Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children 

Here is the future for Children and Family Service Providers - Normer Adams, Executive Director

• Family Centered Practice Agencies and Family Preservation Agencies will do more case management for the State. 
• Mental Health providers will assume more of the therapy needs of children and families. 
• Foster Care numbers will continue to go down.  Group home numbers will go down while the percentage in group home will go up.  Now it is about 20%. 
• Group Homes will be used to care for the more difficult child, ie-medically fragile, behaviorally, developmentally and mentally challenged. 
• Placements will be shorter.
• Facilities will be expected to work more closely with the family.  Family Centered Practice will be the norm. 
• Independent Living services and transitional services will be more common.
• Gaps in services will continue to be dealing with the difficult child, fire setters, sexual predators, self harming, and the violent youth. The no eject/no reject agency will be the preferred agency with the State. 
• Foster care will be the preferred service.  The agency that can figure out how to keep children in foster care versus group homes will be a preferred agency.
• Assessments will be done earlier, quicker, and more integrated with the services provided.  “Systems of Care” and the Intensive Wraparound Services will be the model of care.