advocate for our most precious asset, please contact Elaine Grice @ 229-686-6576.

Boys & Girls Clubs Groundbreaking Ceremony

2010-10-03T07:05:00.001-07:00

Please Join us for a

Groundbreaking Ceremony

For the new

Boys and Girls Club Building

Wednesday, October 6th

11:00 am

Adjacent to the Y.E.S. Center

Please R.S.V.P. by October 4th

To Constance Thomas

229-686-6576

constance.thomas@berriencountycollaborative.org

CASA for CASA's

2010-09-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

Tickets are currently being sold for $5.00 each to raffle off a hand crafted playhouse (6ft x 8ft) on December 2, 2010. The raffle is being held in order to raise awareness for the Court Appointed Special Advocate program as well as funds to support the many children in our area.

Contact: Elaine Grice (229)686-6576

Amy Burton (229)482-3476 Lanier County Family Connection

Donated & Built by: Kirby Sapp, Lanier County Contractor

Raffle Ticket $5.00 each

Playhouse will be raffled off December 2,2010

Teen Maze Coverage

2010-09-27T13:40:00.001-07:00

Click on the link below for Teen Maze coverage on WALB.

http://www.walb.com/global/Category.asp?C=195954&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5141046&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Waiting for Superman

2010-09-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is a must see for educators. It will be featured in Oprah today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFN0nf6Hqk0&feature=player_embedded

Communities In Schools featured in TIME Magazine

2010-09-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

Check out Communities In Schools, featured in TIME Magazine.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/communities-in-schools-recognized-by-time-magazine-102898534.html

Join me in signing this petition!

2010-09-15T06:31:00.001-07:00

I've just signed a petition calling on President Obama to take the lead in supporting the Global Fund, which is saving millions of lives around the developing world. Please sign this petition, too:

http://one.org/us/actnow/globalfund2010/index.html?rc=globalfund2010paste

Together as ONE we can make a difference.

Thanks!

General Collaborative Meeting

2010-09-14T15:00:00.001-07:00

Greetings All,

Please plan on attending our General Collaborative meeting being held at the Perry Memorial Library on Thursday, September 16th @ 12pm. This meeting is held each quarter with several of other agencies from the area. It's a good time to network and develop support for our initiatives.

See you there!

UPCOMING EVENTS!!!!

2010-09-10T13:03:00.001-07:00

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit 1st Thursday

2010-09-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit with Evelyn Fox, Deborah Raines, and Berrien High AP Art Class painting faces on children during Nashville's 1st Thursday.

Health At School: A Hidden Health Care System Emerges From The Shadows

2010-09-02T18:57:00.001-07:00

A vast array of child health professionals—99,000 counselors;56,000 nurses; 30,000 school psychologists; 15,000 social workers;and smaller numbers of dental hygienists, dentists, physicians,and substance abuse counselors—provide care to childrenand adolescents at school. However, most thought leaders inchild health know little about this "hidden" system of careor are skeptical about its capacity to contribute to children’swell-being. Increased interest in prevention and chronic disease management, powered by escalating concern about childhood overweight,might end the isolation of school health programs and link themmore effectively to community-based prevention programs andhealth care services.

Full Article: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/26/2/409

Flatlanders Fall Frolic

2010-08-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Lanier County Family Connection will be featuring CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit at the annual Flatlanders Fall
Frolic on Saturday, September 4th, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m at the Lakeland Threate Center.

CASA will be recruiting volunteers, selling raffle tickets for the playhouse, and Lanier 4-H will be painting faces on the children. The 6 x 8 ft Playhouse was built and donated by Kirby Sapp of Lakeland and will be on display at the Lanier County Courthouse. The raffle tickets are $5.00 each and we will raffle the playhouse on December 2nd, at the Christmas Parade in Lakeland.

If you would like to help at the Flatlanders Fall Frolic and/or help with raffle tickets, please let me know. We would love to have your support for our CASA program.

We are also taking orders for CASA T-shirts at this time. The T-shirts are $12.00 each. Please let Elaine Dounglas Grice know if you would like to purchase a T-shirt by Thursday, September 2nd. elaine.douglas@berrien.k12.ga.us (P) 229-686-6576.

Berrien County Even Start Update

2010-08-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

The Berrien County Even Start Family Literacy program has completed the opening of its center and is now serving more than twenty families with over sixty participants benefiting from the literacy programs. The impact of this program has already changed the lives of seven high school and GED participants that graduated this spring and summer. This program offers promise for help in breaking the cycle of poverty and low literacy to the parents and children of Berrien County. The opening of Wiregrass Technical College's campus this fall will expand the program's impact by being directly linked to the Even Start Center on the Berrien County Board of Education campus in Nashville.

Even Start is funded by a year-to-year grant that provides funding to support local family literacy projects that integrate early childhood education, adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education and instruction for English language learners), parenting education, and interactive parent and child literacy activities for low-income families with parents who are eligible for services under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and their children from birth through age 7. Teen parents and their children from birth through age 7 also are eligible. All participating families must be those most in need of program services.

Parents who have not completed high school and would like to pursue a GED should contact Kristin Evan or Dianne Fuller at 229-686-6247. The Even Start Family Literacy Center is located at 810 South Dogwood and currently open for services. We are fortunate here in Berrien County to have this opportunity. If you would like to make a referral or visit our center, please call or email us at kristin.evans@berriencountycollaborative.org or dianne.fuller@berriencountycollaborative.org.

Invest in your community!

2010-08-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in investing in the future of Berrien County, please go to the Collaborative's Blog and click on the Donate link on the top right hand side of the page. You may indicate where you would like your investment to go. If you would like a list of initiatives and programs, please go to www.berriencountycollaborative.com and click on the Initiatives link or contact Matt Jansen at 229-686-6576 or matt.jansen@berriencountycollaborative.org.

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit CJCC Approval

2010-08-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit has been approved as a Local Victims Assistance program by Georgia's Criminal Justice Coordinator Council for Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier counties and is eligible for 5% funding.

What does 5% Certification mean for CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit?

Certification Program Overview

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is responsible for promulgating rules governing the approval of victim assistance programs in Georgia. Those rules are designed to encourage local innovations in development of victim assistance, and provide the minimum standards necessary for certification of these programs.

Certification permits local victim assistance programs to request funding through their County Board of Commissioners from a fund derived from a five percent penalty added to fines in all criminal and criminal ordinance cases, specifically to fund victim assistance programs.

Where the County Commission does not participate in victim assistance, the five percent penalty must be paid over to the District Attorney to fund victim assistance in that Judicial Circuit.

For more info, please go to: http://cjcc.ga.gov/

New Georgia Child Abuse and Neglect Rankings

2010-08-23T14:00:00.001-07:00

Click the following link for newly released child abuse and neglect state rankings for Georgia.

Rankings 2005 - 2008

After School Status of Achievement of Goals and Objectives

2010-08-23T10:32:00.001-07:00

I want to share with you the great pride in after school and impact it is having on our students. The hard work and determination that goes into making sure our children succeed in life is highly prevalent in the data below.
Berrien Primary and Elementary School Updates
Performance Goal #1: Increased academic achievement in reading, language arts, and math.
- 48% of the participating students improved their reading grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Forty-eight (48) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and 19 students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- 53% of the participating students improved their language arts grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Twenty-seven (27) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and 8 students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- 47% of the participating students improved their math grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Fifty-seven (57) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and 15students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- The percentage of participating students not meeting the state standard on the reading section of the CRCT decreased from 30.8% in Spring 2009 to 9.9% in Spring 2010.

- The percentage of participating students not meeting the state standard on the math section of the CRCT decreased from 40.7% in Spring 2009 to 27.5% in Spring 2010.

Goal #2: Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs and activities, such as youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, nutrition programs, counseling programs; art, music and recreation programs, technology education programs and character education programs that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; encourage effective integration and operation of programs in concert with all designated partners.

- During the year, the local centers emphasized programming in the core content areas of reading, language arts and math for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment and support activities for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment, support activities and programming to support learning outside of core academic content areas and technology for 100% of its participating students.

Goal #3: Improve student attendance, homework completion and class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 93% of the participating students were absent for 15 days or less from school.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 90% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 84% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 90% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion and 84% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 59% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in behavior.

- At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 94% of the participating students were promoted to the next grade level.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, the local centers provided a total of nine opportunities for literacy and related education development. Our Reading Around the Campfire event had 142 adults and 158 students participate. Our Duathlon event had 40 students and 48 adults attending. Our four movie nights were also well attended. Furthermore, our rodeo event had over 2,000 participants.The majority of these participants are not enrolled in our after school program, although our families were invited to attend.

- During the 2008-2009 school year, the Reading Around the Campfire event had 142 adults and 158 students participate. Our Duathlon event had 40 students and 48 adults attending. Our four movie nights were also well attended. Furthermore, our rodeo event had over 3,000 participants.The majority of these participants are not enrolled in our after school program, although our families were invited to attend.

______________________________________________________________

Berrien High and Academy Programs

Performance Goal #1: Increased academic achievement in reading, language arts, and math.

- 63% of the participating students improved their language arts grade during the 2009-2010 school year.

- 61% of the participating students improved their math grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Thirty-seven (37) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and six students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- During the year, the local centers emphasized programming in the core content areas of reading, language arts and math for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment and support activities for 100% of its participating students.

Goal #3: Improve student attendance, homework completion and class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 93% of the participating students were absent from school for 15 days or less.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 40% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 35% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 40% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion and 35% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 26% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in behavior.

- At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 94% of the participating students were promoted to the next grade level.

Goal #4: Offer families of students who are served by the local community learning center the opportunities for literacy and related educational development.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, the local centers provided a total of nine opportunities for literacy and related education development. Our Reading Around the Campfire event had 142 adults and 158 students participate. Our Duathlon event had 40 students and 48 adults attending. Our four movie nights were also well attended. Furthermore, our rodeo event had over 3,000 participants. The majority of these participants are not enrolled in our after school program, although our families were invited to attend.

Institute of Medicine 2009 Report

2010-08-21T14:35:00.001-07:00

This is an Intense report full of great systemic ideas for implementing an effective system of care. - Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities.

http://www.whyy.org/news/sci20090302Mentalprepub.pdf

School-Based Mental Health Models

2010-08-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Great white paper on school-based mental health models.This encompasses the ISSC (Integrated Student System of Care) model used to develop the MED (School-Based Collaborative HeathCare) initative at Berrien Elementary School.

Using Coordinated School Health to Promote Mental Health for All Students

Meeting to address Lanier’s high child abuse rate

2010-08-12T11:07:00.001-07:00

Dawn Castro

The Valdosta Daily Times

LAKELAND — Inadequate income and substance abuse play major roles in Lanier County topping the state in child abuse and neglect cases.

The county currently ranks No. 1 in neglect and No. 2 in physical abuse, the highest per capita rate in Georgia, according to the state Department of Family and Children Services.

To address this ranking, an organization committed to understanding and lowering these numbers hosts a meeting this week.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, the Community Partnership for Protecting Children (CPPC) holds a community meeting at the Oak Grove Freewill Baptist Church to discuss ending child abuse.

“From this meeting, we hope to come up with some sort of resolution or positive steps towards resolving the issues facing our community,” Amy Burton, the Lanier County Family Connection coordinator, said.

Joyce Johnson, CPPC area coordinator, said the meeting will be an open forum for the people.

“We want to hear from the residents,” she said. “We looked at the data for the area where the most problems occur and found that Oak Ridge subdivision ranks the highest.”

Johnson noted the top three types of child maltreatment that will be discussed at the meeting are neglect, which includes inadequate supervision, food and medical care; physical abuse; and domestic violence, which usually includes emotional abuse.

The main focus for the meeting will be educating the residents about the problem. The questions posed will be: Why do the residents think Lanier County is No. 1 in abuse, and what should be done to reduce the number?

Johnson said when the data is collected, they look at the number of children under 18 years of age and how many were reportedly abused. They look at the families income, age of the parent(s), location (rural area vs. city), and number of children in the home. She also said it surprises people to know that the average age of the parents reported in these abuse and neglect cases is 35.

“People always assume it’s the younger parents being reported but that is not the case here,” she said. “Just because someone is older, does not mean they have it all together.”

The top three underlying causes in these situations are substance abuse; domestic violence; and mental health issues of the parent or child.

From Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009, the following Lanier County maltreatment data was collected by the Department of Family and Children Services office:

Neglect: 107 reported; 57 percent

Physical Abuse: 34 reported; 18 percent

Emotional Abuse: 29 reported; 15 percent

Sexual Abuse: 13 reported; 7 percent

No maltreatment but substantial abuse: 6 reported; 3 percent

Racial Composition of Reports:

African-American: 38

Caucasian: 123

Hispanic: 3

CPPC is a strategic plan represented by citizens, including DFACS workers, teachers, parents, faith-based leaders and members of the judicial system, etc.

The plan is to bring everyone together to develop creative ways to prevent or reduce the abuse and neglect in the county.

The CPPC is a nationally recognized plan but has just been organized in Lanier County January 2010. Its mission statement: “Keeping Children Safe is Everybody’s Business.”

Johnson said the plan is not to be confused with an agency or organized program. It only involves community participation. It is based on the understanding that DFACS cannot accomplish the prevention of child abuse alone.

The meeting will include a barbecue meal and door prizes. Childcare will also be provided.

At A Glance: Community Partnership for Protecting Children (CPPC) holds a community meeting to discuss ending child abuse, 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 12, Oak Grove Freewill Baptist Church. More information: Contact Amy Burton, Lanier County Family Connection coordinator, (229) 482-3476.

Collaborative Featured in Healthcare Georgia Foundation Listening Tour Report

2010-08-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Voices of the Community: Listening Tour 2010

While the national stage is focused on who has access to care and who is going to pay for it, we know that the more robust discussion–the depth and breadth of the issues impacting the health of our neighbors–is happening at the community level. As a Foundation with a commitment to understanding and working with communities, we sought to actively engage with leaders across the state in a discussion about the health of their communities, the health care issues facing their neighbors, and their community’s efforts and capacity to continue to make an impact.

The Foundation will use insights gained from this Tour to be deliberate and focused on providing community-based solutions that promote sustainability and the enhancement of the health of all Georgians.

To View or Download, click here

Recommended Citation: Voices of the Community: Listening Tour 2010, Porter Novelli, Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Publication #42, June 2010

How does Georgia measure up?

2010-08-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Among the states, Georgia gets these poor health rankings according to the “2008 Health Rankings: Georgia and Georgia’s Children”:

31st for the percentage of adults who do smoke.
37th for the percentage of adults who do not exercise regularly.
38th for the percentage of overweight high school students.
39th for the percentage of adults who are obese.
41st for the percentage of adults with diabetes.
40th for infant mortality.
41st for teen birth rate.
43rd for pre-term births.
45th for low birthweight babies.
47th for the prevalence of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS.

Georgia’s most recent bad health grade came this summer in the 2010 “F as in Fat” report: Georgia trailed only Mississippi in the percentage of children between 10 and 17 who are obese. The report is produced by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

MED Project Launch

2010-08-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

The MED Center is a comprehensive Pediatric Primary Care site located at Berrien Elementary School.

The MED uses an Integrated Student System of Care (ISSC) that incorporates a broad array of service integration, continuity of care, and data exchange strategies that include, but are not limited to: family-centered case management services; family/student health and wellness education services; academic support services; and school nursing services.

ISSC is an integrative medicine approach that provides team-based, collaborative care for students.

Berrien Academy Charter Renewed

2010-07-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

Graduation rate up 25 percentage points since it opened

The Valdosta Daily Times

NASHVILLE — Opened in August of 2005, Berrien Academy Performance Learning Center was recently granted a second five-year charter.

Berrien County Collaborative Executive Director Matt Jansen said, “The overwhelming support we receive from the Berrien County Board of Education and community helped to move this school into a new charter for another five-year term. Over the past five years, we have assisted in raising the graduation rate from 49 percent in 2004 to 74 percent in 2010.”

Located inside the Youth Empowerment Services building at 1015 Exum Road in Nashville, Berrien Academy is a public charter school. It is operated in partnership between the Berrien County Board of Education and Berrien County Collaborative Inc.

Berrien Academy serves as many as 75 students in grades nine through 12.

It is SACS accredited and students completing the state requirements receive a high school diploma.

