UGA Gets $8.2M To Work With Families In Child Welfare System
Print This Post |
|
A group of researchers at the University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences received an $8.2 million grant to work with families in 13 northeast counties at risk of entering the child welfare system.
David Torcivia Flickr.com |
As Georgia’s foster care rolls continue to grow, the University of Georgia plans to start new work with families most at risk of entering the state’s child welfare system.
The work, which will span the 13 northeast counties that make up the Division of Family and Children Services Region 5, is possible thanks to an $8.2 million federal grant.
Ted Futris, an associate professor with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the lead researcher on the project, said his group will work with families in and leaving the child welfare system, recently reunified families, new parents and foster families.
“Our hope is that by helping strengthen the relationship, helping them find ways to deal with and manage the stresses that they experience, that they won’t get as burnt out.”
The grant will cover services like child care, youth engagement, in-home visits and tax preparation with the goal of stabilizing families in the region. It also calls for hiring up to 30 part-time program facilitators and field assessors.
Partnering agencies include the Division of Family and Child Services, Georgia Family Connection, Great Start Georgia, Strengthening Families Georgia and Project Safe.
Futris said he hopes to reach about 1,500 families over the course of the five-year grant, which comes from the U.S. Office of Family Assistance.
Georgia ranked 42nd in 2014 for overall child well-being, according to the annual Kids Count Survey.
Listen to the story on wabe.org.
Georgia Family Connection is a statewide network with a Collaborative in all 159 counties.