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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: Georgia

Foster Care System – Atlanta

Atlanta foster care system improves adoption rates, By Paige Cornwell, June 16, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The metropolitan Atlanta foster care system continues to improve its adoption rate and is maintaining strong oversight over its foster homes, but still falls short in several key areas, according to a monitoring report released Friday. Of the children ready for adoption during the latter half of 2010, 84 percent were adopted within 12 months, according to the report by federally appointed monitors of child welfare systems, which covers the last six months of 2011. An additional 11 percent of adoptions were finalized within 13-17 months. This is the state’s best performance to date and the first time it surpassed the 80 percent performance threshold, the report notes. . .”

Medicaid Reform – Georgia

  • Reshaping Medicaid care to affect many, By Carrie Teegardin and Misty Williams, June 3, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Georgia is reshaping its Medicaid program, a complex lifeline for 1.7 million vulnerable people that consumes $21 million in state and federal dollars every single day. The state is widely expected to announce a plan this summer that would dramatically expand the use of for-profit insurance companies in a new approach to managing Medicaid. The hope: that the companies would help hold down burgeoning Medicaid costs by emphasizing prevention and better tracking and coordinating care. That should mean fewer poor, disabled and elderly Georgians end up in emergency rooms, that more psychiatric patients remain stable and that doctors share test results instead of ordering duplicates that taxpayers wind up funding…”
  • Medicaid more than medical aid, By Misty Williams and Carrie Teegardin, June 4, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “People like Francel Kendrick once spent most of their lives locked inside state hospitals. Today, because of Georgia’s Medicaid program, Kendrick and thousands of disabled people like him can hold down a job and ride a city bus to their own homes after work. Medicaid isn’t just a health plan for low-income people. These days, it’s a job training program, relief for a mom with an autistic son and crisis teams to help someone with schizophrenia live a stable life in the community. State health officials who are redesigning the state’s $7.8 billion Medicaid program face an especially tricky task in dealing with recipients who rely on this broad spectrum of services. They are Georgians with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, as well as foster children and people with disabling physical conditions that keep them in bed or in wheelchairs…”

Voter Registration at Public Assistance Agencies – Georgia

Georgia settles voter registration suit, By Bill Rankin, April 19, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The state of Georgia has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to provide the opportunity to register to vote every time people apply for public assistance benefits, a coalition of civil rights groups said Thursday. Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who signed off on the agreement, condemned the litigation. He said the settlement will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with ‘outdated and unneeded federal voter registration mandates and in attorneys fees paid to venue-shopping interest groups.’ The lawsuit alleged the state had been ignoring its obligations under the National Voter Registration Act…”