“We have continually offered dual enrollment courses through Wiregrass (Georgia) Technical College (formerly Valdosta Technical College) while increasing the number of tech prep and college prep diplomas and simultaneously decreasing the dropout rate below the state average,” Jansen added. “The partnerships that have developed over the past five years have led to over $2 million in additional resources being awarded to the school system to train our teachers and students in the areas of technology and cross curriculum project-based learning. The innovative course structure and educational environment is focused on business skills needed to succeed in a 21st Century job market.”

As for the future of Berrien Academy, Jansen said there are plans to develop a Career Academy.

“The Career Academy has become the model for the future of high school in our country,” he said. “By integrating high school and technical college courses, students will be given the opportunity to graduate high school with marketable skills and certified training.”

To learn more, visit www.berrien.k12.ga.us or call Matt Jansen at (229) 686-6576 or the Berrien County Board of Education at (229) 686-2081.

Student Public Service Announcements

2010-07-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Check out students projects that have been posted on US Education's website. These projects are part of our Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse and Production 1 classes at Berrien Academy and High Schools. http://useducationtv.com/default.aspx?sid=98.

2009 Annual Survey Reports Now Online

2010-07-18T05:11:00.001-07:00

Results of the 2009 local and state annual surveys are now posted on
CASAforChildren.org. Highlights of 2009 findings are as follows:

- The number of children served nationwide was 237,095.
- The number of volunteers in service was 70,919.
- The number of new volunteers trained was 23,753.

Thank you to all CASA/GAL staff who took the time to respond to our annual
survey. The results can be helpful to all of our programs in our
fundraising and public awareness efforts.

http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5466423/k.16B4/Data_Collection_and_Evaluation.htm

Alapaha Judicial Circuit Justice for Children Summit – July 29, 2010

2010-07-13T08:32:00.001-07:00

Your attendance is requested for the Alapaha Judicial Circuit Justice for Children Summit to be held on July 29, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Berrien County Extension Office (516A County Farm Road, Nashville, GA 31619, (229)686-5431). Continental Breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m.

This summit is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Justice for Children (J4C) in partnership with the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) and the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). Staff from the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Justice for Children will review and compare statistical information pertaining to our court and agency work on deprivation matters and help us to identify our strengths and challenges. All juvenile court stakeholders involved with issues of child abuse and neglect are needed to assist in identification of goals for our court and the development of action plans to achieve those goals.

Please RSVP to Ms. Regina Roberts by email at regina.roberts@gaaoc.us or by phone at 404-561-2724 no later than July 23, 2010 with the following information: name, e-mail address, phone number, and your role or job title. Breakfast, Lunch and snack items will be provided. If you have special dietary needs, please inform Ms. Roberts when confirming your attendance. I look forward to seeing you at the summit.

Alapaha Judicial Circuit

Supreme Court of Georgia

Justice for Children Summit

July 29, 2010

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome Remarks by the Honorable Carol W. Hunstein,

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; The Honorable P. Harris Hines, Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; The Honorable Clayton Tomlinson, Judge of the Juvenile Court of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

9:15 – 9:30 Introductions & Overview of Summit Curriculum

9:30 – 9:45 Video: “Multiple Transitions: A Young Child’s Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption”

9:45 – 10:30 Strengths and Challenges

10:30 – 10:45 Break

10:45 – 11:45 “The Path to Permanency” - presented by Ms. Melissa Carter, Esq. Director of the Georgia Office of the Child Advocate and Mr. Bobby Cagle, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services

11:45– 12:15 “Ground Truth: Using Data to Explore What is Really Happening at the Local Level” - presented by Mr. Christopher Church, Esq., Managing Attorney, Committee on Justice for Children

12:15 – 12:45 Lunch

12:45 – 1:40 “Ground Truth” – continued

1:40 – 2:10 “Through Our Eyes” – presented by Georgia EmpowerMEnt Group

2:10 – 2:25 Break

2:25 – 3:00 Action Planning

3:00 – 3:45 Group Discussion of Action Plans

3:45 – 4:00 Closing, Q & A, Next Steps

CHRISTMAS IN JULY AT DFCS

2010-07-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

During the month of July, The Berrien County Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will be sponsoring “Christmas in July” in support of the foster children of Berrien County. DFCS will be accepting donations which will be directed towards buying school supplies and school clothes for foster children. According to Director Mary Lynn Bracewell, there are approximately 20 children in foster care in Berrien County. Many of these children are school age. The State of Georgia does not provide any additional money for foster parents to buy school supplies and school clothes for the children they keep in their home.

There are many ways that the community can help. People can request specific sizes and ages of the foster children, and then purchase items themselves to bring to the DFCS office, or they can make a monetary donation which will be used to buy the needed items. For more information, contact Bracewell or Kayse Layfield at 686-5568.

Dear Community Leaders

2010-06-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is a reminder about the Open House at the Berrien County Elementary School this Wednesday, June 30th, from 9:00 to 9:30 AM. If there are any questions please feel free to contact me through email or phone.

I'm looking forward to a great morning!

Thanks,
--
Constance P. Thomas

Berrien County Students Staying Active Throughout June

2010-06-24T05:59:00.001-07:00

The Berrien County Board of Education, Berrien County Collaborative, Boys and Girls Club, and 21^st Century Community Learning Center have teamed up to create an activity filled summer program for children in grades Pre-K through 12. Primary and Elementary students are taking classes at the Elementary School while Middle and High School students are located at the high school. The program is offering a variety of classes some of which include driver’s education, video production, creative writing, and personal fitness. Nearly 400 Berrien County students are enrolled in all levels of the summer program. At the middle school level, boys are learning taekwondo, fitness, rocket building, and are spending time developing computer skills while the girls are being taught cooking, etiquette, and art in addition to taekwondo.

The Elementary and Primary students are also loaded with great activities throughout the month, with one of the most popular being their weekly swimming day at the Tifton YMCA. In addition to swimming, students are cooking, working with science kits, going on field trips around the community, giving presentations, and also working on computer skills. Due to small class sizes and an excellent staff, students have been very well behaved and focused on their daily tasks.

A few field trips and guest speakers have been scheduled throughout the month long summer program to keep the students interested and engaged. Florida State University football star and Valdosta native, Greg Reid recently visited the Elementary school to share his own story of the benefits of hard work and determination. Primary, Elementary, and Middle School students were also able to attend a BMX bike exhibit which encouraged character building and drug prevention. In addition to the great message, the stunt team included a number of different jumps and freestyle tricks leaving the crowd amazed.

Communities In Schools Announces 2010 Wal-Mart Scholars

2010-06-16T11:23:00.001-07:00

ARLINGTON, Va., June 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Communities In Schools, the nation's largest dropout prevention organization, is pleased to announce that 13 new students have been selected as recipients of the 2010 Wal-Mart Foundation Communities In Schools Scholarship Program. The scholars, graduating seniors from Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, were awarded prizes ranging from $2,000 to $8,000 dollars to apply to pursuing a higher education. Recipients were chosen based on their financial need, academic performance, and demonstrated leadership abilities.

The scholarships were set up to promote non-traditional academic excellence and provide an opportunity for promising students who have experienced significant educational challenges and financial need to reach their highest potential. Students from across the Performance Learning Centers (PLC) Network were eligible for the scholarships. The money was made available through a two year grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation, totaling $120,000 dollars.

"Through this grant we are pleased to have the funds available to help these students pursue a higher education that otherwise may not have been available to them," said Joseph Santucci of the Communities In Schools Leadership Council. The scholarships help support the cost of higher education, reducing the financial barriers that students who maintain satisfactory academic progress often encounter. In addition, through the scholarship program a diverse group of future leaders will be identified who exemplify the core values of the Communities In Schools Mission.

The 2010 Wal-Mart Foundation Communities In Schools Scholars are:

Emma Ayala (Marietta PLC)
Erin Bowers (Candler County PLC)
Haley Carroll (Berrien County PLC)
Lynsey Farnsworth (Charlotte PLC)
Taylor Goudy (Charlotte PLC)
Erika Randolph (Hampton PLC)
Rubi Romero (Marietta PLC)
Cameron Stella (Mary Mosley PLC)
Tania Tenery (Kent PLC)
Devontay Vickers (Laurens County PLC)
Shane Waddy (Marietta PLC)
Ariana Walker (Marietta PLC)
William Washington (ACDC PLC)

Communities In Schools surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a school-based coordinator, Communities In Schools connects students and their families to critical community resources tailored to local needs. Working in nearly 3,300 schools in the most challenged communities, in 26 states and theDistrict of Columbia, Communities In Schools serves more than 1.3 million young people and their families. It has become the nation's leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to increase graduation rates and decrease dropout rates.

Visit our website at www.communitiesinschools.org.

Emory University's Urban Health Program funds MED project in Berrien County

2010-06-02T19:12:00.001-07:00

The Berrien County Collaborative recently received support from Emory University's Urban Health program. This funding will assist in the start-up, public relations, and marketing of the MED. The MED is a school-based health clinic designed to bridge the gaps in health care services for students. This is a combined effort that uniquely links pediatricians, general practitioners, psychiatrists, nurses, and other health care professionals through onsite and telehealth delivered services.

State of Our Union

According to the 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a national report on the well-being of America’s children by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Georgia ranks 42nd in the nation. Georgia ranks in the bottom 10 in five categories: high-school dropouts; teens not attending school and not working; low-birthweight babies; children in single-parent families; and infant mortality. Georgia has the second-highest percentage of high-school dropouts in the country. In addition, more than 300,000 of Georgia’s children are uninsured, and as a result do not have a medical home and have limited access to routine health care.

Goal of the Comprehensive School Based Health Clinic Program:

• To increase access to quality health care, improve the delivery of health services, and improve the health of Georgia’s children.
• To facilitate the expansion of school-based health clinics throughout the state from two to 12 over the next five years.
• To organize a state association for school-based health programs.

Through the expansion of school-based clinic services, children in Georgia will benefit from improved access to primary health care, improved health outcomes, and improved school attendance. The state will benefit from reduced costs to the Medicaid system through the reduction in inappropriate emergency room visits, hospitalizations for chronic illnesses
(i.e., asthma and diabetes), and transportation costs.

System of Care

2010-05-20T15:21:00.001-07:00

The Berrien County Collaborative was one of the ten Community Strategy Grant Programs from the Governor’s
Office for Children and Families approved for funding! This program will assist in develop of the MED (School-Based Health Clinic) by providing specialized case management services. The MED was started a little over one year ago and through a lot of planning and development will start the pilot this fall at the Berrien Elementary School. The Human Services Specialist funded through the System of Care grant will manage the care needed for approximately 200 at-risk children at our elmentary school. Our hope will be to expand this program system-wide with a clinic and specialist in each school by 2012.

Tyler Carter Memorial Duathlon Registration Update

2010-05-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

The Tyler Carter Memorial Duathlon is fast approaching. In order to secure your spot for the May 22nd race, please register online now. Pre-registration will save you $5 before May 20th. Registration on race day will be $30. It will also guarantee that you will receive a race package and T-Shirt. If you have questions, please call 229-686-6576.

Tyler Carter Memorial Duathlon

2010-04-11T12:51:00.001-07:00

Join us for the Tyler Carter Memorial Duathlon on May 22. Race details can be found at www.berriencountycollaborative.com. You can register online at http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1848854 or mail-in form to 1015 Exum Road, Nashville Ga. 31639. Proceeds will benefit the Tyler Carter Memorial Scholarship and Boys & Girls Clubs of Berrien County. For more information, please contact Matt Jansen or Candice Maluda at 229-686-6576 or duathlon@berriencountycollaborative.org.

Valdosta Board of Realtors Community Service Fundraiser for CASA

2010-03-03T11:01:00.001-08:00

If you would like to order a ham, please contact Matt Jansen at 229-686-6576 or matt.jansen@berriencountycollaborative.org. You may pick up your order on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 from 2pm to 6pm at the YES Center if you can't make it to Valdosta. CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit serves our foster care children in Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier Counties. For more information on CASA go to www.casaforchildren.org.

Berrien County PRCA Rodeo

2010-03-03T10:56:00.001-08:00

For more information go to www.berriencountycollaborative.com

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

2010-02-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit is asking that the community join in our fundraiser to support the children of our communities. The Mission of CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit is to provide screened, trained, and supervised community volunteers to work with our children in foster care. CASA volunteers are appointed by Juvenile Court Judge Tomlinson to advocate for the best interest of over 60 abused and neglected children in our service area.

Tickets are currently being sold for $1.00 to raffle off a hand crafted dog house on March 26. The raffle is being held in order to raise awareness of the Court Appointed Special Advocate program as well as funds to support it.

Contact: Elaine Douglas (229)686-6576
Where: Berrien County Collaborative
Built by: Wayne & Taylor Strickland
Raffle Ticket $1.00 each
Dog house will be raffled off March 26, 2010

*You do not have to be present to win!!!

**Proceeds go to helping the children that are in need of a CASA Volunteer.

To see a picture of this great build, go to: www.berriencountycollaborative.com

Support the CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

2010-02-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

Berrien County Even Start Family Literacy Program

2010-02-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Berrien County Collaborative has recently been awarded the Even Start Family Literacy Grant in October, 2009. This grant opportunity offers promise for help in breaking the cycle of poverty and low literacy to the parents and children of Berrien County. Even Start provides educational services for the family, parents, and children. Parents who have not completed high school and would like to pursue a GED should contact Gayle Strickland or Dianne Fuller at 229-686-6247. The Even Start Family Literacy Center is at the Board of Education office and the Center is currently open for services. We are fortunate here in Berrien County to have this opportunity. If you would like to make a referral or visit our center, please call 686-6247 or send us an email.

2010 Collaborative Update

2010-01-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

January 28th, 2010

Over the past several months, the Berrien County Collaborative has raised over $5 million in resources to support our schools to better serve the community. The following initiatives and partnerships outlined below have assisted in the continuation of our organizations mission to Help Children and Families Achieve in Life.

After School and Summer Program Partnership

The Board of Education, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Boys & Girls Clubs of Berrien County, and Department of Human Resources have teamed up to deliver our largest after school initiative to-date.
- The purpose of this partnership is to coordinate $2.4 million in federal, state, and local funds to establish, expand, and sustain our community learning centers that operate during out-of-school hours over the next three years. These programs have three specific purposes for the 450 - Pre-K through 12th graders they serve:
• To provide opportunities for academic enrichment and tutorial services
• To offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities to reinforce and complement the regular academic program; and
• To offer families of students opportunities for literacy and related educational development.

Even Start Family Literacy Program

- The partnership with the Board of Education has led to the opening of our new Even Start Family Literacy Center located on the BOE campus. This program coordinates services with Wiregrass Technical Institute’s GED class participants to help support their academic needs.

- This program is a year-to-year grant that provides $350,000 in federal funds to support local family literacy projects that integrate early childhood education, adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education and instruction for English language learners), parenting education, and interactive parent and child literacy activities for low-income families with parents who are eligible for services under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and their children from birth through age 7. Teen parents and their children from birth through age 7 also are eligible. All participating families must be those most in need of program services.

Carol White Physical Education Program

- The Carol M. White Physical Education Program provides $750,000 in federal funds through the U.S. Department of Education over the course of three years to initiate, expand, and enhance physical education programs, including after-school programs, for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The main objectives are to implement programs that help students and schools make progress toward meeting new state physical education standards. The goals of this program are to lower the rates of childhood obesity and diabetes among our students while establishing a culture to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

- CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each case until it is closed, and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence—the one adult who cares only for them. This program is charged with serving Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier Counties’ over 100 children currently in our foster care system due to abuse and or neglect.

Georgia Rural Abstinence (G-RAP) Initiative

- The G-RAP initiative is funded through a federal Community Based Abstinence Education program that has provided $400,000 over the past four years to support programs that are designed to promote abstinence education for adolescents aged 12 through 18. The entire focus of these programs is to educate young people and create an environment within communities that supports teen decisions to postpone sexual activity until marriage. Our Abstinence Coordinator and Physical Education teachers at the Berrien middle and high schools deliver the Choosing the Best, WAIT, and Media Madness curricula to over 1100 students each year. We are in the final year of this grant.

Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse

- This program provides $300,000 in federal funds for three years to assist in the development and implementation of an innovative and effective alcohol abuse prevention program for secondary school students. Our program will be housed at the Berrien Academy and High Schools in order to coordinate interdisciplinary activities centered on public service announcements and social-norming campaigns.

Local Partnerships

- United Way payroll deduction program provides approximately $4,500 per year in support for our after school programs.

