Sponsored Legislation
The National Day to Prevent Teen PregnancyMay 2nd, 2007
Albany Herald Editorial: Nan on the Ultrasound Bill
Nan's comments on the 2007 session - Audio
AJC Editorial Supports Nan's Answer to Abstinence Only: Senate Resolution 388 Prevention First Act
Letter on Fulton County DFCS
As a Senator representing Fulton County, I was disappointed with DHR Chairwoman Mary Burns’ letter to the editor (“DFCS report mishandled”) chastising Georgia’s Child Advocate Dee Simms, for releasing to the public her report on Fulton DFCS. Burns bemoans this lack of commitment to a “true partnership” between DHR and the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA). Let’s remember that OCA was created to be a separate and independent office having oversight over Family and Children’s Services of DHR, not a partnership. The advocate is a watchdog on behalf of families and children, not a partner, not an accomplice, not an enablerof DHR and DFCS.
OCA has an obligation to report to the legislative branch as well as to the executive branch. There is a good reason for that. It’s too easy for negative evaluations to get bottled up if the only people getting that information are the ones ultimately responsible. Indeed, the Governor had this report well before it appeared in the press. Opposition to public release of the report suggests “circling the wagons” defensively rather than grappling with the very real and life-threatening problems in DFCS.
Alarming details in the OCA report show why the public needs to know. A fair reading of the report leads one to ask this damning question: Was DFCS’ message to its staff to minimize investigations by Child Protective Services done in order to “make the numbers look good” for the Department?
None of the information in the report should be surprising to DHR. Fulton County DFCS is under a consent order with tax-paid monitors keeping watch. DHR did not need a “partner” to know what was going on. It simply had to pay attention. Their failure to do so justifies release of the disturbing OCA findings to the public.
All of this points to the importance of having a clearly independent voice looking out for children. Complaining about a “leak” and a lack of “true partnership” is nothing more than a ham-fisted ploy to change the subject — delivered by a DHR Board Chair whose husband is the Governor’s former chief of staff. I want this discussion out in public, where it belongs. Our children deserve nothing less.
Nan Grogan Orrock State Senator, District 36
Elections and Common Sense Government
I want to thank so many neighbors and friends from across our city who turned out in the elections this summer and fall, registering voters, volunteering, hosting meet-the-candidate parties, writing checks, sporting yard signs, leafleting, phoning, driving people to the polls. Civic activism is the key element in bringing change and our neighborhoods provide a great example of this truth.
As your newly elected State Senator, I am pleased and appreciative of the support for my candidacy and I pledge to work hard to serve our neighborhoods and Atlanta. Thank you and let me hear from you at 404-656-0325!
As the holidays draw near, I’m reminded that the priority of government should be strengthening families. The dust has settled after the election and this new Congress presents an exciting opportunity to cut through the rhetoric, re-prioritize spending and deliver tangible results for families on the perennial issues of healthcare, education, jobs and consumer protection.
At the federal level, there’s a strong movement for The Common Sense Budget Act. This groundbreaking legislation increases federal investment in programs that build strong communities; costs us nothing more in taxes; uses $60 billion of funds recouped mostly by eliminating Pentagon spending on weapons systems designed to thwart the former Soviet Union which no longer exists; and maintains America’s ability to defend itself from terrorism or other threats.
When you allocate money in your household budget, you use common sense. You make sure that what matters gets paid for: child care, health care, shelter, food. And you don’t spend money on what doesn't make sense -- like a tank on the roof or radar in the yard.
It’s time we insist our leaders use this kind of common sense on the federal budget.
A common sense budget will allow us to provide health insurance to the children who lack it, rebuild our crumbling public schools in twelve years, retrain a quarter million workers, cut our reliance on foreign oil in half over ten years, increase funding for homeland security and medical research, save millions of lives of starving kids in impoverished nations and begin to reduce our outrageously high deficit.
Help make this common sense approach a reality. Learn more and take action at www.sensiblepriorities.org. Our City Council members hope to pass a resolution urging common sense budget action in Washington, and I’ll keep fighting to inject a common sense approach into Georgia’s state budget. We re-convene in January under the Gold Dome so let me know your issues and ideas as we move toward 2007, a brand new year that I hope will bring peace and security here at home and around the world.
