CSC seeks to reduce child abuse, neglect

GAINESVILLE - The Gainesville-Hall County Community Service Center (CSC) has been awarded a $274,616 state grant which it will use, along with Northeast Georgia Medical Center and the Hall County Family Connections Network, to create a "coordinated, streamlined" approach to reducing incidents of child abuse and neglect.

Director Phillippa Lewis Moss says the money comes from the Governor s Office for Children and Families through the This System of Care: Caring Communities Grant Program.

The three parties worked for over a year to write the grant and this award is an example of what can happen when agencies collaborate, Moss said.

Paige Ferrell, Program Manager at Northeast Georgia Medical Center and co-author of the grant, said this grant will create a coordinated system of care that targets infants born at the hospital and whose families reside in Hall County. "This award is a very big deal for us. Finally, we will be able to pull together several helping agencies to provide a direct approach to serving families."

Mary Parks, Executive Director of Hall County Family Connection Network and another co-author of the grant, said, "At a time when resources are dwindling for human service programs, we are thrilled to have this award and to keep children and families front and center in our community."