State Partners

- Georgia Family Connection Partnership - GaFCP works with the county collaboratives to develop strategic plans that set goals and measures/evaluates their improvement over time. Their goals are focused on children being healthy, ready for school, and succeeding in school, as well as helping families be more stable and self-sufficient.

National Partnerships

- Communities In Schools - CIS is the nation's largest dropout prevention organization. The mission of Communities In Schools is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life. This partnership provides $100,000 per year in support through initiatives such as AT&T Foundation, Walmart Foundation, and Bridge Builder.
Community Development Block Grant:
- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Berrien County have been granted a $500,000 CDBG to build a new facility. This grant will help to sustain our mission to deliver after school programs to more children in Berrien County.

Other Collaborative Grant Funded Capacity Building Initiatives

- The MED Project (School-Based Health Clinic) is funded by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation in the amount of $50,000 to developing a rural school-based health clinic model to help serve our students most in need.

A Sweetheart Affair

2010-01-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

1st Annual Mother-Daughter Abstinence Awareness Breakfast

Date: February 13, 2010
Place: Nashville Community Center
Time: 10:00am to 12:00 pm

Please come and help celebrate our 1st Annual Abstinence Awareness Breakfast. There will be guest speakers, door prizes, and entertainment!!!! If you and a guest are interested in attending this fun event; please R.S.V.P. by Tuesday, February 9th by 5:00pm with Eunice Lewis @ (229)686-6576 ext.32. There is no charge for this event! Seating is limited………

This program is recommended for females ages 12 and older.

***Sponsored by The Berrien County Collaborative G-RAP Initiative***

Collaborative After School Updates:

2010-01-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

Exciting new opportunities are happening with the After School Program. For starters, we are extending the hours for the program. This is being done so that we can begin to serve dinner to our students. Second Harvest will be providing the meals through their Kids Cafe' program. Also, the Berrien County Collaborative has started a new program geared toward student fitness and wellness. New exercise labs have been installed in all of our schools and we will begin to use this equipment to enhance our physical fitness activities during afterschool program. In addition, we also have added art, yoga, and life skills to the Academy and High school programs. Student applications are available at the Y.E.S. Center as well as each school. Please contact Constance Thomas at 229-686-6576 or constance.thomas@berrien.k12.ga.us if you have questions.

Berrien County Collaborative receives $500,000 CDBG to build Boys & Girls Club!

2009-09-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

STATE OF GEORGIA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Sonny Perdue
GOVERNOR

For Immediate Release Contact: Office of Communications

Thursday, September 3, 2009 (404) 651-7774

Governor Perdue Announces Nearly $37 Million in Grant Awards

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue today announced Georgia has been awarded nearly $37 million in federal grants from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the state’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP).

“The Community Development Block Grant program provides an essential financial resource to Georgia’s smaller communities in their efforts to fund projects that will assist low- and moderate-income citizens,” said Governor Perdue. “As communities large and small are making tough spending choices, today’s grant announcement represents an important funding source for programs that improve quality of life, economic development and job creation programs.”

Nearly $32.6 million allocated for CDBG awards will be used to support projects in 65 Georgia communities. Projects include water and sewer improvements, senior citizen facilities, health facilities, programs for at-risk children and replacement or rehabilitation of sub-standard and dilapidated housing. A complete list of projects and award amounts is included at the end of the news release.

The CDBG program is administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which uses funds allocated through HUD to support local initiatives that focus on improving living conditions and economic opportunities throughout the state.

Governor Perdue also announced that Georgia was awarded nearly $4.4 million in Community HOME Investment Program funds. CHIP funds will assist 15 Georgia communities increase the supply of safe and affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons.

“CHIP funds remain an essential resource for those communities that seek to increase available units and improve the standard of living for their fellow Georgians,” said Governor Perdue.

Added DCA Commissioner Mike Beatty: “We are pleased that these funds will be used to fund critical community development projects. Each year, the annual CDBG and CHIP funding announcement demonstrates how federal, state and local partners are working together to support local communities.”

For more information regarding Georgia’s CDBG and CHIP programs, please visit DCA’s website at http://www.dca.ga.gov/communities/CDBG/programs/CDBGCHIP.asp or contact DCA Assistant Commissioner Brian Williamson at (404) 679-1587 or brian.williamson@dca.ga.gov. In addition, an informational workshop for CDBG and CHIP recipient communities is scheduled for Sept. 24-25 in Pine Mountain. Recipient communities may direct workshop-related questions to Lisa Smith at (404) 679-5276 or lisa.smith@dca.ga.gov .

A complete listing of CDBG and CHIP awards follows on the next page. Communities are listed in alphabetical order.

Community Development Block Grant Awards

Recipient, Project Description, Planned Amount

City of Alma, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Arabi , Water Improvements, $468,144

City of Argyle, Water Improvements, $475,118

City of Ashburn, Multi Infrastructure Improvements, $500,000

Atkinson County, Health Center, $458,875

City of Baconton, Drainage Improvements, $499,964

Berrien County, Boys and Girls Club, $500,000

City of Blakely, Head Start Facility, $500,000

City of Boston, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Canon, Water Improvements, $500,000

City of Carrollton, Health Center, $500,000

City of Cartersville, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000

City of Chickamauga, Water/Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Cochran, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $465,998

Coffee County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000

City of Colquitt, Multi Activity Program, $703,378

City of Damascus, Water Improvements, $396,057

City of Donalsonville, Water Improvements, $500,000

Dooly County, Housing Improvements, $488,047

City of Douglas, Housing Improvements, $210,000

City of Douglasville, Boys and Girls Club, $500,000

City of Eastman, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Ellijay, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Greenville, Housing Improvements, $500,000

City of Griffin, Water/Sewer Improvements, $500,000

Hart County, Water Improvements, $500,000

City of Homeland, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $269,377

City of Homerville, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Leesburg, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000

City of Milan, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $497,761

City of Milledgeville, Housing Improvements, $453,918

City of Millen, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Molena, Water Improvements, $500,000

City of Monroe, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Moultrie, Drainage Improvements, $500,000

City of Ocilla, Sewer Improvements, $400,775

Pierce County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $497,711

City of Pineview, Water Improvements, $462,808

City of Portal, Sewer Improvements, $489,840

City of Quitman, Multi Activity Program, $800,000

Randolph County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $465,049

City of Reynolds, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Richland, Water Improvements, $500,000

City of Ringgold, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Rockmart, Multi Activity Program, $800,000

City of Sandersville, Multi Activity Program, $800,000

City of Siloam, Water Improvements, $331,900

City of Smithville, Housing Improvements, $500,000

City of Sumner, Water Improvements, $429,775

City of Sylvester, Water/Sewer Improvements, $500,000

Talbot County, Multi Activity Program, $800,000

City of Tarrytown, Water Improvements, $445,734

Taylor County, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

Thomas County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $294,463

City of Thomasville, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000

City of Thomson, Multi Activity Program, $800,000

Tift County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000

City of Toccoa, Multi Activity Program, $589,959

City of Union Point, Water Improvements, $500,000

City of Uvalda, Sewer Improvements, $485,000

City of Varnell, Senior Center, $500,000

City of Warrenton, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Woodland, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $295,753

City of Wrens, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

City of Wrightsville, Sewer Improvements, $500,000

TOTAL, $32,575,404

Community HOME Investment Program Awards

Recipient, Project Description, Amount

Ben Hill County, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Cartersville, Housing Improvements, $300,000

Dooly County, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Douglas, Housing Improvements, $281,605

Hall County, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of LaGrange, Housing Improvements, $300,000

Lowndes County, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Marshallville, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of McIntyre, Housing Improvements, $300,000

Randolph County, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Rockmart, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Rome, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Sandersville, Housing Improvements, $300,000

City of Thomasville, Revitalization Area Strategy, $200,000

City of Tifton, Housing Improvements, $300,000

TOTAL, $4,381,605

# # #

Berrien County Collaborative's NEW URL

2009-07-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

The Berrien County Collaborative has launched a new URL. You can now visit our website a www.berriencountycollaborative.com.

School-Based Health Clinic

2009-07-21T15:25:00.001-07:00

Berrien County Collaborative receives $50,000 from Healthcare Georgia Foundation Grant to develop school-based health clinic.

for more information go to:

www.healthcaregeorgia.org

Berrien County Collaborative Receives Carol White Physical Education Grant

2009-07-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

U.S. Department of Education Awards $26.5 Million in Grants to Help Make Children Healthier and More Active

FOR RELEASE:
July 13, 2009

As a result of $26.5 million in awards from the U.S. Department of Education, more children will have access to physical education programs and instruction on healthy eating and good nutrition. The Carol M. White Physical Education Program grants will provide 73 public schools and community-based organizations in 25 states with funds to initiate, expand and improve physical education programs for students in grades K-12.

“Physical activity and healthy eating habits are as important as studying hard in school,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “The Department of Education will be doing more to make this connection to students and adults, and to educate our children in ways that can maintain good health.”

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program grant awards can be used to provide equipment and support for students to participate actively in physical education activities, as well as for staff and teacher training and education.

http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/07/07132009.html

We can end hunger!

2009-07-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

I've just taken action with the ONE campaign and asked my senators to set an example for the world by fully funding a request for $1.36 billion in global agricultural development funding.

I hope you'll join me: http://www.one.org/us/ag09/index.html?rc=ag09taf

This action couldn't be more urgent. Next week, President Obama and world leaders will meet in Rome for the G8 Summit. If we can convince the senate to step-up the fight against hunger now, America will set an example for the world and put pressure on other countries to invest in a global effort to end hunger.

http://www.one.org/us/ag09/index.html?rc=ag09taf

Together as ONE we can make a difference!

New Study on Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use

2009-06-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

New National Study Shows that More than 1 in 5 Young Adults Need Treatment for Alcohol or Illicit Drug Use

Nearly 7 million Americans aged 18 to 25 were classified as needing treatment in the past year for alcohol or illicit drug use according to a new national study. The study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also shows that that 93 percent of these young adults did not receive the help they needed at a specialty treatment facility. These levels have remained relatively stable since 2002.

Please visit http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/0906261345.aspx for additional details.

News From The Hill

2009-06-23T12:11:00.001-07:00

House Appropriations Approves $200 M for EFSP

Last Friday, June 12, the full House Appropriations Committee approved fiscal year (FY) 2010 Homeland Security legislation. The legislation included $200 million for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), which represents level funding from FY 2009 levels, but $100 million more than the President requested. Last Thursday, June 18, the full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the FY 2010 Homeland Security bill, which included $175 million for EFSP. Both the House and Senate may consider their respective versions of the legislation as early as this week.

House Passes CJS Spending Bill

Last Thursday, June 18, the full House Committee approved the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill, which includes $114 million for Second Chance Act programs. This represents $100 million for Department of Justice grant programs, a $75 million increase over the FY 2009 level, as well as $14 million for the Bureau of Prisons for staff to implement the programs. The legislation also included $12 million for Mentally Ill Offender Treatment Program and $18 million for transitional housing grants for victims of domestic violence. The Senate Appropriations CJS Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up its version of the legislation tomorrow, June 24, with the full Appropriations Committee to consider it on Thursday, June 25.

House Subcommittee Approves Funding for Homeless Veterans

Last Tuesday, June 16, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs marked up its FY 2010 spending bill. The legislation included $26 million for a pilot prevention program for homeless veterans, as requested by President Obama. It also included $150 million for the Homeless Veterans Grant and Per Diem program, $6 million above both President Obama's request and the FY 2009 level. The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider the legislation today.

JCHS Releases State of the Nation's Housing 2009

Yesterday, June 22, the Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released "State of the Nation's Housing 2009." The report includes chapters on housing markets, demographic drivers, homeownership, rental housing, and housing challenges. Between 2001 and 2007, there was an increase in the number of households with severe cost burdens. As a result, an unprecedented 16 percent of households spent more than half of their incomes on housing in 2007, with more than 19 percent paying 30 to 50 percent of their income toward housing. The report also cites data from January 2007 point-in-time homelessness counts, noting the 10 percent decrease in overall homelessness between 2005 and 2007; it also notes, however, that many cities are starting to note increases in homelessness as a result of the recession. JCHS concludes that full-time employment is not sufficient for many low-income families to afford decent housing while only paying 30 percent of their incomes toward housing.
State of the Nation's Housing 2009

Donovan Testifies at House Appropriations T-HUD Subcommittee Hearing

Last Friday June 19, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan testified at a hearing of the House Transportation and HUD (T-HUD) Appropriations Subcommittee. Secretary Donovan discussed the Choice Neighborhoods Program, the future of Hope VI, and the status of Section 8 funding, among other issues. Secretary Donovan also mentioned that he recently discussed with Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the possibility of developing a partnership between HUD and HHS to aid the development of better linkages between permanent housing and homeless services.

USICH Holds First Meeting, Announces HUD-VASH Allocations

Last Thursday, June 18, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) met for the first time under the Obama Administration. USICH works to coordinate the federal response to homelessness. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected Chair of the Council for the upcoming year, while Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was elected Vice Chair.

During the meeting, Secretary Donovan and Secretary Eric K. Shinseki of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) announced the allocation of $75 million to local public housing authorities for the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. The allocations have not yet been posted online.

NLIHC Hosts Audio Conference on Funding for Trust Fund

On Friday, June 26 at 1 pm ET, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) will host a conference call to clarify the situation surrounding the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) budget. This fund, signed into law by President Bush and supported by President Obama during his election campaign, will provide permanent, ongoing support for those living in low-income housing. President Obama followed up on his support by including $1 billion in his FY 2010 budget to capitalize the NHTF. The NHTF is part of the "mandatory" spending in the budget, meaning that it will not have to compete with appropriations issues, such as HUD programs, or other "discretionary" spending. Since there has yet to be a clear statement regarding from the funding source for the $1 billion, NLIHC will host this call to address any confusion about NHTF and its funding. Sheila Crowley, President of NLIHC, will lead the call. Participants should dial 1.877.486.3171 and enter pass code 967187.

HUD Posts Update to HPRP FAQ

HUD recently updated the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of its HPRP resources on the Homelessness Resource Exchange (HRE). The updates include a clarification of when HPRP resources can be used to assist people with a housing subsidy: "...rental arrears can be paid on behalf of a person receiving a subsidy from another public program (e.g., Section 8) because it represents a different time period and cost type than the rental subsidy..." HUD has also posted documents detailing the data elements of the HPRP Initial and Quarterly Reports, as well as the revised HMIS standards.
HPRP FAQ

U.S. Conference of Mayors Releases Reentry Report

Last Tuesday, June 16, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a report on prisoner reentry efforts in 79 cities. The report is based on survey results from 79 cities across the country. It found that 36 percent of the surveyed cities have made changes in ordinances or policies that had previously hindered reentry for ex-offenders. Among these cities, 58 percent changed ordinances related to housing. The report also included information on the successes, challenges, and goals that communities have had. Miami, St. Louis, and Spokane all identified homelessness prevention as a key goal of their efforts in the area of reentry.

SHNNY Releases Video on Impact of Supportive Housing in Neighborhoods

The Supportive Housing Network of New York (SHNNY) recently released a new video entitled "Good Housing. Good Neighbors," which highlights community members' reactions to three buildings providing supportive housing to people living with mental illness. The video, which lasts approximately five minutes, includes interviews with representatives from the supportive housing programs (both residents and staff), the New York State Assembly, the police force, block associations and community councils, and the New York University Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, among other groups.

New National Report Shows Substantial Disparities in the Levels of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Problems Experienced among the States

2009-06-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Some States Have Levels Twice as High as Other States in Certain Categories of Problems, but All States Face Daunting Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Challenges

A new report providing state-by-state analyses of substance abuse and mental illness patterns reveals that there are wide variations in the levels of problems like illicit drug use found among the states, but that every state suffers from these problems. For example, among those aged 12 and older, Iowa had less than half the current illicit drug use rate of Rhode Island (5.2 percent vs. 12.5 percent) – yet Iowa’s population aged 12 and older also had one of the nation’s highest levels of people experiencing alcohol dependence or abuse in the past year (9.2 percent).

Among the report’s other notable findings:

• Vermont had the nation’s highest incidence rate of marijuana use among people aged 12 and older (2.5 percent) while Utah had the lowest (1.6) percent.

• The District of Columbia had the nation’s highest rate of past year cocaine use among those aged 12 and older (5.1 percent) while Mississippi had the lowest (1.6 percent).

