Child Advocacy Agencies Could Merge

Governor Perdue wants to merge several child advocacy agencies. He says it will create better coordination of sevices for troubled children and their families.

He is proposing to merge the children and youth coordinating commission and the Children's trust fund. Their mission is to prevent child abuse and juvenile delinquency.

Also, under the plan, the office of Child advocate would oversee the office of child fatality review.

"It is not enough to create agencies if those agencies are not coordinated to work together towards one goal," said Tom Rawlings, Goergia's Child Advocate. That goal "should be to make the lives better for our children and Families. Especially those troubled families," he said.

Because the agencies were created by laws, Perdue has to ask the legislature to change their structure.