MAY 2024

If you’ve been following Apple Bytes over the last 5 months, you know that Senate Bill 169 was one of our big legislative wins this year. On April 23rd, Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill into law! We worked with Senator Chuck Payne to write SB169 after we learned that the children referred to us for education support were waiting 18 days out-of-school on average before they had a school disciplinary hearing to determine if they had violated a school rule or not. Some children waited almost two months! While out of school, these children received no educational support—causing academic backslide and putting a strain on teachers when they returned to the classroom far behind their classmates and disengaged. Children in foster care fared the worst—these pre-hearing suspensions create big disruptions. Working foster parents couldn’t care for kids stuck at home during suspensions, and the kids had to move to new foster homes and new school communities.  

Photo L to R: Policy Counsel Morgan Bridgman, legislative consultant Ted Burdo, Executive Director Michael Waller, Governor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, and Sen. Chuck Payne.

The new law requires that disciplinary hearings happen quickly and that kids get the educational materials they need while awaiting their hearing. Working with legislators, coalitions, and organizational and agency partners, Georgia Appleseed won new education rights for Georgia’s most vulnerable kids. The result—more kids staying in school through graduation. That’s a result that benefits all of us! 

Roaring for Justice Recap

Thank you to our guests, sponsors, and donors for our ROARING success at April’s fundraiser. We raised $336,201, funds that will grow our impact and help us provide legal support to kids across Georgia.  

Roaring for Justice was unforgettable. Talented youth musicians and Unknown Lyric wowed us with their live performances. And the young artists in our art exhibit inspired us to work together to build a better world for children. A particularly heartwarming highlight—one of last year’s youth artists presented our Good Apple Awards to this year's honorees: Judge Amanda Heath, Georgia Power Foundation, and The Carter Center! Be sure to check out our photos. Stay tuned for information about next year's event celebrating our 20th anniversary! 

Prioritizing Behavioral Wellness in Schools 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Are you aware that students are six times more likely to complete mental health treatment when the treatment is provided in schools compared to community settings? That means that school-based mental health is the best choice for the 515,000 Georgia kids (3-17 years old) looking for mental health supports. Georgia Apex, our state-funded mental health services in schools, served only 11,000 kids last year.   

Our goal is to make mental health services as common as the school lunch, available for every child who needs them. Through a close collaboration with The Carter Center, Voices for Georgia’s Children, and Resilient Georgia, we are providing schools with the help they need to provide needed services to their students. Check out the new resources on our revamped site SchoolBasedBehavioralHealth.org and keep an eye out for upcoming updates to our website’s interactive data map.   

Executive Director Michael Waller and Staff Attorney Mary Kathryn Velazquez represented Georgia Appleseed at the recent Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, an annual event since 1995 that brings together a diverse group to discuss state mental health policies. Their participation ensures we incorporate cutting-edge strategies and insights into our advocacy. 

Check out our latest advocacy training! It’s free, online, and interactive. "Advocating for Children in Foster Care" teaches the basics to get the best outcome for your child (and not just kids in foster care) in school disciplinary proceedings.

Whether you are a parent, foster parent, educator, caseworker, attorney, or other caregiver, you will learn how to prepare for your child’s school disciplinary proceedings.  

Find it on our website or our new training platform, AppleseedTraining.org.

Georgia Appleseed advances justice for Georgia's most marginalized children to keep them in school, in healthy homes, and out of the justice system. Join us by making a donation and/or becoming a pro bono partner.

Connecting with you helps us build our community of advocates and amplify our mission to advance justice for children across Georgia. Follow our social media sites to stay up to date with resources, celebrations and announcements. View our video library on YouTube, and follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and FaceBook.