• Utah had the nation’s lowest rate of current underage drinking (17.3 percent) while North Dakota had the highest (40 percent).

• Tennessee had the nation’s highest rate of people aged 18 and older experiencing a major depressive episode in the past year (9.8 percent) while Hawaii had the lowest (5.0 percent).

The report was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) based on the 2006 and 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Using data drawn from interviews with 135,672 persons from throughout the country the report provides a state-by-state breakdown along 23 different measures of substance abuse and mental health problems including illicit drug use, binge drinking, alcohol and illicit drug dependence, tobacco use, serious psychological distress and major depressive episodes.

“This report shows that while every state faces its own unique pattern of public health problems – these problems confront every state,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator, Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H. “By highlighting the exact nature and scope of the problems in each state we can help state public health authorities better determine the most effective ways of addressing them.”

The report also provides valuable data on the changes occurring within each of the states during the time since the last report (drawn from the 2005 and 2006 NSDUH surveys). For example, the report shows the rate of current tobacco use in Colorado rose from 26.5 percent to 29.8 percent during this period.

The full report is available online at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7state/TOC.cfm. Copies may also be obtained free of charge by calling SAMHSA’s Health Information Network at 1-877-SAMHSA-7 (1-877-726-4727) or http://ncadistore.samhsa.gov/catalog/productDetails.aspx?ProductID=18128.. For related publications and information, visit http://www.samhsa.gov/ .
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SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health services delivery system.

Inspirations Intensive Outpatient Counseling Center

2009-06-02T06:21:00.001-07:00

Inspirations Intensive Outpatient Counseling Center is designed to provide mental health treatment to adults 55 and over. Inspirations is located at East Georgia Regional Medical Center but managed by Allegiance Health Management http://ahmgt.com/ or http://www.eastgeorgiaregional.net/Services/Inspirations-Outpatient-Geriatric-Psych/Default.aspxwww.eastgeorgiaregional.net/Services/Inspirations-Outpatient-Geriatric-Psych/Default.aspx. We specialize in helping older adults maximize their mental and emotional state by providing a therapeutic setting that assists them in dealing with loneliness, sadness, loss of independence, low self-esteem, anger/irritation, dementia, excessive worry, and difficulty coping with life changes. Our goal is to teach patients life skills that help them achieve and maintain functional independence within the community. Inspirations is staffed with qualified mental health professionals who enjoy working with our senior population. We serve five counties (Bulloch, Evans, Candler, Screven, and Jenkins), provide transportation, and serve a nutritious meal based on their diet. Inspirations will accept patients outside of the catchment area but will not be able to provide transportation at this time. Seniors enjoy our program because we offer activities and provide them with therapy, education, socialization, and skills that keep their minds sharp. We accept referrals from private homes, nursing homes, assisted living homes, and physicians. Our staff will provide treatment that will promote emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, social, and environmental wellness.

As healthcare providers and community service agents, its imperative that we are aware of the services available to the community. If you know someone that could benefit from our services, please give us a call. If you desire more information about the program please feel free to contact us.

Regina Renfroe, MPH, CHES
Community Educator
Inspirations of Statesboro
rrenfroe@ahmgt.com
912-486-1756 (office)
912-678-3732 (cell)
912-486-1758 (fax)

President Announces Social Innovation Fund

2009-05-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

On May 5, 2009 President Obama announced that he would ask Congress in the FY2010 budget to provide $50 million in seed capital for his Social Innovation Fund. The Fund, which will be administered by the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, will identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country. The intent of the fund is finding and scaling the best social innovations; partnering with those who are leading change in their communities; and creating a policy environment for all these innovations to thrive. The Social Innovation Fund will build a "pipeline" of programs that have demonstrated results and are ready to spread across the country to meet community needs.

Free KFC via OPRA

2009-05-06T11:16:00.001-07:00

OPRA has a link on her website to a coupon for a free KFC Basket. You can go to www.oprah.com and click on the KFC tab or go directly to http://www.unthinkfc.com/.

ENJOY

Matt

Perdue, education groups at odds on stimulus cash

2009-04-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

By KRISTI E. SWARTZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, April 24, 2009

Two education groups want Gov. Sonny Perdue to spend an additional $178 million in stimulus money now, but he plans to hold it for upcoming school budgets.

The Georgia School Funding Association and the Atlanta-based Southern Education Foundation said Friday the state appears not to be tapping into all of the available money from the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The money is designed to help restore state-cut funding, especially to public schools and colleges.

Joe Martin, executive director of the school funding association, said in a letter to the state Board of Education that there is “no compelling reason to delay the receipt and use of these funds” to ease the effect of cuts made by the Legislature for the rest of fiscal 2009.

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said it is more prudent to use the money during fiscal 2010 and 2011 instead of in 2009 because the school year is almost over. Also, using the money later will help in case the economic turnaround is slower than expected, he said. The governor plans to request the money early in the fiscal year, which begins July 1, but the funds will be distributed regularly throughout the year, Brantley said.

“No money is being left on the table,” Brantley said. “It’s just a matter of … how do you apply it in terms of offsetting cuts and not leaving a big hole in the future that would be harder to fill.”

Georgia received its first batch of Fiscal Stabilization Fund money last month. The second is expected in the fall. To get the second part, states must explain how they will improve education in several areas, such as teacher quality and academic standards and exams.

On Tuesday the state Board of Education will vote on how to apply stimulus money that will help schools in several areas, such as homeless students, special education (IDEA) and low-income students (Title I).

State of Georgia Under-Funds K-12 Schools and Higher Education In Allocating Federal Funds in Violation of the Recovery Act

2009-04-27T06:43:00.001-07:00

The Georgia General Assembly failed to adequately reduce cuts in education funding by under-utilizing available federal funds in violation of the national Recovery Act, according to a report released today by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF).

The SEF report calculates that the Georgia legislature cut state funding for education in the final 2009 and 2010 budgets during its recent regular session by a combined total of $1.05 billion even after allocating $666.5 million in Recovery Act funds to K-12 schools and public colleges and universities. But, the legislature had as much as $844.7 million available from the Recovery Act to allocate to reduce the state's education shortfalls.

“In effect, the State of Georgia has left on the table a minimum of $178.2 million in Recovery Act funds that should be used now to reduce school cutbacks at a time when the State has enacted severe cuts that will impair or prevent many of Georgia’s schoolchildren from receiving an adequate education,” the SEF report states.The Recovery Act requires states to use available “stabilization” funds as much as possible to restore education funding to the levels in their 2008 or original 2009 state budgets, whichever was higher. The State of Georgia has failed to do so.

SEF has written to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan requesting that his department "assist and assure the State of Georgia" complies with the federal law. "Georgia is walking down the wrong path," stated SEF President Lynn Huntley who also is asking US Attorney General Eric Holder to cooperate with the Education Secretary in assuring enforcement of the Act's provisions.

SEF calculates that, to be in compliance with federal law, the State of Georgia should allocate approximately $119 million in additional Recovery Act funds to K-12 education, $47.7 million to the state's public four-year colleges and universities, and an addition of $10.9 million to the two-year colleges.

The Serve America Act

2009-03-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

The Serve America Act, sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), was passed by the Senate last night. This legislation creates several new volunteer programs and also increases incentives for participation in existing volunteer programs like Americorps. CIS actively supported this legislation and we are please it has passed. The next step is for the House and Senate to meet and reconcile differences between the House-passed version and the Senate-passed version.

Among the new programs created by this legislation:

Education Corps will enlist thousands of volunteers to support improved education in low-income communities. This will present a tremendous new opportunity for CIS affiliates to enhance their staffing with volunteers, similar to how several affiliates have done using AmeriCorps.

The Volunteer Generation Fund will enhance the capacity of organizations, such as CIS, to recruit and manage volunteers effectively beyond full-time corps members. This fund could potentially grow from $50 million in the first year to $100 million in the fifth year.

The bill would also create Youth Engagement Zones in low-income communities to provide grants for local partnerships engaging students in service-learning activities within their communities. Grants would range from $250,000 to $1 million per year for up to five years.

An additional fund in the new legislation would provide competitive grants to expand proven solutions to challenges that our communities face. CIS Affiliates are well-positioned to apply for these grants when they become available. The total fund would grow from $50 million in the first year to $100 million in the fifth year supporting local sub-grants of at least $100,000 per year for up to five years.

South Georgia at the State Capitol

2009-03-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

By State Sen. Greg Goggans
ATLANTA (Mar. 27, 2009)

Home Purchase Tax Break Passed Senate Goes Back To House:

HB 261 authorizes an income tax credit for the purchase of a single-family home; essentially for the final 6 months of 2009. The amount is either 1.2 percent of the purchase price of such eligible single-family residence or $3,600.00, whichever is less.

Tax Credits Spur Job Growth:

The “Georgia Works Tax Credit” suspends levy of filing fees for new businesses as collected by the Secretary of State. HB 481 would give businesses a $2,400 tax credit for each unemployed person they hire and keep on the job. The “Tax Credit” will be available quarterly for amounts between $25 and $125 per unemployed individual hired as an employee for up to four calendar quarters, this applies to unemployment insurance tax obligations. The corporate income tax will be phased out for Georgia corporations by FY 2020 if funds are available.

Property Assessments Frozen:

HB 233 provides for a moratorium period for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and continuing until January, 2011 during which valuation increases of property are limited. This legislation states that the rate of increase of the assessed value of property for county, county school district, municipal or independent school district ad valorem tax purposes is frozen from one taxable year to the succeeding taxable year.

Additional Legislation Awaiting Governor’s Final Signature:

SB 44: Provides for purchasing preferences for certain supplies, materials, equipment, and agricultural products manufactured or produced in Georgia.
SB 165: Authorizes the Department of Community Health to obtain income eligibility verification from the Department of Revenue for all applicants in pursuit of Medicaid and the PeachCare for Kids Program.
SB 210: Allows home schooled students to participate in the student honors program.
HB 123: Changes the definition of “child molestation” to include by means of an electronic device (i.e. webcam).
HB 195: Allows members of electric membership corporations to serve on juries where the EMC is a party, unless the judge finds bias.
HB 237: Allows adoptive parents of hard-to-place foster children to receive financial assistance.
HB 227: Provides that registered voters who have obtained a protective order or who are receiving services for domestic violence may request to have their address remain confidential.
HB 482: Would eliminate the state inventory tax on all Georgia businesses.
HB 484: Provides that dependent children of military personnel stationed in Georgia on active duty are eligible to meet the residency requirements of HOPE scholarships and grants.
HB 552: Extends the ban which states that no well or borehole will be drilled or used for the purpose of injecting any surface water into the Floridian aquifer in any county governed by the Georgia coastal zone management program before July 1, 2014.

Please remember to contact me in my office on the issues that are affecting you and your area. I am here to represent you and it is an honor for me to work on your behalf. As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column.

# # # #

Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7thSenate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS

2009-03-23T06:58:00.001-07:00

Thursday, March 26 2009

SPONSORED BY

Circlestone Country Club

HOSTED BY

Berrien County Chamber of Commerce

Cook County Chamber of Commerce

Lakeland-Lanier Co. Chamber of Commerce

The Chamber s are really excited about being a part of this event!!

Circlestone has some wonderful ideas they want to share with you, and have planned a great afternoon and evening. There will be Door Prizes, so please place your business card in our fish bowl. This is a great opportunity for you to invite a potential new member for both the Country Club and your Chamber.

3:30 PM

SCRAMBLE GOLF TOURNAMENT

RSVP BY MARCH 24

CALL PHILLIP IN THE PRO SHOP

229-896-3893

5 PM

SOCIAL TIME

CULINARY DELIGHTS, DRINKS

DOOR PRIZES

RSVP BY MARCH 24

PLEASE CALL YOUR CHAMBER

Please join us in support of your local

Country Club and Chamber of Commerce

‘Help Is Here Express’ Bus Tour Comes to Valdosta

2009-03-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

To Help Patients in Need Access Prescription Medicines

Valdosta, Georgia – The “Help is Here Express” bus tour will be in Valdosta on Monday, March 23, stopping at Woodlawn Forrest Church of Christ to help uninsured and financially-struggling Georgians access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free. The bus tour is part of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) – a nationwide effort sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical research companies – raising awareness of patient assistance programs among residents who have been face layoffs or a loss of health care benefits in a struggling economy. Additionally patients who visit the bus can also learn about new medicines in development to fight chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and asthma.

To date, the PPA has helped more than 5.5 million patients, including more than 230,000 Georgians. Since its launch in April 2005, the PPA bus tour has visited all 50 states and more than 2,500 cities to raise awareness about patient assistance programs. The “Help is Here Express” is staffed by trained specialists able to quickly help uninsured patients in need access information on more than 475 patient assistance programs, including nearly 200 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. When the “Help is Here Express” moves on, patients can visit PPA’s easy-to-use Web site (www.pparx.org) or call the toll-free phone number (1-888-4PPA-NOW) where trained operators field calls in 150 languages.

WHEN: Monday, March 23, 2009

9 – 11 AM

WHERE: Woodlawn Forrest Church of Christ

1515 N. Forrest St

Valdosta, GA 31601

WHO: Partnership for Prescription Assistance

Karl Uhlendorf

“At a time when national unemployment is the highest in almost two decades, the PPA has become an important lifeline for a growing number of patients,” PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin said. “Millions of Americans have been added to the jobless rolls over the last several months and there could be a sharp increase in the number of our citizens losing health care benefits.’’

Tauzin added that the PPA is currently helping “thousands of people every day,” including those who need treatments to fight such debilitating chronic diseases as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and asthma. In Georgia alone, there are millions of cases of chronic diseases, according to the Milken Institute and the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. Nationwide, more than 133 million Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, which is responsible for 7 out of every 10 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“With the number of people affected by chronic disease going up every year, and economists predicting that unemployment will continue to grow well into 2009, the PPA and its message of hope are now more relevant than ever,” Tauzin said. “No one – and I mean no one – is helped by a medicine that sits on the shelf and is out of reach financially. In Georgia, we will continue to help folks all over the state for as long as the assistance is needed.”

In addition to stopping in Valdosta on Monday, the “Help Is Here Express” will bring the Partnership for Prescription Assistance to several other Georgia cities, including Tifton, Albany, Americus, Columbus, Macon, Gainesville, Athens, Augusta and Waynesboro.

For more information, contact: Abby Horn, (404) 885-9596 x24.

Berrien County Mentalist

2009-02-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

Mentalist Keith Matheny will be performing at the Family Life Center at 12 pm Thursday, February 26. Admission to the event is free. Bring your own lunch and come enjoy a great show by Mentalist and Motivational Speaker Keith Matheny. He recently performed at the Chamber’s annual banquet and due to his popularity we are bringing him back for an encore performance. Grab some take out from your favorite restaurant and come enjoy the free show. The following restaurants will be preparing brown bag lunches for the event Cadillac Ranch, Barry’s, Huddle House, and K&D Subs. Please call in advance to ensure your lunch is ready.

Hope to see you there.

CASA Appropriations

2009-02-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

Congress has today posted its compromise agreement for FY 2009 appropriations (the fiscal year which runs October 1, 2008 – Sept 30, 2009). I am very pleased that the recommendation for CASA’s funding is $15 million, a 14% increase over the previous year. This is a testament to the reputation of CASA/GAL volunteer advocacy in communities across the country, and the efforts of our network in communicating with Congress, especially during CASA Meets Congress. This will translate into more grants that will be available in the current grants cycle. It will not affect the application process currently underway.

The 2009 appropriations measure also provides up to $365 million for state VOCA grants, an estimated 18% increase over FY 2008. Additionally, the Economic Stimulus package approved by Congress last week provides an additional $47.5 million for state grants. The Office of Victims of Crime will be working to expedite dissemination to states of the additional funds contained in the stimulus bill.

As you have heard, a key focus of last week’s stimulus bill provides temporary funding to state governments to deal with the economic crisis. Provisions in the economic stimulus package that help vulnerable families and our children include:

Tax Incentives to Hire “Disconnected Youth (up to age 25)

TANF

Increase in IV E foster care assistance

Temporary increase in Medicaid payment rate

Understanding that so many state budgets, and as a result CASA/GAL programs, are seriously challenged by the economic crisis, these developments may be a helpful bridge for many programs to sustain advocacy for children.

