New Muscogee DFCS director introduced at foster care community forum

Delbert Montgomery, the new director of the Muscogee County Department of Family and Children Services, made his first public appearance Monday as head of the agency.

Judge Warner Kennon, presiding judge of the juvenile courts of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, introduced Montgomery at a foster care community forum held in a courtroom at the Government Center. The forum was organized by Chief Superior Court Judge Gil McBride to give an update on the foster care crisis that has plagued the community the past few months.

Montgomery is the latest among several directors to run the agency in recent years. He replaces Jena Jones, who became interim director in October 2015. Jones was one of about four interim directors to head the department since 2012 when Deborah Cobb, a former acting director, and Phyllis Mitchell, an intake supervisor, were arrested for allegedly falsifying information.

At the meeting, Kennon announced the creation of a new church-based nonprofit to help recruit and support foster families, and Montgomery expressed enthusiasm for the project.

“I’m glad to be here. It’s an honor,” he said. “It’s also good, you know as a Christian man, to see that we’ve got the Christian community stepping up. ... I offer myself and my staff to any of you that are thinking about partnering with this initiative for foster care in this community.”

Kennon said it’s good to finally have some permanency in the department.

“We’ve had some good interim directors, but we’re glad to have a permanent director,” he told Montgomery. “Thus far, you’ve hit the ground running and we appreciate that. Anything that we can do as judges to help you, we very much want to do that.”

In addition to Kennon and McBride, those in attendance included Juvenile Judges Andy Dodgen and Joey Loudermilk, as well as NAACP President Tonza Thomas and Project Rebound Director J. Aleem Hud.

There were 424 children in the Muscogee County foster care system as of Saturday and only 67 homes and 151 beds, according to information provided by Kennon and DFCS representatives. Still, the number is a significant decrease from about 540 children at the beginning of the year. Kennon said 224 foster children have been placed in Muscogee County and 52 in nearby counties. The rest have been dispersed throughout the state.

“The problem, of course, with the others is even more egregious because those children are placed further away,” Kennon said. “And it’s very difficult for the families and the children to work a case plan.”

Kennon said the new church-based nonprofit, Covenant Foster Care Coalition Inc., will have its first executive board meeting on Thursday. The organization, spearheaded by Calvary Christian Church, will also have an advisory board that will be open to the community.

“There are 450 churches in Columbus,” he said. “So you see real quick, if one church could take one child, it’s over. It’s easier said than done, but that is our goal.”

Covenant Foster Care Coalition was created after an Atlanta-based organization, Faithbridge, pulled out of plans to mobilize Columbus churches to address the foster care problem.

Local churches raised about $90,0000 for the project, said the Rev. Jeff Struecker, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, in a previous interview. He said Calvary raised $40,000 and the rest of was donated by other churches and private donors. When Faithbridge decided to pull out of the area, they offered to return the money to those who requested it. Some donors opted to have the money returned, and others asked for their money to go to a nonprofit created to address the problem. So about $50,000 was sent to Calvary Baptist, which put it in a separate account.

McBride said the foster care numbers have dropped because DFCS and judges have been more successful at placing children with family members.

Community leaders commended the judges and DFCs and judges on the progress and offered additional advice on how to resolve the crisis. McBride said the group would try to meet again in February.

Prior to position as Muscogee DFCS director, Montgomery served as director of multiple programs with the Department of Juvenile Justice, according to DFCS. He oversaw the operations of the Residential Services Division at the Jackson County Family Court, Sumter Youth Development Campus, Marietta Regional Detention Center and the Beloit Correctional Facility.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and has experience implementing various programs, as well as human resources management experience, according to DFCS officials.

This story was originally published December 5, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "New Muscogee DFCS director introduced at foster care community forum."