My placement was at the Office of the Child Advocate. I remember after my initial interview, I was not sure exactly what I would be doing, other than helping out at the Celebration of Excellence, but it sounded interesting. As it turned out, the work I did this summer falls into three categories.

First of all, I worked on investigating cases that came into the OCA. This involved a lot of phone calls- talking to parents, relatives, DFCS supervisors and case managers. It also meant reading through case files, making sure that everything was right and in order. This is probably where I learned the most about the DFCS system, and the whole CPS and foster care process. I'm still not sure that I have it all figured out, but I'm a lot closer than I was at the beginning of the summer.

Secondly, I worked on several research projects for Allyson Anderson. The largest of these was finding out what programs or resources each state has in place for educational assistance for foster youth. I spent a lot of time on the Internet, and then compiled what I found out into a report. The goal of this research was to show what other states offer, in the hopes of getting Georgia's Foster Child Education Grant, which now exists only as a budget item memorialized into law. Later in the summer, I researched relative care subsidies. I think I called just about everyone in the State DFCS office, but eventually I was able to obtain information on numbers and funding for this program. The purpose of this was to get the RCS raised to the same rate as family foster care per diem rates in order to encourage permanency for children with relatives.

As a culmination of the summer's research work, Allyson Anderson and Dee Simms arranged a meeting with two members of Governor Perdue's staff, during which the other interns and I were able to share what we had worked on. This was great because I was able to see the significance of what I had done. Rather than just abstract musings, my work has the potential to become incorporated into future policy and law. I feel like that was a pretty unique opportunity.

The third part of my work was the least predictable. Almost every week, Allyson would have a variety of interesting events and meetings going on, and she invited the interns to come along. As a result, I had the opportunity to observe DHR and Council of Juvenile Court Judges meetings, listen to foster parent groups voice their concerns, participate in preparing for the Celebration of Excellence, meet with the Janet Oliva, attend court hearings, and generally observe the inner workings of the entire spectrum of the child welfare world. These "field trips" gave me a sense of context for the investigative and research work that I did the rest of the week, and overall they were extremely interesting and informative.

I think that the thing that was impressed on me the most this summer is the utter complexity of this entire system. So much seems to be a cycle of problems that just feed off each other. A child dies, a worker is summarily fired, CPS workers get scared and defensive, bureaucracy thickens, caseloads go up, workers are overloaded, a child dies… and the cycle goes on. Somewhere in there is also a relative who wanted DFCS to do what he/she would not but who will be all too willing to cast the blame when it's over. Also, none of the elements of the child welfare system- judges, caseworkers, foster parents, children, birthparents, relatives, policy makers, SAAGs, GALs- work in isolation. All are affected by the decisions and actions of the others and it's often hard to assign blame or to figure out where the true problem lies. The Advocate's Office does play a valuable role in holding the institutions accountable and actively searching for ways to make the whole system work better.

This internship has deepened my awareness of the issues involved in child welfare. Before I began I knew very little about the process and the different actors involved. This has changed. I now have a much deeper appreciation of the difficult job that DFCS does and I've seen what happens when they do not do their job correctly. I did not have much personal interaction with children this summer but the policy issues that I learned about helped me to better understand my experiences growing up with foster children in my home. Being able to assist with the Celebration of Excellence also was a wonderful way to see the real people behind the facts and paperwork. Whether or not I pursue child advocacy as a career, the experience that I gained this summer has been an invaluable glimpse into this vital area of work.