Foreclosure Assistance

2009-02-25T06:49:00.001-08:00

I saw this story on ABC News and thought it might be helpful to families who are facing foreclosure. According to The Consumer Warning Network, one way to stall foreclosure proceedings is to ask the mortgage company to produce the original note that was signed when the mortgage was processed. In many cases, the rights to the mortgage has been sold so many times, the company that currently owns it can’t produce the original documents. If they can’t produce the documents, they can’t prove that the debt is legitimate.

Please visit the following Web site for more information:

http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/2008/06/19/produce-the-note-how-to/

Please distribute. I hope this helps someone.

Legislative News Bulletin

2009-02-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

Legislators have completed 21 of 40 legislative days. Gov. Sonny Perdue announced last week that he was lowering the state’s revenue estimate for FY09 by $450 million. The FY09 budget shortfall has grown to $2.65 billion. Perdue directed state agencies to cut another $130 million from the FY09 budget. Only four months remain in the current fiscal year to make these additional cuts.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Barak Obama last week, will bring to Georgia an estimated $1.7 billion in increased Medicaid match funding between FY09 and FY11, more than $1.26 billion in an education block grant, and $280 million in a flexible block grant. Perdue has proposed using some of the Medicaid match funding to free up enough state funds to proceed with the Homeowner Tax Relief Grants in FY09, which will require $428 million.

Work is proceeding on the FY09 budget. Most House Appropriations Subcommittees, including those that deal with funding for the departments of Community Health, Human Resources, and Education, met on Feb. 23 to finalize their recommendations. The House is expected to vote on the FY09 budget this week.

LEGISLATION

Healthy Children
HB 39 (Rep. Ron Stephens, 164th) would increase tobacco tax by $1 per pack of cigarettes. Status: The Ways and Means Public Finance Subcommittee will hold a hearing on HB 39 on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. in Room 341 of the Capitol.

HB 229 (Rep. Brooks Coleman, 97th) creates the SHAPE (Student Health and Physical Education) Act. Beginning in 2011 -12, students in grades 1 – 12 enrolled in physical education must have an annual fitness assessment approved by the State Board of Education. Status: In House Rules awaiting placement on calendar for a vote in the House.

HB 474 (Rep. Pat Gardner, 57th) increases the PeachCare income eligibility limit from 235 percent of the federal poverty level to 300 percent. Status: Assigned to House Appropriations.

SB 5 (Sen. Don Thomas, 54th) requires seat belts in all passenger vehicles, including pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, used for transporting people, but excludes vehicles “used on a farm in connection with agricultural pursuits.” Status: Passed Senate. Assigned to House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs.

SB 92 (Sen. Judson Hill, 32nd) would dismantle current Medicaid and PeachCare programs, and provide low-income families with assistance to purchase private-sector health-insurance plans. Status: Discussion by Senate Insurance & Labor scheduled for Feb. 17 was postponed until Feb. 24. EDITOR’S NOTE: One to watch.

School Success
HB 193 (Rep. Tom Graves, 12th) would allow the requirement for a 180-day school year to be defined as an hourly equivalent. School districts could lengthen the school day and have a four-day school week. Status: Passed House Education Committee. In House Rules. HB 198 (Rep. Mark Williams, 178th) contains the same language. Status: Scheduled for discussion in House Appropriations Education Subcommittee on Feb. 23.

HB 215 (Rep. Steve Davis, 109th) creates the Graduating Everyone Matters Act, which establishes three diploma options for high-school students: a general diploma, a career/vocational/technical diploma and a college prep diploma. This would return Georgia to high-school graduation requirements abandoned in the late 1990s. Status: Amended to offer two diplomas: Career/Vocational/Technical and College Preparation. Passed House Education. Assigned to House Rules.

HB 400 (Rep. Fran Millar, 79th), titled Building Resourceful Individuals to Develop Georgia’s Economy Act, would develop programs to improve graduation rates and the preparedness of students for postsecondary education and careers, and provide for model programs for students at risk of dropping out of high school. Status: Assigned to House Committee on Education. Discussed on Feb.18 but with no action taken.

Stable, Self-Sufficient Families
HB 237 (Rep. Ed Lindsey, 54th) provides financial assistance to families adopting “hard-to-place” children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
Status: Passed House. Assigned to Senate Health & Human Services.

HB 290 (Rep. Doug McKillip, 115th) increases minimum wage and provides for cost-of-living increases. Status: Assigned to House Industrial Relations.

Strong Communities
HB 245 (Rep. Wendell Willard, 49th) allows juvenile court to suspend the driver’s license of a child below age 17 charged with a delinquent act. Status: Assigned to House Committee on Judiciary Non-Civil.

South Georgia at the State Capitol

2009-02-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

By State Sen. Greg Goggans

ATLANTA (February 20, 2009) – This week was a great week for Georgia homeowners, small businesses, and citizens alike here at the General Assembly. As me move into the second half of the 2009 Session, I am proud to report solid measures that I am sponsoring and supporting are making their way through the legislative process and hopefully will bring much needed job creation, homeowner tax relief, and a funded trauma care network.

Senate and House members announced the Jobs, Opportunity, and Business Success Act of 2009 recognizing that the greatest stimulus for a prosperous economy comes from an environment that promotes opportunity, productivity, and innovation. This plan recognizes that we are currently in very difficult times for most families and businesses, and offers initiatives like a $500 credit toward unemployment insurance tax for eligible employees hired, a $2,400 income tax credit for hired employees, elimination of the state inventory and sales tax deposit for all Georgia businesses, and the gradual removal of the corporate income tax. There will also be a “Start a New Business Holiday” where entrepreneurs can have business application fees waived.

This plan spends no taxpayer money and allows the market to respond immediately. It will create an attractive environment for new business startups and others looking at out state for possible expansion. This proposal is the exact opposite of what the federal stimulus needed to be about, which is empowering small business, not the government.

I firmly believe that the hard-working citizens of Georgia are the answer to finding economic success, not inflating government to solve all our problems. We must find ways to create true and sustainable job creation and take advantage of the intellectual and entrepreneurial spirit of everyday Georgians. This plan sets Georgia on the right path towards economic recovery with investing in hard-working people and free-market solutions, and getting government out of the way.

Senate Resolution 277, the legislation I authored which establishes the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund, just passed favorably out of the Senate Finance Committee and will soon be heard on the Senate floor. The measure would impose a charge of $10.00 per year on each passenger vehicle licensed and registered in the state. A dedicated funding source is sorely needed for our state to manage and improve our trauma care system, which could help save over 700 lives a year. There is no price you can put on life and its time Georgia steps up to the plate and creates a permanent source of revenue for this essential and urgent need. I am proud to lead the charge in making sure every person in the state has access to trauma care and will fight hard to see this measure though this year.

At the start of the 2009 Session, I joined Senators and House members to make funding the $428 million 2009 Homeowners Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) our top legislative priority. I did not want to have over 3 million Georgia homeowners forced to pay an additional $200 to $300 in property taxes at a time when every dollar counts for families being forced to make tough financial decisions. House Bill 143 would guarantee that HTRG be honored this year and sets up a system to where any future grants would be based on available funds from a revenue surplus. On Tuesday Governor Sonny Perdue signed HB 143 into law.

I have been working on an important bill that seeks to add integrity to our state Medicaid and PeachCare programs. Senate Bill 165 would authorize the Department of Community Health (DCH) to obtain income eligibility verification from the Department of Revenue (DOR) for applicants to the state health care program. DCH will have the ability to make sure any applicant is not exceeding the income threshold to receive the service. Ensuring all Medicaid and PeachCare funds are going toward only those who qualify is something I hope to maintain and protect with this bill. The measure passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Thursday and will head to the Senate floor for consideration.

Please remember to contact me in my office on the issues that are affecting you and your area. I am here to represent you and it is an honor for me to work on your behalf. As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column.

# # # #

Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7thSenate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.

BILLIONS IN NONPROFIT PROJECTS HALTED BY CREDIT CRISIS

2009-02-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

Johns Hopkins researchers estimate $166 billion in infrastructure projects delayed nationwide.

Like state and local governments and private businesses, America’s 1.4 million nonprofit organizations have many major “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects on hold because of the credit crisis, according to a new survey by the Johns Hopkins University Nonprofit Listening Post Project. For a country eager to promote employment, these projects offer an inviting target.

Nonprofits always struggle to generate investment capital due to their nonprofit status and their inability to access the equity markets, but the survey results show that the recession has compounded their woes: The 1,837 organizations surveyed identified 1,065 shovel-ready projects stalled by the inability to secure financing. A state-by-state listing of these projects is at http://www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/news.

The organizations that participated in the survey differ widely in size, cover all regions, and represent a diverse array of fields, including children and family services, elderly services and housing, community development, arts and culture, and others. Based on survey results, the researchers estimate that even excluding hospitals and higher education, which were not covered in this survey, nonprofit organizations nationwide have over $166 billion worth of community infrastructure projects ready to go if funding were available.

“As Congress, the president, and state governments begin making concrete plans for allocating the economic recovery funds recently enacted by Congress, they would do well to consider the considerable backlog of worthy projects stalled at the country’s nonprofit organizations,” said Lester M. Salamon, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, which conducted this survey as part of its Listening Post Project.

“Nonprofit infrastructure projects have the double benefit of strengthening our communities and generating jobs—both of which are needed in this time of testing for our nation,” observed Peter Goldberg, president of the Alliance for Children and Families and chairman of the Listening Post Project Steering Committee.

Examples of projects delayed indefinitely by the credit crisis include the Southside Youth Center planned by the 25-year-old San Antonio Youth Centers to provide classrooms, a workforce training center, and a child development center to a deeply impoverished community; and the 105-year-old Family Service of Roanoke Valley’s plans to renovate a downtown facility to provide mental health services for children, families and older adults.

Other key findings of this survey include:

* More than 40 percent of the responding organizations reported that they had “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects, and 13 percent said they had more than one.
* Of these projects, 27 percent are for new construction projects and 73 percent are renovations or expansions;
* Typical examples of these projects, in addition to those cited above, include an employment training center in Louisville, a social enterprise and volunteer center in Michigan, the expansion and renovation of a children’s museum and art gallery in Florida, and a range of continuing care facilities, brownfield cleanup efforts, river restoration projects, and physical improvements to blighted neighborhoods.

* California and New York head the list of states with sizable amounts of estimated shovel-ready nonprofit infrastructure projects, but sizable amounts exist in virtually all states.

“Thanks to this eye-opening data, we now know about existing significant opportunities not just to stimulate employment but also to improve the social infrastructure of our communities,” said Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, a Listening Post Partner organization. “Let’s make sure nonprofit infrastructure projects are given as much consideration as roads, public buildings, and businesses in the uses made of economic recovery and bank bail-out funds.”

The full text of the report “’Shovel-Ready’” but Stalled: Nonprofit Infrastructure Projects Ready for Economic Recovery Support,” complete with state-by-state estimates, is available online at http://www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/news.

South Georgia at the State Capitol

2009-02-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

By State Sen. Greg Goggans

ATLANTA (February 13, 2009) – This week I proposed and supported legislation that will more efficiently provide Georgians with protection in crucial areas of their lives—trauma care, food safety, and child security from sexual predators.

More than one million Georgians live more than 50 miles from a trauma center. This puts them way beyond the golden hour when emergency caregivers have the greatest chance to save someone’s life. I have made a commitment to the people in my district to make Georgia safer and improve the quality of life. To honor my commitment, I have introduced Senate Resolution 277, which establishes the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund. The life saving measure would impose a trauma charge of $10.00 per year on each passenger vehicle licensed and registered in the state.

In Metro Atlanta a fatality occurs once every 339 accidents; in rural Georgia a fatality occurs once every 74 accidents. This higher death rate in areas such as ours is no accident due to the injured that are unable to get to a hospital in time. Crash data show accident death rates increase the further victims are from a trauma center. The Georgia trauma death rate is 63 percent while the national average is 56 percent. Experts say we could save 700 more lives by fully funding trauma care—I believe we could save more. Trauma care cost money; no trauma care will cost more. There is no price on saving someone’s life.

Georgia is the number one peanut producer in the nation producing 45 percent of the United States’ peanuts. Consumers must be assured their food is safe and we must protect the integrity of Georgia’s producers. This week my colleagues and I of the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 80, the Food Safety Testing, Reporting & Record Keeping bill. The legislation imposes stricter guidelines on food testing for processing plants in response to the nationwide salmonella outbreak that was linked to a South Georgia peanut butter plant in Blakely.

This legislation provides the Department free access to any food processor’s testing records for the presence of contaminants. The Commissioner of Agriculture is also directed to establish requirements for regular food testing on a yearly or more frequent basis. Processors are to report suspicions or positive finds of contaminates within one business day of the discovery directly to the state. The bill gives the commissioner the right to test any food if there are reasonable grounds to suspect contamination.

A measure to help protect school children from sexual predators also overwhelmingly passed. Senate Bill 14 amends current state law by adding that no one on the National Sex Offender Registry or the state sexual offender registry can be elected to serve on a local board of education. The idea that a pedophile can be a member of a local school board and have unrestricted access to schools cannot be tolerated. We must do everything in our power to protect the children of our state and this bill will help us achieve that goal.

Please remember to contact me in my office on the issues that are affecting you and your area. I am here to represent you and it is an honor for me to work on your behalf. As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column.

# # # #

Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7th Senate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.

News Bulletin--February 10, 2009

2009-02-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Legislators have completed 15 of 40 legislative days. Economic news continues to worsen, as state revenue figures for the month of January showed a decline of 14.3 percent as compared to Jan. 2008. The year-to-date revenue decline is 4.8 percent. Gov. Sonny Perdue’s revenue estimate, which is the foundation for his budget proposals for Amended FY09 and FY10, was based on a revenue decline of 4.6 percent.

House and Senate leaders announced a new schedule last week. They will continue to meet three days a week on Tuesdays through Thursdays until March 25, the 35th legislative day. The session will adjourn until the last week in June, when legislators will return for the final five legislative days. This schedule, which would postpone finishing the state budget process until Congress approves a federal stimulus package, will leave state leaders little time before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

LEGISLATION

Healthy Children

HB 39 (Rep. Ron Stephens, 164th) would increase the tobacco tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack to generate new revenue. Status: Assigned to House Ways and Means.

HB 229 (Rep. Brooks Coleman, 97th) creates the SHAPE (Student Health and Physical Education) Act. Beginning in 2011-2012, students enrolled in physical education in grades 4 – 12 must have an annual fitness assessment approved by the State Board of Education. Status: Hearing scheduled for Feb.10 in House Education Academic Support Subcommittee.

HB 307 (Rep. Jim Cole, 125th) is Perdue’s bill to broaden an existing provider fee for Medicaid managed care organizations to all commercial HMOs in Georgia and implement new provider fees for hospitals. Revenue from the fees will be used to protect funding for Medicaid and PeachCare programs.
Status: Assigned to House Appropriations.

SB 92 (Sen. Judson Hill, 32nd) would dismantle current Medicaid and PeachCare programs, allowing low-income families to receive premium assistance to purchase private sector health insurance plans. Status: Senate Insurance and Labor.

School Success

HB 278 (Rep. Matthew Ramsey, 72nd) would ease expenditure controls for Quality Basic Education for 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years to help local school systems dealing with deep budget cuts. Status: House Education.

HB 193 (Rep. Tom Graves, 12th) would allow the requirement for a 180-day school year to be defined as an hourly equivalent. School districts could lengthen the school day and have a four-day school week. HB 198 (Rep. Mark Williams, 178th) contains the same language. Status: Both were assigned to House Education. HB 198 was withdrawn and reassigned to House Appropriations.

SB 90 (Sen. Eric Johnson, 1st) provides a voucher for parents to enroll a public-school child in another school within the local school system, or in a private school. The school has discretion to accept the child in accordance to policy. Status: Senate Education & Youth.

Stable, Self-Sufficient Families
HB 237 (Rep. Ed Lindsey, 54th) provides financial assistance to families adopting “hard-to-place” children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. Status: House Children & Youth.

HB 290 (Rep. Doug McKillip, 115th) provides for an increase to the minimum wage and subsequent cost-of-living increases. Status: House Industrial Relations.

Strong Communities

HB 245 (Rep. Wendell Willard, 49th) allows a juvenile court to suspend the driver’s license of a child below age 17 if charged with a delinquent act. Status: House Judiciary Non-Civil.

Congratulations! We are making progress on Stimulus bill!

2009-01-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

House Stimulus Bill Includes Roughly $80 Billion for Education

Your Voices are Being Heard!

Thank you so much for all your calls and e-mails! Your voices are being heard!

