Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8B
- FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, March 21,2004 /
Visitation program is in need of volunteer observers
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
There are over 120 chil
dren who have been removed
from their homes in Forsyth
County and placed in foster
care, according to Juvenile
Court Judge Russell Jackson.
For Jackson, the goal when
possible is to return the chil
dren to their home setting.
“We traumatize children
when we remove them from
their parents, even when it is
necessary to do so for their
safety.” said Jackson. “The
children, as well as the parents
need to
know that
the other is
still there
and still 1
cares about <
them. <
Otherwise,
we end up
doing more
damage to
the child and
tzx tkn
We need people who
have a love for children
and want to help children
and families.
•Judge Russell Jackson.
ickirs ♦Lx<» ♦ iilt<
to the relationship that ulti
mately we hope to restore.”
The Juvenile Court, along
with the Forsyth County Child
Advocacy Center, has been
awarded a grant to conduct a
family visitation program.
The program takes place on
Saturdays at the Episcopal
Church of the Holy Spirit on
Pilgrim Mill Road.
The children and parents
meet at the church for a one
hour supervised visit. The vis
itation takes place in a church
Sunday School room which
has a child-friendly setting.
Presently, only six children
and parents may visit at a
time.
A trained volunteer observ
er is in the room with parent
and child and takes notes on
the child and parental reac
tions during the visit. Such
details as eye and physical
contact, and emotional reac
tions are noted on a observa
tion report that is turned in to
a supervisor.
The program's most urgent
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need is for additional volun
teers.
“We need people who have
a love for children and want to
help children and families.”
said Jackson.
Volunteers must be 21 and
pass a criminal background
check, including fingerprint
ing. Then, they must com
plete a four-hour training ses
sion conducted by the Child
Advocacy Center.
"We will teach them what
we are trying to accomplish
with the visitation center," said
Jackson. “They will be taught
about the child
deprivation
process that
brings children
into care and
why that hap
pens.”
There are a
number of visi
tation programs
in place across
the state. In
Fulton County,
there are six visitation sites
which, like Forsyth, operate in
churches.
"We do this on Saturday
for the convenience of the
birth parents," said Lynn
Stewart, program coordinator
for the visitation center.
"DFACS (Department of
Family and Children Services)
has 8 to 5 hours, Monday
through Friday and many par
ents have to work. They are
only allowed by law to visit
for two hours per month.”
Stewart called the church
setting a neutral and loving
environment, as opposed to
the institutional setting of the
DFACS office, which is the
place where the first separa
tion may have occurred.
"The volunteers treat the
parents with dignity and
respect and want to see them
succeed."
The number of children
that have been removed from
their parents has more than
doubled in the past year and
Jackson does not see the num-
ber declining in the foresee
able future. The children
placed in foster care come
from a cross-section of socioe
conomic backgrounds. They
include children of a number
of professionals.
"The drug problem, partic
ularly the methamphetamine
problem cuts across all lines,"
said Stewart.
“You normally see four
areas where the family dynam
ics begin breaking down," said
Michelle Edwards, executive
director of the Child Advocacy
Center. “It has to do with men
tal dysfunction, family vio
lence, low IQ, and drug
abuse.”
“The primary cause of the
case coming to light tends to
be drug abuse,” said Jackson,
who said that many of the
characteristics can be seen
within the family.
Jackson said that a lack of
volunteers has resulted in the
program being curtailed or
canceled on some Saturdays.
In addition to the
observers, volunteers serve as
greeters to welcome the par
ents or the children, who enter
the church building at separate
entrances. Other volunteers
monitor time and serve as
escorts for the participants to
and from the visitation site.
During warmer weather,
parents can take their children
on supervised visits to a play
ground on the church property.
The program is being fund
ed through a grant from the
Safe and Stable Families pro
gram administered by the
Georgia Department of
Human Resources. Matching
local funds are being provided
by the Forsyth County
Commission and Northside
Hospital Forsyth.
Persons interested in
becoming a volunteer can
obtain information about
upcoming training sessions by
calling the Forsyth County
Child Advocacy Center at
678-208-1908.
„ —iSBBr--— t r—i
I
■
9 |1 A 9 Kk
Photo/David McGregor
The Family Visitation Program has found a home but is in urgent need of volunteers.
Pictured in the visitation center are. from left, Pat Plant, program administrator; Lynn
Stewart, program coordinator, Russell Jackson, Juvenile Court judge, and Michelle
Edwards, executive director.