Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children   

Thomas Russell, LCSW, LMFT
The Bridge
Administrator of the Year
 
 
Tom Russell has been an esteemed member of our profession for over 25 years. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Licensed Supervisor for Family Therapy and Social Work. He has served as the Executive Director and CEO of The Bridge for almost six years. He also currently serves as the Treasurer of the GAHSC, thereby sits on its Executive committee. Tom has presented at numerous conferences, trainings and workshops statewide and nationally. He is an accomplished author writing several publications regarding couples therapy and improving specialized foster services. We are most proud of Tom's leadership and direction for change in The Bridge's program service delivery model to community-based, family-focused, strength-based practices. The positive outcomes of this service shift at The Bridge contributed to this same training model getting delivered over a three-year period to all programs in the state providing level of care services.
 
Tom deserves this award because of the level of commitment he has to working with youth and families in the state of Georgia. He has dedicated many years his career to advocating for the best services possible for abused and neglected adolescents (12-17 years old) and their families using a solution-focused approach to service delivery. He has empowered the staff at the Bridge to empower families through their being viewed as "the experts in their treatment". He has challenged our staff to think "outside of the box" in caring for Georgia's youngsters and families, not necessarily taking "no or can't happen" as a general rule of thumb. Instead he questions with "why not". He has encouraged our staff to redefine family seeking any responsible adult willing to actively participate in a youngster’s treatment. The phrase, "no one is a stranger at The Bridge" is truly how Tom interacts with everyone he engages at our agency. He seeks the best in not only staff of The Bridge, but the families and youth we serve.
 
Tom is a team player who has had flexible commitment to our agency's mission. He has high ethical standards and is a creative and experienced leader. He has a sincere desire to work with the population we serve and can give strong personal and professional rationale for his desire to do so, exhibiting compassion and empathy for Georgia's youths and families. Though he is the Executive Director, Tom is very involved in the development and implementation of the agency's programs, ensuring responsiveness to the needs of our clients and facilitating their successful completion of the treatment program. He knows our youth as people through daily conversations and not merely by what he reads about their histories. He is a gem to The Bridge, and in my opinion to the state of Georgia.
 
Though Tom is actively involved in GAHSC and serves on other subcommittees in the state, he remains successful at administering the agency in accordance with its established policies and effective management principles. He consistently models high standards of ethical conduct in the management of internal and external agency activities. He provides clear direction and vision in the development of The Bridge. The Bridge maintains a respected position within the service community and provides services in a manner that is effective and responsible through Tom Russell's leadership. He represents intermediate care providers within this state with pride, working in a manner that is true to our maintaining that it is the children who are most important in the work that we do. He has been committed to the LOC implementation process sitting on the implementation committee as well as the financial sub-committee for this process. He is just simply dedicated.

Mr. Ronnie Eckert
Child Care Worker of the Year
 
Just over four years ago a middle-aged man with zero childcare experience, applied for a position as a residential house parents with Good Shepherd Therapeutic Center. . During the interview, two things became very apparent. First was his kind and caring nature. The second was not his desire to find a job, but to find a place to pour himself into helping children. Mr. Ronny Eckert has raised two sons almost single handedly and now felt teenage boys with attitude should be the next step in his life’s path.
 
From the beginning, we know we had found a jewel in “Mr. Ron”. He instinctively know the balance between “steel and velvet” in his interaction with “his boys”. He would soak ethic was extraordinary. He was always the first up to work and never left until everything was accomplished. He understood the importance of a paper trail and knows we only served our boys when the facts of the situation had been written down. Our only concern was ensuring he took adequate time off away from work, Because Mr. Ron didn’t consider caring for “his boys” work. Mr. Ron has allowed his compassion, his complete understanding of discipline and that intangible trait that allows him to see the good in the worst behaving boy to raise him above the norm in childcare.
 
Many stories come to mind over the last year which shows his compassion melded with his deep understanding of the working of teenage boy’s minds. Few boys ever were able to fool Mr. Ron and when it happened, he always understood their motivation. He never takes verbal attacks or their disruptive behaviors as an attack against him personally. When they did “push his buttons” he would disengage and come looking for one of the senior staff to vent with. After venting, he would say, “ok, now I’m ready to jump back in”. The definition of his calling was his ability to take their enormous hurt and anger on himself, thereby enabling him to use his wisdom to instruct and encourage his boys to let go of their angers and teenage with life in a positive way.
 