The stimulus bill being debated by the House of Representatives right now contains roughly $80 billion in funding for schools. The funds will flow through federal formulas directly to schools and indirectly through a state stabilization fund. If a state chooses to receive money from the stabilization fund they are required to send more than 60 percent of the money directly to schools. Between the federal aid formulas and the state stabilization funds, resources are available for site coordinators.

The Senate bill is under consideration at the Committee level and will move to the Senate floor later this week or next week.

CIS will be providing an analysis of both the House and Senate bills as well as information on accessing these funds locally over the next few weeks.

Thank you so much for all of your efforts to convince the House to include money for site coordinators. If you have not yet e-mailed or called your Senators, you still have time. Please click here to send an e-mail.

Should you have any questions, please contact Dan Fuller at 703-518-2556, or via e-mail: fullerd@cisnet.org.

Watch the Debate LIVE at http://www.cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx

South Georgia Athletic Challenge

2009-01-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

February 28th, 2009

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America have sponsored a new initiative in South Georgia. This premier partnership will assist in establishing Clubs throughout South Georgia. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Cook County started the corporate site for this initiative in Adel Georgia three years ago. Since their inception, Boys & Girls Clubs of Cook County has partnered with the Berrien County Collaborative to open a new location in South Georgia. The new Club located in Nashville has partnered with the Berrien County Board of Education and Collaborative to continue to build momentum for the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Georgia initiative.

Through the South Georgia Athletic Challenge (SGAC) we hope to provide greater awareness and support for this initiative. Recent studies have shown that after school programs are proven to be the most efficient and effective way to keep kids off the streets and in school. The SGAC will mark the first event of its kind for South Georgia. This is a voluntary event that will allow student athletes to compete and represent their schools in several challenges.

All participating student athletes must have a waiver signed by each of their respected coaches prior to entering the SGAC event. Each school may enter 2 eligible student athletes per event. One judge from each school must be present for each of the 12 events. There will be a drum competition throughout the day that will require each participating school to provide an eight member drum line to compete. The participating schools may also provide up to 3 participants for the slam-dunk showcase.

There will be a $25 registration fee for each school to participate in the event. The best score in each event will be registered and counted toward the event title. The details for sponsorship and registration are listed below. If you would like more details please call 229-686-6576 or go to www.yes2berrienkids.org and click on the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Georgia tab.

Schools that wish to participate may sign-up to sponsor the event in several ways, but it is not required. We will provide one 10X10 area for each school at no charge to sell school merchandise and memorabilia. No food or drinks may be sold at school booths. All other vendors must register with the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Georgia prior to event in order to secure space. Each vendor will receive 20-day passes to the SGAC event along with their $100 contribution for their booth space. Vendors will only be charged $100 for their 10X10 space, however, they will receive 20-tickets to the SGAC event along with the contribution. If they need more space, the price will incrementally go up by $100 per additional 10X10 space allotted for their booth. They will only receive 10 additional tickets for the second and third space expansion. Vendor placement is limited, so please register as soon as possible. (Please go to www.yes2berrienkids.org for registration forms).

Awards Ceremony: The overall winner of the SGAC will receive bragging rights and the SGAC CUP that will reside at their respective school for one year along. The School’s name will be engraved on the trophy, so everyone will know the winner for years to come. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place individual winners from each challenge will be awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals.

The top four teams will receive:

➢ 1st Place will receive $1,000, an engraved plaque and THE SGAC CUP.
➢ 2nd Place will receive $750 and an engraved plaque.
➢ 3rd Place will receive $500 and an engraved plaque.
➢ 4th Place will receive $250 and an engraved plaque.

**The SGAC is a team event and winners will be determined by number of points earned during each event. The school with the most points at the end of the day wins.

**The school with the most participants in attendance will receive a $250 scholarship. Due to Berrien County hosting the event, they will not be eligible to receive this scholarship.

If you are up for the challenge and interested in participating in the SGAC event, please go to our website at www.yes2berrienkids.org and click on the SGAC event info link. If you have questions, please contact Matt Jansen at 229-686-6576.

Economic Stimulus Package Breakdown

2009-01-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Colleagues:

The Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives today released its Economic Stimulus Package. The House of Representatives will begin hearings next week on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

As you know, we are working to have the Congress include funds for CIS site coordinator positions in the legislation. You have likely received the CIS action alert with sample e-mail you can send your U.S. Representatives and Senators urging them to include money for CIS site coordinators in the legislation. Please take action and also forward the alert to other supporters of CIS. We must make our voices heard to succeed.

Here are some highlights of what the Appropriations Committee has proposed related to education and community services:
The overall funding for education in this bill for the next two years is $41 billion. Here is the breakdown:

Title I Help for Disadvantaged Kids: $13 billion for grants to help disadvantaged kids in nearly every school district and more than half of all public schools reach high academic standards.

IDEA Special Education: $13 billion for formula grants to increase the federal share of special education costs and prevent these mandatory costs from forcing states to cut other areas of education.

School Modernization and Construction: $14 billion for K-12 school renovation and modernization including technology upgrades and energy efficiency improvements.

Education Technology: $1 billion for 21st century classrooms, including computer science labs and teacher technology training.

Statewide Data Systems: $250 million for competitive grants to states to design and develop data systems that analyze individual student data to find ways to improve student achievement, providing teachers and administrators with effective tools.

Education for Homeless Children and Youth: $66 million for formula grants to states to provide services to homeless children including meals and transportation when high unemployment and home foreclosures have created an influx of homeless kids.

Child Care Development Block Grant: $2 billion to provide child care services for an additional 300,000 children in low-income families while their parents go to work. Today only one out of seven eligible children receives care.

Improving Teacher Quality: $300 million, including $200 million for competitive grants to school districts and states to provide financial incentives for teachers and principals who raise student achievement and close the achievement gaps in high-need schools; and $100 million for competitive grants to states to address teacher shortages and modernize the teaching workforce.

There is $40 billion to states and an additional $39 billion to school districts, public colleges and universities. These two funding sources have been created to stabilize budgets, prevent tax increases and deep cuts to critical education programs.

Community Services
Compassion Capital Fund: $100 million for grants to faith- and community-based organizations to provide critical safety net services to individuals and families.

AmeriCorps Programs: $200 million to put approximately 16,000 additional AmeriCorps members to work doing national service, meeting needs of vulnerable populations and communities during the recession.

Community Services Block Grant: $1 billion for grants to local communities to support employment, food, housing and healthcare efforts serving those hardest hit by the recession. Community action agencies have seen dramatic increases in requests for their assistance due to rising unemployment, housing foreclosures, and high food and fuel prices.

If you're interested in the 13 page summary, please go to: http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf

Governor Perdue to Eliminate School Nurses

2009-01-15T07:16:00.000-08:00

I wanted to let all of you know about something very important to
all School Nurses in the state of Georgia. Yesterday, January 14th,
Governor Perdue made public his proposed budget for 2010. It states:

Eliminate state funding support for school nurses. ($30,000,000)

This means the School Nurse monies for School Year 2009-2010 are
eliminated in this proposed budget. The Board of GASN is mobilizing,
building coalitions and trying to ramp up support to help influence
the turn around of this proposal. We will have somerecommendations to
you, our members and colleagues by early next week. Of course, it
never hurts to start getting your support systems together. We all
know there are parents out there that value School Nurses, and we will
need their support now more than ever. We all need to work together
on this issue. We will address this as professionals who feel that
children in our state deserve a School Nurse in their School
community! Thank you for your attention. Look forward to hearing from
us!

Joanne Giel, RN

President - GASN

South Georgia at the State Capitol

2009-01-09T07:35:00.001-08:00

By State Sen. Greg Goggans

One of government’s fundamental roles is to assist its citizens. As a state senator, I strive every day to help the people who have decided to make our great state their home. Through the launching of initiatives such as GeorgiaHealthInfo.gov, Open.Ga.Gov and 1-800-Georgia, Georgians can access information needed to make decisions on issues essential to their everyday lives.

In an effort to give Georgians access to the latest healthcare quality, cost and health education information, the Department of Community Health (DCH), recently announced the launch of GeorgiaHealthInfo.gov as a resource to help Georgians make educated health decisions. The new website is being launched in two phases during 2009, with the first phase accessible now. It enables a person to search pharmacies by zip code to determine the best price for prescription drugs, offers quality assessments for medical facilities and provides easy access to the Mayo Clinic’s vast health education database. The Mayo database gives users access to prevention, wellness and disease management information plus cost and quality analysis for healthcare plans, prescription drugs, local hospitals and outpatient procedures.

The second phase of the website will include extensive provider profile data and user support for long-term care options. Both phases of the website will be fully operational by this summer.

Another new website, Open.Ga.Gov, began operation on January 1. Visitors to the site can easily locate information on state government salaries, travel expenditures, professional services expenditures, government contracts and comprehensive annual reports. Performance audits, program evaluations and special examinations released by the Department of Audits and Accounts over the last five years are also available. The information maintained on the site is updated annually.

Too often, I receive phone calls from constituents who are frustrated with being transferred numerous times in search of information. 1-800-Georgia is a toll free service now available for citizens who are seeking services but don’t know who to call. The call center will connect callers to the correct government agency with their first call. The phone service is supported by the state’s KnowledgeBase, which is updated daily and validated for accuracy quarterly by representatives from every state agency.

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to continue representing the 7th senatorial district. It is an honor to serve you in the General Assembly. Happy New Year!

As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column. Please contact me in my office at the Capitol with your questions, comments or concerns.

# # # #

Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7th Senate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.

Mental health budget under assault

2009-01-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

By Matt Flumerfelt

VALDOSTA — With Georgia’s new legislative session set to begin on Jan. 12, mental health advocates are gearing up to challenge Gov. Sonny Perdue’s plan to privatize the state’s mental health system and to oppose further attempts by the governor to cut the budget of the already under-funded system.

The National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) has been inundating the governor’s office with letters, said Nancy Tennyson, a longtime NAMI member who lives in Brooks County. NAMI sent a letter called Gray Matters to all its members, requesting them to print it on gray paper and send it to the governor’s office.

Gray Matters asks the governor to take a number of steps to improve the state’s mental health system, including exempting mental health from any further budget cuts, going forward with plans to separate mental health and addictive diseases from the Department of Human Resources and Behavioral Health and make it an independent department, and fully funding the recommendations of the governor’s mental health commission.

NAMI is also preparing to release another National Survey of Mental Health Services in the U.S. this year, Tennyson stated. Georgia received a grade of “D” on the last NAMI survey.

This past summer, the governor shifted $8.4 million from the mental health budget to, “other programs in the State Department of Human Resources to meet administrative expenses and cover funding deficits,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The governor’s mental health commission, in their final report released on Dec. 4, 2008, questioned the wisdom of cutting the mental health budget at a time when Georgia’s mental health system is already under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for “critically deficient conditions.”

Given the state’s current budget deficit, however, the commission’s recommendation for “an ambitious five-year blueprint to reform Georgia’s troubled mental health system,” seems unrealistic.

The governor’s commission does not endorse the privatization plan, according to its own report.

The U.S. Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into all seven of Georgia’s state hospitals, following the publication of a series of articles entitled “A Hidden Shame,” in the Atlanta Journal Constitution beginning on Jan. 1, 2007, that exposed deplorable conditions in state mental facilities. The Perdue commission was created in the wake of those articles and subsequent investigation according to the Constitution.

An article in “Out of Control,” a publication of the Reason Foundation, states that Georgia’s push to

privatize its mental health facilities has gained momentum because “service quality under state operation has literally deteriorated to the point that lives are at stake.”

Following the lead of Washington, D.C.’s Department of Mental Health (DMH), which announced in October 2008 that it plans to privatize its mental health centers in 2009, Georgia state officials want to hire for-profit companies to build and operate three new psychiatric facilities to replace all seven existing state hospitals, according to the Constitution.

Proponents claim that privatizing saves money and improves care. D.C.’s Department of Mental Health Director, Stephen T. Baron, is quoted in the Reason Foundation article saying that, “If DMH privatizes its centers, it will save a lot of money and have a chance to increase the number of residents it helps.” DMH spokesperson Phyllis Jones, in the next paragraph, identifies the source of the savings. “The private providers tend to have cheaper labor costs.”

Critics of privatization complain that combining competition and the profit motive with medical care is risky, with Georgia’s mental health consumers being those at greatest risk under such a plan.

NAMI member Lisa Majersky, in a letter printed in the Athens Banner-Herald on Dec. 4, 2008 stated, “Putting the profit motive into medical care is, in my opinion, a crime against humanity.” Majersky argues that private corporations would be less motivated to cooperate in cases of possible wrongdoing because negative publicity could affect profitability.

Sue Gupton, executive director of the South Georgia Community Service Board d/b/a Behavioral Health Services of South Georgia (BHS), stated that she opposes privatizing the state’s mental health facilities.

“I’m sure the current administration is looking to save money,” Gupton stated, “but so often with privatization the services are cut to accomplish this.”

“I support NAMI’s opposition and like many I am wondering why there is such a rush to make these monumental changes when a new department is likely to be created in July,” Gupton said. “Why wouldn’t you wait six months and have the new commissioner of behavioral health make those decisions for the future?”

Gupton stated that funding cuts have already resulted in major downsizing for BHS, which has gone from a staff of 400 to approximately 250 and from programs in every county to programs in only three of the 10 counties they serve. Even with the cuts, however, they continue to serve all 10 counties, but with severely diminished resources, Gupton stated.

“If BHS had not experienced years of funding crises, the impact of the budget cuts could be managed, but given the history of the funding, the next round of cuts will severely impact the already underfunded service delivery system in South Georgia.”

Gupton pointed out that when the economy takes a downturn, there is always an increase in the demand for services — increased anxiety and depression, increased stress leading to increases in substance use and abuse, domestic violence and child abuse, etc. If the resources are not available or if there’s a long wait to get into services, these problems will be handled elsewhere, i.e. through the criminal justice system, emergency rooms and so forth.

“Cutting social services during an economic downturn seems unwise,” Gupton stated. “These issues have to be addressed and paid for somewhere, either at the front end through better access to the services, or on the back end through the corrections system or ERs. A question to be pondered,” Gupton stated, “is where will those entering through ERs go if state hospital access is so limited?”

Nora Lott Haynes, president of NAMI Georgia, said that the state’s plan is backwards. “First,” Haynes said, “we need to fix the community mental health treatment system before we look at changing the hospital system. And,” Haynes stated, “nothing will work if we don’t have adequate funding.”

M.R. Hampton Productions

2008-12-19T07:39:00.001-08:00

Check out the latest videos from the Berrien Academy Plc's very own Matthew Hampton. Matthew has begun a video log of his experiences at the PLC on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/MRHamptonProductions. This is his first 6-part series for the second nine weeks at the Berrien Academy PLC.

PRE-SESSION BRIEF

2008-12-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

Georgia legislators are preparing for the opening of the 2009 General Assembly on Monday, January 12. With the budget shortfall nearing $2.5 billion, the priority this session will be determining how to manage the deficit for the remainder of FY09. Current budget forecasts note that an economic recovery may not occur until fall 2010; this will have major impact on the FY10 budget.

In late July, Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered the Office of Planning and Budget to cut six percent from every state agency with exceptions for Medicaid and PeachCare (5 percent) and the Quality Basic Education (QBE) budget (two percent).

As the budget deficit continues to grow, agency cuts at the eight percent level have been made and some expect the cuts could reach 10-percent or higher. Unless Georgia finds revenue from other sources, the state will face additional cuts for the remainder of FY09 and into FY10.

Other key issues
Georgia is also on the brink of a major restructuring of the state agencies that provide health and human services. A task force of nine members, including representatives from the Office of the Governor, two senators (Sen. Jack Hill and Sen. Renee Unterman) and two representatives (Rep. Ben Harbin and Rep. Mark Butler) met for several months and have the following recommendations for the restructuring of the current Department of Human Resources:

-Division of Public Health will move to the current Department of Community Health, which will be renamed the Department of Health.
-The current Division of Mental Health, Addictive Diseases and Developmental Disabilities will be divided, with Mental Health and Addictive Diseases forming a new Department of Behavioral Health.
-The Department of Human Services will be comprised of the Developmental Disabilities, Aging, Family and Children’s Services, and Child Support.

Legislation to achieve these changes will be introduced during the early days of the session.

