House Bill 1054

Chair's Name: Sharon Cooper

Committee: Health and Human Services

House Sponsor: Sharon Cooper

Chairman Cooper’s opinion of this legislation:

Under current law there are two agencies, The Office of the Child Advocate and the Office of Child Fatality Review, that each conduct research and collect data on child injuries, child abuse, and child fatalities with the aim of finding ways to prevent such tragedies.  This bill would place the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel under the auspices of the Office of the Child Advocate, including staff and administrative support.  Two other agencies, the Children's Trust Fund Commission and the Children and Youth Coordinating Council, are each charged with funding programs to prevent child abuse and juvenile delinquencies.  By combining these agencies' there should be a more seamless purpose and promotion of consistent policies.  It should also ensure that findings of research into the problems that children are facing are translated into the funding of proven programs that combat child injury, child abuse, and juvenile delinquency.

The intent of the legislation is to reduce the number of children committed by the courts to institutions operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Human Resources or other state agencies and to provide a preventative, comprehensive plan for the development of community based alternatives so that children who have committed delinquent acts and children who are at risk of becoming dependents of state government and its institutions may not have to be committed to a state detention facility.

The bill also establishes the Governor's Office for Children and Families, attaching it to the Office of Planning and Budget.  The responsibilities of the Children and Youth Coordinating Council and the Children's Trust Fund Commission are transferred to the new Office.  The Office of the Child Advocate is already attached to the Office of Planning and Budget. The section authorizes the Office to accept certain types of funds, and provides for the treatment of those monies.   The Section concludes with a listing of the purposes and directional statements for the new office (49-5-132) (d) (1) through (15).

The bill allows for an Executive Director for the Governor's Office for Children and Families, and allows for contracting and cooperative measures, especially with regards to the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children.

This committee substitute comes to the House Floor under the Open Rule.

Further Action

The House agreed to the Senate Substitute which only changed the word "Article" to "Part" throughout the bill.