We could fill a room with the notes and gifts the boys have given Mr. Ron over the years. He has touched the lives of boys nobody else wanted. Almost one hundred percent of the boys Mr. Ron has worked with came from other failed placement, many with more than ten failed placements. Any adult that moves into that environment and allows a teenage boy from that background to attack him verbally and physically and still chooses to stay for years on end to tend to that child is a candidate for sainthood.
 

Sue Smith
Georgia Parent Support Network, Inc.
Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
Sue Smith founded the Georgia Parent Support Network, a nonprofit advocacy organization in Georgia supporting children with mental illnesses and behavioral challenges and their families. Using GPSN as a model, other parent organizations have been founded across the country with Sue’s direct involvement and support. She is the past President of the Mental Health Association of Georgia, past President of the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Caregiver Award and the Tipper Gore “Remember the Children” Award, and she has served as a guest faculty member at Harvard Graduate School and Emory University. Sue was one of the key stakeholders involved in the development of Fulton County’s system of care (ChAMPS), which was the first system of care in Georgia and has become a national model for best practices. As an active advocate at local, state, and national levels, Sue and her vision for children and families has created many possibilities that have resulted in successful service programs, both in Georgia and around the country. No project is too large or impossible for her vision.
 
Sue Smith has made a difference in the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of children and families through her compassion and her advocacy efforts. She brings her enthusiasm and non-traditional approach to service provision into the workplace, making GPSN known for its untiring dedication to children and families and for stepping in to help when other agencies cannot. If not for Sue and others like her, parents would not have a voice on many of the committees and councils that make decisions for their at-risk children. Her mild manner has truly moved mountains.
 
Since the day Sue became involved in the field of mental health, she has worked tirelessly, devoting all of her time, energy, and personal financial resources towards the benefit of at-risk children and their families. She takes calls for advocacy day and night, both in the office and at home, and has made it well known that she is always available for children, families, and the professionals who are working to improve the lives of children. From meeting with children and/or families any time and at any place they wish, to becoming a therapeutic foster parent when the system failed to meet a child’s needs, Sue has demonstrated exceptional dedication to her job and her vision for at-risk children.
 
Sue Smith is a member of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children, the National Mental Health Association, the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, the Mental Health Block Grant Planning Council, the Mental Health Services Coalition, the Editorial Review Board of Brooks Publishing (Systems of Care for Children’s Mental Health), and the ChAMPS Administrative Council.

 

Mr. Doug Joiner
The Bridge
Gail Bayes “Vision for Children” Awards
 

Mr. Joiner is the Clinical Director at the Bridge. He projects confidence and the desire to improve situations. Mr. Joiner has the incredible gift of vision and the devotion, energy and commitment necessary to make a vision a reality. He enthusiastically puts his heart & mind into creating programs aimed at improving the lives of our children.

Mr. Joiner was asked to create a transitional living program to assist young adults, soon to turn 18, who are not ready to mange a traditional I.L.P. With help from staff, he has created an educational supportive and non-traditional option that will meet the needs of many young adults in our system.

Rep. Judy Manning
Legislators of the Year
 
Representative Manning has worked with us to develop and pass a criminal records check bill through the House and the Senate. It is now in the Senate. The wonderful thing about Judy is that she is interested in helping the children’s home and foster care agencies. She had no problem with her bill being amended to the Bright Start legislation. She just wanted to get the legislation passed.

David Graves
Legislators of the Year
 
Representative Graves has worked with us to get the sales tax exemption legislation passed. David is a master politician. When the bill seemed dead he was able to rive it through some good relationships and good buddy politics. It is now in the Senate. David has also supported SR 560. His other accomplishments include: he is an active board member of the Mercer School of Medicine; and served on MEDCID Foundation.
 

Michael Frazier
The Bridge
Social Service Worker of the Year.
 
 
Since 1998 Mike Frazier has worked with children, adolescents and families helping with developmental, self-esteem, anger management, and severe emotional disturbances among a variety of other issues. Mike consistently seeks ways to enhance and broaden the kid’s perspective at the Bridge. He recently gave up a weekend to lead a group of male residents at the Bridge on an overnight trip to Koinina Farm, teaching youth about this important and not widely known part of Black history and acceptance in our lives.
 