Prefiled Healthy Children Legislation

SB 5 (Sen. Don Thomas, 45th) and HB 22 (Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, 83rd) would require safety belts in pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles, with the exception of farm vehicles used on a farm in connection with agricultural pursuits. Georgia law currently exempts these vehicles from the safety belt law, costing the state millions in federal transportation dollars.

HB 19 (Rep. Oliver, 83rd) would add a points penalty for the use of cellular, hands-free or mobile telephones while driving. Emergency calls to police, emergency medical response units, etc. would be exempt.
HB 21 (Rep. Oliver, 83rd) would prohibit anyone with an instructional driver’s permit or a Class D license (age 18 with one year’s driving experience) from using cellular, hands-free or mobile telephones.

Bridgebuilder Grant Award

2008-12-18T12:49:00.000-08:00

The Spring Bridgebuilder Grant awards have been announced! Congratulations to CIS organizations of Atlanta, Barrow, Berrien, Bulloch, Dodge, Hart, Marietta/Cobb, Miller, North Georgia, Turner, Warren, and Washington, who were selected to receive grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 for their fantastic “bridgebuilding” projects! A total of $21,000 was awarded for the spring cycle. Overall, the fall and spring administrations of the Bridgebuilder Grants awarded a total of nearly $76,000 to affiliates around the state. We are looking forward to seeing your projects come to life! Please share any PR material, press coverage, and pictures of your projects so that we can celebrate them across the network.

South Georgia at the State Capitol – November Revenues

2008-12-16T07:58:00.000-08:00

By State Sen. Greg Goggans

The Governor and the Department of Revenue recently released the revenue figures for November. On the positive side, the month-to-month comparisons between November of this year and November of last year (FY08) show that revenues were 1.4% higher.

In addition, the state has been making up ground over the last three months in terms of its annual revenues. In September, year-to-date (YTD) revenues were -2.61% below FY08 actual revenues, in October YTD revenues were -1.98% below FY08, and in November YTD revenues were -1.3% below FY08 revenues. In the summer budget writers were operating under the assumption that the state would be .9% below FY08 (a $1.6 billion deficit in FY09), so actually November revenues suggest that the state is approaching this target.

While this information is encouraging, most state budget writers are concerned that Georgia is not yet feeling the effect of the national economy and are currently discussing a shortfall of $2 billion or more. Here are the details of how revenues performed in November:

Income Tax
Personal income tax collections were 3.8% above November 2007 (FY08) collections, which is an increase of $27.3 million. These figures are surprising considering that both Georgia and the United States as a whole has seen significant increases in unemployment over the past couple months. This disconnect between unemployment and personal income tax collections suggest that Georgia has not yet seen the full effect of unemployment and economic conditions.

· Year-to-date personal income tax collections for FY09 are down 1.6% compared to FY08, which is equal to $58 million.

Sales and Use Taxes
Compared to November FY08, the sales and use tax collections for the state were only down .5%, which is equal to $2.3 million. However, in part this differential is because of a new system of remitting sales taxes to local governments. Earlier in the year, locals were receiving more than the state did in prior year months, now they are receiving less. The figure that more accurately reflects sales and use tax performance is gross sales and use tax collections, which were down $129.8 million, or 14%.

· The amount remitted to local governments was down by 27% (which is an increase in collections for the state); however, this change is in part due to the Department of Revenue shifting from an estimated remittance to local governments to a system that reflects actual local collections. This change affects the month over month comparisons. Consequently, there should be no large increase or decrease at the end of the fiscal year.

Sales and use tax collections were propped up by three categories.
· Sales in the ambiguous “miscellaneous services” category, which accounts for 10.1% of collections, were up 9.4% year to date.
· Also up were sales in the equally ambiguous “miscellaneous” category, which accounts for 12.1% of collections, and is up by 12.1% year to date.
· Utilities sales, which account for 14% of sales and use tax collections, were up 11.9%.

Time to Write a Budget
The Governor faces a difficult task in preparing an Amended FY2009 Budget and projecting revenues for FY2010. We have not seen such uncertainty since 2002-03. The Legislature will have to make some tough decisions this session once Governor Perdue submits his budget. I look forward to working with the Governor and my colleagues in the Senate to pass a budget that is fiscally responsible and provides Georgians with the most essential and efficient government programs.

As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column. Please contact me in my office at the Capitol with your questions, comments or concerns.

# # # #

Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7th Senate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.

South Georgia at the State Capitol – Budget Math

2008-12-09T06:39:00.001-08:00

By State Sen. Greg Goggans

Georgia’s FY09 budget is a three hundred and forty-three page document that outlines a spending plan for a $21.2 billion state funds budget. Of this $21.2 billion, only $19.1 billion are state general funds, which are generally free from constitutional or legislative restrictions.

$ 21.2 billion (state funds)
minus $ 1.04 billion (motor fuel funds)
minus $ 0.88 billion (lottery proceeds)
minus $ 0.16 billion (tobacco settlement funds)
minus $ 0.020 billion (brain and spinal injury trust funds)
$ 19.10 billion (state general funds)

State General Funds are comprised mainly of tax and fee income and can be spent for any legitimate state expense. State Motor Fuel Funds can only be used to provide and maintain roads and bridges. Lottery Proceeds can statutorily be spent for “educational purposes and projects only” but basically fund the HOPE scholarship and the Pre-Kindergarten school program. Tobacco Settlement Funds represents Georgia’s share of the national tobacco settlement. Georgia generally has chosen to allocate these funds for health and rural economic development purposes only.

How the State Spends Its Money
Here are some of the broad policy areas and the amounts the state spends:

· Education (K-12 and Higher Education) – $11.86 billion, over 56 percent of the state budget
· Health Care – $2.51 billion, just under 12 percent of the state budget
· Public Safety – $2.03 billion, just under 10 percent of the state budget
· Human Resources – $1.75 billion, over 8 percent of the state’s budget
· Debt Service – $1 billion, over 4 percent of the state’s budget

How Budget Cuts Are Being Made
By now, everyone is familiar with the state’s predicted $1.6 billion shortfall (which may be optimistic given recent economic news and current economic conditions). Currently, many are discussing a $2 billion shortfall. The difficult part of managing a revenue shortfall is deciding what to cut while still complying with various legal and policy restrictions.

The Governor has exempted K-12 education formulas from the full 6, 8, or 10 percent cuts. Instead, the Governor has ordered 2 percent cuts from the approximately $7.65 billion in education formula funds such as Quality Basic Education, Equalization, Pupil Transportation and others. The money spent through these programs is equal to 45 percent of the state’s budget. Similarly, the Governor has exempted Medicaid spending, which is $2.3 billion, from full cuts. Instead, he has ordered a 5 percent cut to this program.

Here is how we arrive at the amount to which a 6 or 8% cut can be applied:

$ 19.10 billion (state general funds)
minus $ 8.5 billion (for education formulas, which will be cut at 2%)
minus $ 2.3 billion (for Medicaid, which will be cut at 5%)
minus $ 1.0 billion (for debt service, which cannot be cut)
$ 7.3 billion (from which to make remaining cuts)

Because local contributions have to be considered as part of the education numbers, each 1% reduction from the education formulas yields around $76 million. Each 1% cut to Medicaid yields around $23 million. Each 1% cut across the rest of the budget yields about $73 million.

$ 1. 6 billion (predicted shortfall)
minus $ 0.157 billion (2 % cut to education)
minus $ 0.114 billion (5% cut to Medicaid)
$ 1.329 billion (remaining shortfall)

For 2009 at least, one-time funds are being applied to the shortfall which reduces the amount that has to be raised from the 6 or 8% cut. Now it would seem that there is $1.329 billion left to cut from the remaining $7.3 billion of state general funds, but the Governor reduced the amount needed from budget cuts by applying one-time funds to the deficit as shown below.

$ 1.329 billion (remaining to be cut after education and Medicaid)
minus $ 0.057 billion (deferring state employee pay raises)
minus $ 0.1 billion ( reduce Other Post Employment Benefits contribution)
minus $ 0.225 billion (utilize State Health Benefit Plan surpluses)
minus $ 0.04 billion (shift reservoir money from cash to bonds)
minus $ .07 billion (other one-time reserves in the budget)
$ 0.832 billion (left to be cut from state agencies)

So, the Governor and legislature have to cut about $832 million from the $7.3 billion as shown above. This is an 11 percent cut to state agencies. To further reduce the amount of agency cuts, the Governor proposed to take $428 million from the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant, which would reduce the amount of the across the board cut to state agencies in the remaining $7.3 billion to around $404 million, or about 6%. This is the proposal that most of the agencies are operating on right now.

If the situation were to worsen and the state had to find an additional $400 million to cover a $2 billion hole in the budget, this would be the equivalent of another 6% cut across the board to all agencies except Education and Medicaid unless those were cut additionally.

On the good news side, the Department of Audits reported this week that the Revenue Shortfall Reserve had increased from $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion from funds that agencies managed to save at the end of FY08. Most of these efficiencies came from changes in the state’s administration of the Medicaid program. Leaders are reluctant to use much of the reserve until the depth of the downturn is clearer.

As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column. Please contact me in my office at the Capitol with your questions, comments or concerns.

# # # #

Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7th Senate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.

CASA Program Launch

2008-12-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

The CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit is now a reality. The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) has been in existance for over 30 years and has been in Georgia for the past 20 years. This program is designed to focus recruiting and training volunteer advocates for our abused and neglected children that are going through our DFCS and Court systems. The planning for this program started over a year ago when Representative Penny Houston and Judge Jody Steedley met with a CASA representative Angela Tanzella to discuss the possibilities of starting a CASA program for our Judicial Circuit. After this very pressing meeting with Representative Houston and Judge Steedly, Angela met with the Family Connection Coordinators, Communities In Schools Executive Directors, and Drug Free Coalition members from Atkinson, Berrien, Cook, Lanier, and Clinch Counties to form a steering committee. This committee was constructed to design a strategic implementation plan for the CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit program. After many months of research, planning, and evaluating options, the steering committee decided to house the program under the Berrien County Collaborative's umbrella of programs and services. The Berrien County Collaborative has since hired Elaine Douglas as a full-time CASA Director and has begun to recruit volunteers for the first scheduled training class in early February.

The need for this program is vital to our support system for our children. We currently have over 200 abused and neglected children in need of these services. If you would like more information regarding this program and or would like to be volunteer advocate for a child, please contact Elaine Douglas at elaine.douglas@berrien.k12.ga.us/229-686-6576.

SAVE THE DATE for AT&T Check Presentation

2008-11-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

Please join us on December 15th @ 2:00pm here at the YES Center for our check presentation from the AT&T Foundation. AT&T will be providing over $260,000 to the Berrien Academy PLC for project-based learning development. These funds were awarded through AT&T's High School Success Grant competition. If you would like more information on this award, please go to http://www.att.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=11520.

Thank you for your support!

Matt Jansen
Executive Director
Berrien County Collaborative, Inc.

BIG SHOUT OUT to Watson's Pools and Patios

2008-11-03T06:27:00.000-08:00

Big SHOUT OUT to Watson's Pools and Patios for hosting their 4th Annual Halloween Costume Contest. All proceeds from this event went to support the "Berrien County Collaborative", A.K.A. YES Center. Thank you for all your support.

Berrien County Collaborative Receives Learn and Serve Grant

2008-10-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

The Georgia Learn & Serve grant will help facilitate community-based projects designed and administered by our high school students. The GLS funding will support a Walking Arboretum, Exceptional Children's Rodeo, and Farm Day in Berrien County.

CASA Director Position for the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

2008-10-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Job Announcement:

The Berrien County Collaborative will be hosting the new CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit program. This position is grant funded and will serve Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier Counties. The position will be based out of the Berrien County Collaborative's YES Center in Nashville Georgia.

DESCRIPTION: The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Coordinator recruits, screens, selects, trains, and supervises volunteers to serve as Court Appointed Special Advocates in the Juvenile Court. CASA Coordinators are responsible for cultivating and maintaining professional intra- and inter-agency relationships, as well as providing community education and awareness of the CASA Program.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

- Engages actively in all aspects of volunteer management, including recruitment, training, supervision, assessment, case assignment, retention, and recognition.
- Delivers exemplary customer service, expeditiously and professionally, to all parties related to or inquiring about the CASA Program.
- Assists in identifying, building collaborations with, and referring CASAs to appropriate community resource agencies.
- Attends and participates in staff meetings, including program development and strategic planning sessions.
- Partners with the Program Supervisor and other CASA Coordinators to develop and implement public relations, marketing, recruitment, and community outreach/education plans.
- Facilitates case support or other program-related meetings and completes all required set-up and follow-through activities.
- Serves as liaison between CASA Coordinators and other groups and agencies to facilitate communication, reimbursements, event participation, procedural improvements, or other items of necessity.
- Assists in the development of both orientation training and in-service training modules, and the continual monitoring of training improvements. Monitors changes or revisions to laws to maintain accurate training materials and information.
- Adheres to CASA Program administrative policies, and assures Program compliance with Alapaha Judicial Circuit and Administrative Office of the Court (AOC) policies and procedures.
- Contributes to the completion of the CASA newsletter, including suggesting or composing articles, providing volunteer recognition entries, and proofreading.
- Demonstrates understanding of and promotes Model Court concepts and principles to potential volunteers, network providers, partnering agencies, and community agencies.
- Attends and participates in State-level CASA and Support Council meetings, committees, or events as required.
- Compiles and provides required documentation and statistics for monthly and quarterly reports.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES
- Designs and composes communications and/or outreach materials including correspondence, newsletters, and flyers.
- Represents the CASA Program by participating in community outreach events and promoting program awareness through a variety of methods such as presentations, fairs, external training sessions, and private speaking engagements.
- Research and write grants to support CASA program.
- Participates in the planning and implementation of special events.
- Completes related duties and projects as necessary.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a behavioral/social science or a related field, and three years of professional work experience. Related work experience includes the fields of social work, criminal or juvenile justice, mental or behavioral health. OR, any equivalent combination of experience, training and/or education approved by Human Resources.

SELECTION PROCESS: Skills assessment testing may be administered. There will be panel interviews.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: The Berrien County Collaborative offers a competitive compensation and benefits package to include medical, dental, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, retirement and deferred compensation plans, paid vacation and sick leave, as well as other benefits.

HOW TO APPLY: This position is open until filled, with the first screening of applications the week of October 20th, 2008. Submit cover letter and resume, describing your skills and experience relative to the position under recruitment, to matt.jansen@berrien.k12.ga.us.

The Berrien County Collaborative is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Berrien Academy PLC's Legislative Breakfast

2008-10-10T09:55:00.002-07:00

Correction - Penny Houston will not be the Key Note for this event. Several of our local and state government representatives will be in attendance for the Legislative Breakfast for the student presentations.

The Berrien Academy PLC will be hosting a legislative breakfast Thursday, October 30th, 2008 @ 9am. The morning will also showcase several of our student projects and presentations. If you would like to attend, please contact Vanne Tucker at 229-686-6576.

Berrien Academy PLC's Legislative Breakfast

2008-10-10T09:55:00.001-07:00

The Berrien Academy PLC will be hosting a legislative breakfast Thursday, October 30th, 2008 @ 9am. Representative Penny Houston will be the Key Note speaker for the event. The morning will also showcase several of our student projects and presentations. If you would like to attend, please contact Vanne Tucker at 229-686-6576.

Georgia Graduation Rate Rises

2008-10-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

ATLANTA (AP) Officials say Georgia's high school graduation rate has risen to its highest level ever. Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said Tuesday that the final graduation rate for 2008 reached 75.4 percent, an increase of three percentage points from 2007 and the first time it passed 75 percent of students graduating on time. Gov. Sonny Perdue said the progress from just over 60 percent in 2002 ``has been nothing short of remarkable.''

2006 graduation rate: 70.8
2007 graduation rate: 72.3
2008 graduation rate: 75.4

Child Care Resource and Referral Agency Closing

2008-09-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Effective 9/22/2008 the Valdosta Child Care Resource and Referral office will be closed. The Tifton office staff will be available to answer questions, provide technical assistance, and provide Resource Room and Lending Library services. Please call the Tifton office at 1-888-893-4582 for assistance.

Historic Foster Care and Adoption Legislation Clears Congress

2008-09-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

Since June, National CASA has been very active in Congress, and working with advocates throughout our network, to push for passage of landmark foster care reform legislation. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act includes many significant improvements and opportunities for our children.

We are happy to report that the bill was approved by Congress on September 22. The President is expected to sign the bill into law before September 30.

