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The Winter 2012 Seeds of Justice issue is here!
Check out our latest newsletter to get exclusive coverage of Georgia Appleseed's projects, volunteers, and upcoming events.
Winter 2012 Seeds of Justice >>
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Effective Student Discipline: Keeping Kids in Class
Georgia Appleseed Director of Projects Rob Rhodes and Executive Director Sharon Hill are traveling the state, presenting the findings of Effective Student Discipline: Keeping Kids in Class to policy makers, educators, and community organizations and laying the groundwork for its call to action.
The 18-month study of student discipline policies and practices in Georgia's K-12 public school system includes analysis of discipline data that is remarkable for its breadth and detail. These statistical findings, combined with feedback from 200 stakeholders interviewed by Georgia Appleseed volunteers, provide keys to what feeds the 'school to prison' pipeline.
Read the report and executive summary here.
Enhancing Education Stability for Foster Children
Every year the State of Georgia assumes the role of parent to thousands of children who have been neglected or abused by their families. Helping the State build a better future for these 'children in care' through educational achievement is the goal of this new Georgia Appleseed project, in partnership with Families First. King & Spalding LLP is the lead law firm volunteer team. Learn more here.
Safeguarding Seniors: Informed End of Life Decision Making
Who makes medical care decisions for incapacitated seniors who have outlived family and friends? Georgia Appleseed's 'Safeguarding Seniors' project explores implementation issues arising out of a 2010 Georgia law that provides legal protections for older Georgians who have not executed a valid end-of life directive and who become incompetent to give informed consent to health care providers. Alston & Bird LLP is the project's lead pro bono firm. Read more.
HB 641, The Child Protection and Public Safety Act (Children's Code Rewrite)
The Child Protection and Public Safety Act (Children's Code Rewrite) has received commitments from Governor Nathan Deal, as well as the Georgia House and Senate leadership, to ready the measure for a vote in 2012.
To learn more, visit www.JUSTGeorgia.org.
Erasing the Opportunity Gap
Georgia Appleseed contributed to a recent Appleseed Foundation study, The Same Starting Line: How School Boards Can Erase the Opportunity Gap Between Poor and Middle-Class Children. It examined the equity of learning-related resource allocation within select school districts, including Cobb County, Georgia. The report includes the Resource Equity Assessment Document (READ), a user-friendly measurement tool.
Big Win for Consumers: From Research to Action
The Appleseed network scored a recent win for consumers when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its first major rule. The rule, for the first time, will require that consumers be told up front how much money will be received when they send money abroad. Georgia Appleseed was involved in the research phase of the push for fair remittances.
Read more about Georgia Appleseed's research on financial access and remittance issues here.
Read additional information from the Appleseed network here.
When My Child is Disciplined at School: A Guide for Families
This tool helps parents and guardians throughout Georgia to become informed advocates both for their children and for fair, equitably applied school discipline policies. It is available in English and Spanish versions here.
Heir Property in Georgia
NEW UNIFORM LAW TO PROTECT FAMILY LAND
The ‘Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act’ benefits Georgia Appleseed’s efforts to preserve homes of low-income families. Read more here.
How prevalent is heir property in Georgia? Hundreds of volunteers from law firms and businesses have been involved in online tax database research of select Georgia counties. Contact Crystal Chastain Baker to learn more. Read the McIntosh County report here.
"GaAppleseed: Did you know that GA's current juvenile code was adopted in 1971? A lot has changed in 40 years! Visit