A Colleague says of Mike, “it’s nothing for him to be here early and stay late. I call him “Super Therapist” and tease him about making us other therapist look languid. He goes far beyond the call of duty to make sure that the kids are successful, even those kids who are in the Bridge’s Aftercare Program.
 
In the Bridge’s Aftercare Program, You are provided with therapeutic and community-based services for an additional twelve months after discharging from the Bridge. Mike consistently goes beyond the realm of his job responsibilities to ensure that a person in his care is safe and on a positive path. One of those people was a young man recently discharged from the Bridge to his family home. Mike help this young man focus on higher education, employment (how to get and how to hold a job) and how to be a contributing member of the community. This young man struggled at one point and moved out if his family home. Mike was by his side all the way, spending personal time helping this young man find a safe place to live, maintain the focus on education and retain a job. Mike continues to assist this young man and others in similar circumstance.
 
Mike’s compassion extends far beyond the walls of The Bridge. He and his brother adopted a family of four who have faced challenges with homelessness, joblessness and emotional and behavioral difficulties. He continually works with underserved populations throughout the community carrying with him compassion and faith.
 
Its Mike’s way of life that’s “above and beyond’. The modesty he expresses in his activities and accomplishments is tremendously deserving of this award.

Jane Garman
United Methodist Children’s Home (Decatur)
Supervisor of the Year Award
 
Jane labors tirelessly and faithfully on behalf of children in foster care through developing and supporting workers to serve foster families. She provides direction and vision for UMCH’s foster care program as she recruits and develops foster homes. She empowers our agency with knowledge as she attempts to navigate a partnership with the State of Georgia in behalf of children.
 
Through her experience in the field and her outstanding personal traits, Jane has gained incredible wisdom. She shares this wisdom with confidence, humility, and love. Her level of commitment to the job and to us, her team, is demonstrated in so many ways; but one that comes to mind is that she defines the word “reliable”!
 
Jane cares for the spiritual needs of the workers she supervises. She prays with us, listens and addresses our concerns out of her vast experience. She supports us in developing a diversity of skills. She works long hours in orders to recruit and train foster parents. She does every task before her with excellence and will never settle for second best for herself. She expects an excellent quality of work from herself and her workers.
 

In addition to her supervisory responsibilities, she also takes an active involvement in presenting UMCH to the public always reflecting the excellence and professionalism of our agency. She writes and develops policy in relation to foster care, and takes time to talk personally with foster families needing experienced consultation.
 
When she sees a job that needs to be done, outside her job description, she will quietly and quickly go about completing the task. There are times she gains no recognitions for working outside her job parameters; however, this never appears to dampen her enthusiasm for efficiency and smooth sailing. Despite her sometimes-overwhelming workload, she maintains an open door policy, and we never feel like we are interrupting her. In additions, she believes in us and allows to grow in areas of our individual interest.

Mr. Johnny Jennings
Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries, Inc.
Volunteer of the Year.
 
Mr. John Jennings is a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries, Inc.
 
Mr. Jennings has been a supporter of the Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes for many years. He began a fund-raising project of recycling to help his 5th grade boys Sunday school class earn money to give for missions. That turned into a full-time job for Mr. Jennings and the proceeds from the recycling are given to the Children’s Home.
 
Each May, Mr. Jennings presents a check from the previous year’s recycling efforts. In May 2003, he presented a check for $10,000.00 which brought the total money earned since the beginning to over $150,000. Johnny is planning on presenting a check at our May Board Meeting and since last May he already has over $11,000 from recycling.
 
In addition to this individual project, Mr. Jennings has led their church and association to support the Children’s Home. He had the idea for “a mile of pennies” project, which Burning Bush Baptist Church still participates in as well as many other churches in Georgia.
 
Mr. Jennings speaks on behalf of the Children’s Home when requested to do so. He is very faithful in attending all trustee meetings. But above this service on our Board, he and his wife, Gwen give of their time daily in the recycling project. Johnny Jennings is truly a blessing to the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home and he is a partner in ministry making a difference in the lives of the children we serve.