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BY
MARGO DIX GOLD
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Sharon
N. Hill, JD, MBA
Executive Director
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Georgia
Appleseed is proud to be sowing seeds of justice throughout Georgia.
Founded in 2005 as an independent affiliate of the national Appleseed
network of non-partisan, nonprofit public interest law centers,
we strive to effect change by producing systemic solutions to difficult
social justice problems confronting large numbers of Georgians.
Under the strong leadership of our Board of Directors and its chair,
Steve Clay, Georgia Appleseed projects reflect our prevailing goal
to "level the playing field" by creating or facilitating positive
change that addresses causes of tough problems, not merely symptoms.
The Georgia Appleseed "work force" extends far beyond its own small
staff by leveraging the pro bono expertise of lawyers and other
professionals who share this vision of a more just Georgia.
Each
Georgia Appleseed project showcases three core competencies: to
research, to disseminate findings, and to effect change.
"With
its volunteers, Georgia Appleseed engages in qualitative research
to understand the foundation of a particularly difficult social
justice problem," said Sharon Hill, Georgia Appleseed executive
director and a former Fulton County associate juvenile court judge.
"Once that research is complete, Georgia Appleseed shares what it
has learned by disseminating its findings and recommendations to
the public. The most powerful work, however, happens when Georgia
Appleseed and its volunteers effect systemic change through legal
advocacy, community engagement and policy expertise."
These
three competencies are at the forefront of Georgia Appleseed's leadership
role in JUSTGeorgia, a statewide coalition to realize a new Georgia
juvenile code and improved related social service systems for children
and families. Recognizing that the current code was out of date
and lacked clarity, the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution
in 2005 calling for its complete overhaul. In 2006, with funding
from the Sapelo Foundation, Georgia Appleseed partnered with Voices
for Georgia's Children and the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic
of Emory University to chart a course towards a new juvenile code
for Georgia.
An
important first step was the completion by the State Bar of Georgia
Young Lawyer's Division of a model juvenile code that reflects best
practices and current scientific findings in child development.
But to transform a model code into a meaningful legislative package,
input was needed from many sources, including front-line stakeholders
in Georgia's current juvenile justice system.
Georgia
Appleseed assumed the important task of gathering the common wisdom
of Georgians throughout the state willing to share their own ideas
and opinions about our current juvenile code. These stakeholders
were asked what works, what does not work, and their specific ideas
about how they would fix the problems.
Georgia
Appleseed recruited 13 lead law firms to field teams of lawyers
and other professionals to gather stakeholder input from each of
Georgia's 10 Judicial Districts. Stakeholders included judges, attorneys,
parents, children, police officers, social workers, probation officers,
teachers, and many others.
More
than 300 interviews, 260 legal volunteers and 6,500 pro bono hours
later, Georgia Appleseed has released its findings, Common Wisdom:
Making the Case for a New Georgia Juvenile Code. A comprehensive
statewide summary, 10 judicial district reports and an executive
summary are available online at www.GaAppleseed.org/children/reports.
The
ideas and recommendations summarized in Common Wisdom provide meaningful,
on-the-ground feedback to help inform an insightful new code legislative
package that will be introduced in the 2009 General Assembly. They
also enable the voices of Georgians with the largest stakes in the
system to be heard in their different contexts by public policy
makers charged with the responsibility to provide justice for our
children.
There
are several other major projects on which Georgia Appleseed is working
to make a difference in the lives of youth. Their "Parent Involvement
under No Child Left Behind (NCLB)" project is one of those and intended
to help parents be informed partners in their children's school
success. Successful students are less likely to become involved
in the juvenile system and parent involvement is recognized as a
key component to that success. Engaging the expert assistance of
Cathy Henson, a prominent Georgia education leader, Georgia Appleseed
created an innovative workshop for parents and school leaders that
explains parents' rights and responsibilities under NCLB and helps
them interpret the data they receive. Seventeen workshops were presented
across Georgia to 800 attendees. A video based on the workshop content
is under development with Georgia Public Broadcasting that will
become the cornerstone of presentations statewide in collaboration
with Georgia Appleseed's education partners.
Margo
Dix Gold, AMLS manages the Communications Department for Georgia
Appleseed.
To
learn more about the JUSTGeorgia coalition, log on to www.JUSTGeorgia.org.
To
learn more about Georgia Appleseed, visit www.GaAppleseed.org.
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