Welcome to the State of Georgia’s Custody Switching Services

Brought to you by the Georgia Office of Child Support Enforcement

Georgia Child Support Enforcement, Child Access and Visitation Services,  Child Support Enforcement has contracts with two service providers to provide child access and visitation services within the State of Georgia from January 7, 2002 through June 30, 2003. Funding for the project comes from a grant from the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and from grant funds managed by the Department of Human Resources.
Call1-888-4FATHER

Fatherhood - The Other Part of Welfare Reform

Georgia Fatherhood Newsletter, Father Secures Better Job and Full Custody of his Son,

Custody Switching at its Best, While enrolling for classes at Savannah Tech, Luqman heard about the Fatherhood Program and requested enrollment. What is especially noteworthy was that Luqman was concurrently enrolled in a diploma program and the Fatherhood Program while working full-time as a shoe salesman. He completed the Welding and Joining program this year and was accepted into the Ultimate Diver Training Program (for underwater welding) at the Ocean Corporation in Houston, Texas. Fatherhood Program job placement efforts helped Luqman secure employment at Home Depot in Savannah. Home Depot eventually transferred him to one of their stores in Houston where he remains employed. In January 2001, Luqman petitioned the courts for full custody of his son and was granted full custody in May 2001.

 

Fatherhood Works for Mothers Too, [well not exactly, unlike Luqman, she does not have full custody of her child] Electrical Construction and Maintenance is normally not a traditional training program for females, but Kim completed the program at Chattahoochee Tech and acquired employment in that area. Kim came to the Fatherhood Program with a bad taste about the child support system. She had lost her job and been arrested for non-payment of child support all while trying to recover from a major accident. Since entering the program, she has been working and attending school full-time. Her relationship with her child continues to be a rewarding and important part of her life. The purpose of the Network Newsis to provide interesting and important information concerning the Georgia Fatherhood Services Network to Child Support employees and our network partners.

 

U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today joined colleagues Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) in co-sponsoring S. 1364, the "Responsible Fatherhood Act." “We must turn our attention from poor mothers to absent fathers, the men who conceived these children

 

Georgia Fatherhood Program, lots of good links on FR fund subversion, including a link to Wade Horn’s National Fatherhood Initiative.

 

TANF Services, signed by former Governor Zell Miller, states that Georgia will operate a program to provide TANF so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; dependence of needy parents on government benefits ends by promoting job preparation, work; incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies is prevented and reduced and annual numerical goals to prevent and reduce the incidence of these pregnancies are established; and the formation and maintenance of two-parent families are encouraged.

 

Georgia Fatherhood Program/Welfare Info The Georgia Fatherhood Program is an effort by the Georgia Office of Child Support Enforcement, to enable non-custodial low income parents to pay child support and play an active role in the lives of their children. Another goal of the program is to reduce Georgia’s TANF and Medicaid costs through increased child support payments and parental responsibility.

Child Access and Visitation Services, Child Support Enforcement has contracts with two service providers to provide child access and visitation services within the State of Georgia from January 7, 2002 through June 30, 2003. Funding for the project comes from a grant from the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and from grant funds managed by the Department of Human Resources.

Child Access and Visitation services include:

Case intake and assessment - interviewing noncustodial parents to determine the problems and barriers to visitation, and setting a plan of action to intervene.

Co-parenting education - instructing both parents on the importance of placing the children's needs over personal differences.

Counseling or individual education - addressing individual problems which are specific barriers to visitation.

Mediations and the development of parenting plans - scheduling visits and exchanges of the child(ren) from one parent to another. Mediating child-raising issues.

Supervised and monitored visitation - supervised visitation is observation by a trained professional. Telephone monitoring increases the success rate of visits and deals with problems.

Neutral drop off/pick up sites for child visitation - places where parents can bring the child to deliver to the other parent. These can be set up so that there is no interaction between the parents.

Legal services are not included as part of these services. Noncustodial parents who need legal services for legitimation, establishment of visitation orders, or enforcement of visitation orders will need to obtain this help from other resources. For those who want to consider filing an action in court on their own, one resource is the website of the Fulton County Superior Court Family Division's Family Law Information Center at:

www.fultonfamilydivision.com.

This website has legal forms and instructions, which include forms for legitimation and visitation. Any resident of the state of Georgia can visit the Fulton Family Law Information Center, 185 Central Avenue, SW, Atlanta, Ga. 30303 (404) 335-2789. However, noncustodial parents must file the petition and follow the guidelines of the county with legal jurisdiction over their particular legal issues. Those needing legal advice should contact their local Bar Association, or the Georgia Bar Association at (404) 527-8700.

To find out more about the Child Access and Visitation Services, contact the service provider in your area, or call:

1-888-4FATHER

Child Access and Visitation

Service Providers are listed below:

To be eligible to receive child access and visitation services, you must have a child support case number. This means you must have a case with Child Support Enforcement or MAXIMUS Child Support Services. [Maximus excludes custodial parent who have received welfare.]  The custodial parent and child(ren) must live in Georgia. The noncustodial parent must either live in Georgia or within 50 miles of the state line. Noncustodial parents OR custodial parents may contact the service providers directly, according to the county of their residence. The two service providers are:

Families First, P.O. Box 7948, Station C, Atlanta, Ga. 30357-0948 - This contract will serve 797 cases and will attempt to provide services in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 of the Office of Child Support Enforcement. Call 1-877-546-3058 toll free or (404) 756-2110. FAX (404) 853-2844 for the first available appointment.

Middle Ga. Community Action Agency, Inc., 1570 Watson Boulevard, Warner Robins, Ga. 31093 - This contract will serve 166 cases in Regions 6, 7 and 9 of the Office of Child Support Enforcement. Contact Ms. Robin Stump or Ms. Bernell Thomas at phone (478) 922-4311 or 1-800-422-9063.

For more information, contact your local Child Support Enforcement Office, one of the service providers, or:

Russell Eastman, Program Consultant

Child Access and Visitation Services

Child Support Enforcement

Suite 20.392, Two Peachtree Street, NW

Atlanta, Ga. 30303-3180

Phone (404) 463-6861, FAX (404) 657-1134

reastman@dhr.state.ga.us

 

http://www.cse.dhr.state.ga.us/

 

Georgians For Children -- 2002 Children's Agenda Ballot  This Survey Ends on September 14, 2001.
Increase funding for programs designed to support fatherhood including expanding the Fatherhood Initiative statewide.
Assist families transitioning from welfare to work into the job market upon leaving the TANF rolls including job skills training, transportation, childcare, etc.

Network News Page 5

Families First Child Access and Visitation Program is designed to assist non-custodial parents with improving access and visitation with their children. This program is funded by the Department of Human Resources Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Parenting Seminars, designed to teach non-custodial parents about the process of obtaining visitation rights in Georgia. This includes the significance of legitimation, the importance of managing child support, visitation and its relationship to the child’s developmental stage, and overall why father should not give up.

http://www.transparenting.com

http://www.collabgroup.com/links.htm

 

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