State child advocate resigns
Gov. Sonny Perdue's appointee to monitor problems with the state child welfare system has resigned to help fight child trafficking and other crimes against children in Guatemala, officials said Monday.
State Child Advocate Tom Rawlings, in the post since July of 2007, had replaced a child advocate who had many disagreements and public battles with the state Division of Family and Children Services.
Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said Monday that Rawlings helped rebuild the damaged relationship between the child advocate's office and the state child welfare agency, while continuing to serve as a hard critic of the system.
Tensions rose recently when Rawlings criticized some of the agency's methods in dealing with complaints of child abuse and neglect.
Rawlings said he was concerned some state caseworkers were not adequately investigating complaints of child abuse and neglect, placing children at risk of injury and even death. The agency largely denied that was happening.
His resignation, which became effective Dec. 31, arrived shortly after Perdue appointed him to serve in the post until 2012. Rawlings said he did not leave the post due to any hard feelings, but rather to pursue another opportunity to help children.
He will serve as the director of the Guatemala office for International Justice Mission, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that fights child abuse, child trafficking for prostitution and other human rights issues across the globe.
"This is truly something I've wanted to do," he said. "I just really love that part of the world and would love to be part of it."
He said he will help the police and prosecutors build cases, as well as provide the treatment to help children recover from child abuse and other crimes.
Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children, gave Rawlings high marks for his performance in the post.
"He has strong opinions, but I don't see him as confrontational," she said. "He always works with a mission of helping children."
Rawlings, 42, had been a juvenile court judge in Middle Georgia when Perdue tapped him to replace then-child advocate Dee Simms.
The Office of the State Child Advocate was created in 2000 to be an internal government watchdog over the state child welfare system, which focuses on investigating child abuse and neglect, working with troubled families and removing children from dangerous homes into foster care.
Deputy Child Advocate Melissa Carter will serve as acting advocate while a nominating committee recommends candidates for the post.