Most measures in the legislation will take effect immediately upon approval by the President, though guidance to states by the Department of Health and Human Services will be needed for clarification. Provisions that take effect at a later date are noted in the detail below.

The legislation can be reviewed at http://thomas.loc.gov; enter "HR 6893" in the search line, then check "search bill number."

NEW SURVEY FINDS GEORGIA VOTERS BELIEVE AFTERSCHOOL IS CRITICAL

2008-09-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Report Calls for Aligning State and Local Investments with Voters Voices

ATLANTA - A new survey finds that 86% of Georgia's parents think afterschool programs are important for children and youth and they want to see more afterschool opportunities in the state. Nearly half of a million of Georgia's children are not participating in afterschool programs - programs that have been shown to be critical to their development and the growth and prosperity of the economy.

The full Critical Need report can be downloaded from the GAIC website at www.afterschoolga.org or by cutting and pasting this link in your address bar: http://afterschoolga.org/Repository/Files/GA%20Afterschool%20Survey%20Report%202008.pdf

South Georgia at the State Capitol

2008-09-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

Recent columns have examined expenditures by state and local governments over time. This week’s column examines the other side of the government spending issue: Revenues – Specifically sales tax collections which make up about one-third of state revenues.

An Interesting Trend Over the Last Few Months
The monthly revenue reports detail sales taxes collected for both state and local distribution. The Department of Revenue then remits an amount to local governments.

Last month, the state remitted $422.1 million to local governments for sales taxes, an increase of $56.4 million over August of the previous year.

As noted in last week’s column, state revenues in August, 2008 are down $94.1 million compared to August, 2007.
In July, the state remitted $445.4 million to local governments for sales taxes, an increase of approximately $22.6 million over July of 2007.

By comparison, state revenues in July, 2008 were down by $86.4 million compared to July, 2007, a decrease of 6.6 percent.
In June, the state remitted $419.3 million to local governments, an increase of approximately $14.5 million over June of 2007.
State revenues in June, 2007 were down $168.3 million compared to revenues from June of 2006. This equals a decrease of 9.4 percent.

Overall, in FY2008, ending this past June, the state remitted over $4.8 billion to local governments. This was an increase of $74.5 million over the amount remitted in FY2007, a 1.6 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. For the same period, total state revenues were down by approximately $600 million.

Explanations for the Appearance of Increased Local Disbursements
There are numerous factors that have contributed to the appearance of robust local sales tax revenues while state revenues have declined.

Local revenues appear higher because the Department of Revenue has switched the method it uses to determine how much it sends to local governments. In previous years, the state would estimate how much to send for each month based on revenues for the previous three months as well as how much the Department was off in its previous payments. In addition, the Department would only have actual figures for the first through the 20th of the month and then would have to estimate the remaining eight to ten days. This methodology led to a widely variable number that had to be “trued up” later. Starting in July of 2008, the Department of Revenue started using actual collections, which makes comparisons less valuable.

Despite the changes in methodology, there are a couple of factors worth noting that actually did drive up local disbursements.
More sales taxes are being paid electronically. This means that the Department of Revenue is processing and disbursing sales tax receipts faster.

2. Included in local sales tax collections are revenues raised by taxing the sale of motor fuels. There are a couple of issues with motor fuels. First, the numbers published by the Department of Revenue separate state motor fuel tax revenues from the rest of the sales tax. This means that any changes in revenues driven by motor fuels will appear larger in the local sales tax remittance. In addition, in June the Governor froze the rate at which Georgians pay state motor fuel taxes. Local governments took no such action, meaning that they collect their local sales rate on the price paid at the pump. So, as long as Georgians are paying more to fill their tanks, local governments will continue to earn relatively more than the state. So, local governments will continue to collect increased sales taxes from increases in gas prices while the state will not.

Some have theorized that local governments’ ability to tax food has contributed to their strong revenues during the recent downturn. The underlying logic is that consumers, when faced with difficult economic conditions, will restrict their purchases to necessities such as food. At the same time, the price of food has been going up. However, figures from the Department of Revenue do not support this theory, so far.

The Department of Revenue categorizes the types of businesses from which it receives sales tax payments. Tracking payments by type of business allows the Department to understand how different sectors of the Georgia economy are performing. Starting in March of FY2008, revenues from sales of food began to decline in comparison to FY2007.
In March FY2008, receipts from food-based sales taxes were down $4.4 million compared to March FY2007.
In April FY2008, receipts from food-based sales taxes were down $9.8 million compared to April FY2007.
Surprisingly, May FY2008 receipts from food-based sales taxes were actually up $4.7 million compared to May of the previous fiscal year.
Once again, June FY2008 was back down compared to June FY2007, this time by $5.0 million.

The trend of weaker food-based sales tax receipts has continued into FY2009. In July, 2008 there was a decrease of $43.3 million over July 2007. In August there was once again a decrease over August 2007, but this time only $14.9 million.

As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column. Please contact me in my office at the Capitol with your questions, comments or concerns.

Senator Greg Goggans

South Georgia at the State Capitol August revenues forecast challenges for 2009 fiscal year

2008-09-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

The Department of Revenue just released revenue figures for August, FY2009. When compared to revenues from the previous fiscal year, the state’s revenues for August are not encouraging.

Total Collections and Month to Month Comparisons
State revenues for August slipped by 7.0% under 2007 figures or $94.159 million less. Total revenues for August were $1.25 billion compared to $1.35 billion in August of 2007.

The state collected approximately $638.9 million dollars in August from individual income taxes compared to $683.9 million in August 2007. This decrease of $45.0 million is equal to a 6.6 percent drop in individual income tax collections.

The figures for sales and use taxes show a similar trend as individual income tax collections. Gross sales and use tax collections were $887.9 million in August FY2009 compared to $901.2 million in August FY2008. The drop in sales tax collections compared to the previous year is $13.3 million, a drop of only 1.5 percent.

Sales Tax Trends
A trend worth noting is that the amount the state distributes to local governments for their portion of sales tax collections has once again increased. In August FY2009, the state distributed $422.1 million to local governments compared to $365.8 million distributed a year ago. So, the state distributed $56.2 million more to local governments than it did last year at a time when state revenues are down.

Motor Fuel Collections
August FY2009 was also a troubling month for motor fuel taxes, with both the sales and excise taxes declining sharply compared to August FY2008. Motor fuel sales tax receipts were down $5.8 million while excise tax receipts were down $5.6 million compared to August FY2008. These are drops of 12.6 percent in the motor fuel sales tax and 13.7 percent in the motor fuel excise tax. Collectively, motor fuel tax collections as a whole are down 13.1 percent. Year-to-Date, fuel tax collections are down 7.0%, which is an additional problem, since the state guarantees that budget level to DOT.

Year-to-Date Comparisons
The year-to-date (YTD) figures for FY2009 paint the same picture as the month to month comparisons. Overall year-to-date revenue collections for FY2009 are approximately $2.5 billion. At this same point in FY2008, the state had collected approximately $2.7 billion. So, as compared to FY2008, the state has collected 6.8 percent less.
For the year to date:

· The state has collected $114.5 million less in income taxes (down 8.9 percent)

· The state has collected $88.0 million less in sales and use taxes (down 8.5 percent)

· The state has collected $11.6 million less in motor fuel taxes (down 7.0 percent)

Inside the Sales Tax Categories
Sales Tax Numbers
The several sales tax categories give clues to the continuing weaknesses in the economy in Georgia.

Year-to-Date (YTD), sales taxes are down 8.5% or $88 million. Food, which makes up 16.8% of sales taxes collected, is down -15.9% YTD, really significant in light of rising prices. The other categories are all negative, ranging from -14.1% for lumber to -3.6% for apparel. One bright spot is that manufacturing sales tax collections are up 0.2%. Utilities sales tax collections are up 18.2%. Distributions to local governments continue to climb, up 10.0% YTD, despite food sales taxes declining. Of course, only local governments receive sales taxes from food sales.

So, we have collected so far $2.45 billion of the $17.4 billion we need in FY2009.

As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column. Please contact me in my office at the Capitol with your questions, comments or concerns.

Emory Prevention Research Center Grants $20,000 to Promote Healthier Eating and Physical Activity in Southwest Georgia Community Organizations

2008-09-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Atlanta, GA – September 9, 2008 – The Emory Prevention Research Center (EPRC), along with local partners, including the Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition, awarded $20,000 in grants tovarious community organizations in Nashville, Sparks, Cordele, Valdosta, and Albany. Thesegrants enable the organizations to carry out prevention programs to improve health through better nutrition and physical activity. The recipients are Berrien County Collaborative; Cook County Commission for Children and Youth; Crisp County Community Council, Inc.; SouthGeorgia Medical Center Diabetes Management Center; and SOWEGA Council on Aging.

Each recipient organization will receive up to $4,000 and staff assistance from the EmoryPrevention Research Center. The nutrition programs that they will implement include Parents as Teachers (PAT) High 5 Low Fat; Treatwell 5-a-Day Program (for worksites); and Little by Little.The physical activity program chosen is the Patient-centered Assessment and Counseling forExercise (PACE) Program. These programs have all been tested and found to be effective.

The Berrien County Collaborative will implement the Parents as Teachers High 5 Low-FatProgram. ―The High 5 Low-Fat program would be a good fit and expansion of the BerrienCounty Collaborative Parents As Teachers Program because the curriculum aligns with the goalto help improve the health of our adolescent and teen moms during pregnancy and after thebirth of their child,‖ said Program Coordinator Lauren Brady.

The Emory Prevention Research Center is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention. The EPRC focuses on cancer prevention in Southwest Georgia by promotinghealthy eating and exercise. To learn more about the Emory Prevention Research Center and the grants awarded, visit www.sph.emory.edu/EPRC or contact April Hermstad by phone at404-712-9537 or by email at ahermst@sph.emory.edu.

Governor Perdue's Gas Gouging Statute for Georgia

2008-09-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, gas prices reflect the presence of Hurricane Ike in the Gulf.

The rise in fuel prices is a natural reaction to the market. Georgians have been through this before with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and we’ll manage the temporary spike in price through common sense and conservation. As we’ve done recently in the face of high gas prices; let’s reduce unnecessary travel, carpool and use mass transit, drive a little slower, and fuel up only when we need to.

Governor Perdue signed an Executive Order today enacting Georgia’s price gouging statue to protect Georgia consumer from unlawful increases in gas prices and other products (see below).

If constituents feel they need to report price gouging, send them to the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs – 1-800-869-1123 or 404-651-8600.

Georgia’s price gouging statute prevents retailers from selling goods or services at an unreasonable or egregious price. Georgia’s price gouging statute does not prevent price increases that accurately reflect an increase in the cost of the goods or services to the retailer, an increase in the cost of transporting the goods or services into the area, or an increase due to the market forces of supply and demand.

The text of the Executive Order is below:

WHEREAS: Hurricane Ike has caused a natural disaster throughout much of the Gulf Coast region, thereby adversely affecting the motor fuel supplies to the State of Georgia; and

WHEREAS: Price gouging related to motor fuels is detrimental to the social and economic welfare of the citizens of Georgia; and

WHEREAS: Wholesale and retail gas prices have substantially increased in some markets in recent hours; and

WHEREAS: In the light of these circumstances, and to protect public health, safety and welfare, it is necessary to prevent price gouging using the authority vested in the Governor by virtue of O.C.G.A. Section 38-3-51.

NOW, THEREFORE, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY VESTED IN ME AS GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, IT IS HEREBY

ORDERED: That a State of Emergency exists in the State of Georgia and that the O.C.G.A. Section 10-1-393.4, prohibiting price gouging, is activated.

This 12th day of September, 2008
Governor Sonny Perdue

Berrien County Collaborative Receives High School Success Grant from AT&T

2008-09-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

The Berrien County Collaborative has been awarded AT&T's High School Success grant. This grant will assist in several of the project-based and service learning initiative's at the Berrien Academy PLC. Please send a big thank you out to Community In Schools and AT&T for providing this opportunity for our students. For more info about this grant please go to http://www.att.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=11520.

Thanks for the support!

Matt Jansen

Berrien Academy PLC Receives Superintendent's Distinguished Achievement Award

2008-09-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

The Berrien Academy PLC received the Superintendent's Distinguished Achievement Award. This award is designed to honor schools that have scored at the highest level or made the greatest improvement in performance on our state curriculum exams - the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, the End-of-Course-Tests, the Georgia High School Graduation Tests and the state writing assessments.

Schools are being awarded in all core academic areas across several grades. There are two categories of awards:

- Achievement: The 10 schools with the highest percentage of students in the exceeds score level
- Improvement: The 10 schools with the greatest gains in the percentage of students in the meets and exceeds scoring levels

Please congratulate our Berrien Academy PLC staff for an outstanding job in improving student achievement.

Berrien County Collaborative, Inc.

VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERISTY TO STREAM PLAYOFF FOOTBALL ONLINE

SMOKED BOSTON BUTT, HAM, & TURKEY SALE!!!!

Boys & Girls Clubs of Berrien County

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit receives support from District Attorney's Office.

CASA Receives Expansion Funding

Boys & Girls Clubs Groundbreaking Ceremony

CASA for CASA's

Teen Maze Coverage

Waiting for Superman

Communities In Schools featured in TIME Magazine

Join me in signing this petition!

General Collaborative Meeting

UPCOMING EVENTS!!!!

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit 1st Thursday

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit with Evelyn Fox, Deborah Raines, and Berrien High AP Art Class painting faces on children during Nashville's 1st Thursday.

Health At School: A Hidden Health Care System Emerges From The Shadows

Flatlanders Fall Frolic

Berrien County Even Start Update

Invest in your community!

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit CJCC Approval

New Georgia Child Abuse and Neglect Rankings

After School Status of Achievement of Goals and Objectives

Institute of Medicine 2009 Report

This is an Intense report full of great systemic ideas for implementing an effective system of care. - Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities. http://www.whyy.org/news/sci20090302Mentalprepub.pdf

School-Based Mental Health Models

Meeting to address Lanier’s high child abuse rate

Dawn Castro

Collaborative Featured in Healthcare Georgia Foundation Listening Tour Report

How does Georgia measure up?

MED Project Launch

Berrien Academy Charter Renewed

Graduation rate up 25 percentage points since it opened

Student Public Service Announcements

Check out students projects that have been posted on US Education's website. These projects are part of our Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse and Production 1 classes at Berrien Academy and High Schools. http://useducationtv.com/default.aspx?sid=98.

2009 Annual Survey Reports Now Online

Alapaha Judicial Circuit Justice for Children Summit – July 29, 2010

CHRISTMAS IN JULY AT DFCS

Dear Community Leaders

Berrien County Students Staying Active Throughout June

Communities In Schools Announces 2010 Wal-Mart Scholars

Emory University's Urban Health Program funds MED project in Berrien County

System of Care

Tyler Carter Memorial Duathlon Registration Update

Tyler Carter Memorial Duathlon

Valdosta Board of Realtors Community Service Fundraiser for CASA

Berrien County PRCA Rodeo

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

Support the CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

Berrien County Even Start Family Literacy Program

2010 Collaborative Update

A Sweetheart Affair

Collaborative After School Updates:

Berrien County Collaborative receives $500,000 CDBG to build Boys & Girls Club!

Berrien County Collaborative's NEW URL

School-Based Health Clinic

Berrien County Collaborative Receives Carol White Physical Education Grant

We can end hunger!

New Study on Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use

News From The Hill

New National Report Shows Substantial Disparities in the Levels of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Problems Experienced among the States

Inspirations Intensive Outpatient Counseling Center

President Announces Social Innovation Fund

Free KFC via OPRA

Perdue, education groups at odds on stimulus cash

State of Georgia Under-Funds K-12 Schools and Higher Education In Allocating Federal Funds in Violation of the Recovery Act

The Serve America Act

South Georgia at the State Capitol

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS

‘Help Is Here Express’ Bus Tour Comes to Valdosta

Berrien County Mentalist

CASA Appropriations

Foreclosure Assistance

Legislative News Bulletin

South Georgia at the State Capitol

BILLIONS IN NONPROFIT PROJECTS HALTED BY CREDIT CRISIS

South Georgia at the State Capitol

News Bulletin--February 10, 2009

Congratulations! We are making progress on Stimulus bill!

South Georgia Athletic Challenge

This is an Intense report full of great systemic ideas for implementing an effective system of care. - Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities.

http://www.whyy.org/news/sci20090302Mentalprepub.pdf

CASA Director Position for the Alapaha Judicial Circuit