Congressmen letter-WK9AssgnPullinsF

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Meriwether County Georgia DFCS: Felicia Pullins Case Manager October 27, 2023 The Honorable David Scott Riverdale District Office 81 Upper Riverdale Rd. SW, Suite 230 Riverdale, GA 30274 Dear Congressman Scott: On behalf of the Department of Family and Children Services, thank you for the opportunity to comment on the current Policies affecting the Department's ability to effectively provide safety, health, and well-being to the children we service in Georgia. As a social worker, working for DFCS I have personally seen there are loopholes to the care we are mandated to provide to children and families. The policy of child welfare is outdated and has led to overrun and outdated policies. The policy alternatives I am proposing are designed to eliminate fragmented Services: Another objection frequently raised is the lack of coordination and fragmentation of services. Currently, child welfare services are often provided independently, leading to gaps in communication and support. The alternative policy would establish integrated and multidisciplinary teams that collaborate with various agencies, including education, mental health, and healthcare, to provide comprehensive and coordinated support to children and their families. Also, eradicating Limited Aftercare: Once a child has been removed from their family and placed in foster care or other out-of-home placements, aftercare services are often lacking. 597 OLD MILNER RD. BARNESVILLE, GA 30204 T ()614(641-3401 U FELICIA.PULLINS@WALENU.EDU

This policy alternative would need to be on the state level to ensure equality across the board. Necessary changes are the implementation of multidisciplinary teams that monitor cases and advocate for services to be implemented within 48- 72 hours after a child comes into care. Involving father's rights and kinship participation. Placing children in familiar environments to lessen trauma and giving fathers or kinship providers an active and supported role with services such as counseling, mental health, food, and medical assistance if needed. This policy will require administrative financial support, adding the addition of a multidisciplinary team is needed because of the staff shortage and high turnover overrates of the Department of Family and Children Services. Hiring licensed Social workers will require a budget increase however, it will increase oversite and safety, health, and well-being of children. Also the reduction of funds from a political perspective of children being hoteled due to lack of treatment and foster homes.” DFCS spends an average of $1,500 per night to hotel a child in DFCS custody. This includes the cost of the room, meals, and behavior aides, whose standard rate is $1,000 per day, per child. Compare that to Commissioner Broce’s testimony to the Joint Appropriations Committee on January 17, 2023, it costs “anywhere from $75 to $210 a day, the Maximum Watchful Oversight range for placing a child with a foster family or group home”, This policy would help eliminate the need for wasteful spending by the agency. Furthermore, this program will be supported by TANF resources which have been already appropriated for children who enter foster care. Congressmen Scott I am calling on you, asking you to advocate for those who cannot speak and are vulnerable. It does take a village to raise a child. That is why decision-makers and social workers should advocate for change because our communities are being affected. Gun violence in our schools, teen pregnancy, child prostitution, sex trafficking of minors, gang violence, and high school dropout rates are all directly related to children being under-supported. 2

Thank you again for your time and this opportunity to provide comments. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or would like further information. Sincerely, Felicia Pullins 3

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Describe the experience of sending the message—either via letter or email—to your representative(s). How did it feel to formally advocate on behalf of a policy to alleviate a social problem you have thoroughly reviewed? This experience I found this to be empowering. Working with the agency gives me a front seat to see the deficits and the changes that need to be made. Also, I have access to cases that prove my point and support the current issue. Did you write a letter or an email? Explain your reasoning. Yes, I wrote the letter, and it has made me understand the job of a social worker, which is to advocate for those who can't and be a voice to the vulnerable. Describe how you constructed the letter. Use the Council on Social Work Education and American Psychological Association resources from the Learning Resources this week to support your choices. I identified two power resources for my policy and advocacy: charismatic power and power of position. Jansson describes charismatic power as persons who possess personal qualities of leadership, moral authority, and persuasiveness that can often stimulate others who admire these qualities to follow their policy wishes. The power stemming from perceived integrity is important in political elections. I have a character that reflects a leader with a moral purpose, which I use to persuade people to change. My position as a child welfare worker or intake worker, as the literature describes in social agencies, possess the power by virtue of their ability to create 4

rules and procedures for intake and implement these rules. In a similar fashion, intake workers in agencies possess important knowledge about why specific persons come to the agency and what they need—information that could be used by higher-level staff to decide whether to initiate a specific new program. Furthermore, politicians are also more likely to take the advice of an advocate who is backed up by affiliation with a recognized group or coalition. Explain how you used your advocacy skills in your communication . Research skills enable policy advocates to review and analyze how effective policies have been and what changes can be made to make the policy better able to suit the needs of the vulnerable population. Jansson teaches, “Familiarize yourself with the historical aspects of the problem you are trying to address in your work so that you can learn how others have approached the problem in the past and how people have been impacted by the problem” (Jansson, 2017-03- 02, p. 75) What are your next steps as an advocate ? 5

I am passionate about Families and Children having equal access to opportunities that will lead to good success in their lives, I would like to be a stronger advocate and make change for others to have a better life. I do see soon once I have completed school and earned my Licensure maybe running for office. My reasoning for this is as Jansson explains, “Reasoning that they want to make policy decisions themselves, some policy advocates and social workers run for office” (Jansson, 2017, p. 449). Reference 6

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Jansson, B. (2017-03-02). Empowerment Series: Becoming An Effective Policy Advocate, 8th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf 10.1.0]. Retrieved from vbk://9781337514330 7

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