Fayette County Department of Family and Children Services
905 Highway 85 South
Fayetteville, Georgia 30215
Dear Community Partner:
I am sending you information about a wonderful resource this agency has developed. This includes a summary of the project, a referral/request form, a partner agreement, and general project guidelines for your information. It is called Project A.C.F.A.S.C., which stands for "Appropriate Clothing For All School Children." This is the only project of its' kind in Georgia. Here is how it works:
A referral from a school counselor, caseworker, or other family service agency is made to this office for a particular child needing particular clothing items. Then, a match is made for the child to be sponsored by an A.C.F.A.S.C. Partner who will assist in obtaining the clothing items. Partners may either shop for a child or provide a monetary donation to support the program. This process should take about a week to ten days – thus the A.C.F.A.S.C. (ACT FAST) acronym. The project was developed with the idea in mind that clothing should be made available to children with demonstrated need, within a short period of time, and with as little "red tape" as necessary. Also, the goal of the project is to ensure that no child in the county go to school wearing inappropriate clothing. This program started in May 2003. To date, 588 requests have been received. We have 112 Partners, but more are needed to keep up with the ongoing requests.
This project was developed following numerous reports of clothing needs for school age children, as well as requests from concerned citizens to help children in need.
If you have questions, or would like to talk with me directly about this project, please call me at 770-460-2477.
Sincerely,
Sharon Herbert,
Community Resource Specialist
Fayette County DFCS
PROJECT A.C.F.A.S.C.
(APPROPRIATE CLOTHING FOR ALL SCHOOL CHILDREN)
GOAL:
No child in Fayette County should go to school without adequate clothing.
VISION:
School, social service, private citizens and community businesses and agencies work together to develop a program to identify children who need clothing assistance, and to provide adequate clothing in a timely manner to the child.
CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION:
The child may attend any educational program, which includes day care centers, private or faith-based programs, head start program, and public schools. Children who attend private or church sponsored programs will be included. The child must be a resident of Fayette County.
IDENTIFICATION OF CHILD IN NEED:
A referral for assistance will come from a staff involved in the program the child attends or who has personal knowledge of the family circumstances. The referral must include type of clothing needed, sizes of clothing, and sizes for undergarments, socks and shoes. An objective evaluation of need and a brief narrative summary must be included to support request for assistance. This summary must demonstrate need as indicated by child wearing clothing which is too small or too large, inappropriate for weather conditions, same clothing worn repeatedly and may have worn or torn character. Confidentiality of the children will be maintained.
NOTIFICATION TO PARENT/GUARDIAN:
The educational program or service agency staff making the referral must notify the family/guardian of the referral.
FUNDING FOR CLOTHING:
Community Partners have been the sole source of funding for this program. They are identified as A.C.F.A.S.C. Partners, and may do this as an individual, family, faith-based, civic or social service group, or business.
COORDINATION OF REQUESTS:
Requests for clothing assistance will be directed to the Community Resource Specialist at Fayette County DFCS, and then matched with an A.C.F.A.S.C. Partner. Need and the willingness of the local community to sponsor children through this project will determine the continuation of the program.
PROJECT A.C.F.A.S.C.
(APPROPRIATE CLOTHING FOR ALL SCHOOL CHILDREN)
GENERAL GUIDELINES
1. This project was developed to assist school age children in Fayette County to receive appropriate new clothing, who had demonstrated need, and for which there are no other resources to purchase clothing. Ideally, clothing assistance should be received in a short period of time, with as little "red tape" as possible, thus the acronym A.C.F.A.S.C. ('act fast').
2. Children who are referred for assistance must be a resident of Fayette County.
3. Referral source has the responsibility for notifying parents or guardians that this project is a resource and their child has been referred.
4. Referral to this project does not constitute a referral for child protective investigation. If the referral source feels there are additional concerns, they should report their concerns to 770-460-2555.
5. This project may be used for a child up to two times a calendar year. A period of six months between referrals is suggested, unless the referral source strongly recommends varying from this. Other resources for clothing may be given to parents should the need continue. The resource for no cost used clothing include: Fayette Samaritans: 770-719-2707. Local area thrift shops would be a resource for low cost used clothing.
6. When a referral is matched with a Partner, a recommendation for three outfits is made. This would give the child one to wear, one in the hamper, and one in the closet. Also, the child can mix and match to have more than three outfits. It is also recommended that clothing tags remain on the clothing if exchange is necessary.
7. Confidentiality of the child and family will be maintained. Partners will be
given only enough information to complete sponsorship.
8. Partners who do not like to shop, but want to support the program can provide a gift card or monetary support to buy gift cards. $150.00 per child is usually adequate to secure most of the needed items.
9. An A.C.F.A.S.C. log will be maintained supporting use of the project. The
type of information gathered will include: age of child, area of the county referral came from, type of clothing requested, and referral source type (i.e. school, social service agency). This information will substantiate the use of the program.
10. Input regarding the project process will be solicited from the Partners and these guidelines will be amended as needed. At a minimum, this Project will be reviewed annually. This is a community project with DFCS, referral source, and Partners working together to help meet this critical need for Fayette County's children.
PROJECT A.C.F.A.S.C. PARTNER AGREEMENT
(APPROPRIATE CLOTHING FOR ALL SCHOOL CHILDREN)
NAME OF PARTNER: ____________________________________________________
ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________
TELEPHONE: _________________________; CELL:___________________________
FAX: _________________________________E-MAIL:__________________________
TYPE OF PARTNERSHIP:
_____INDIVIDUAL
_____FAMILY
_____FAITH-BASED GROUP
_____CIVIC/SOCIAL AGENCY GROUP
_____BUSINESS
_____OTHER: ______________________
TYPE OF ASSISTANCE PROVIDED:
_____One time a year, one child
_____Whenever there is a request
_____One time monetary support to the Program (make checks payable to Fayette
County DFCS, 905 Highway 85 South, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215)
_____Other:_____________________________________________________
ASSISTANCE PREFERENCE:
_____Contribute money to purchase request for clothing, shoes
_____Purchase specific clothing, shoes for a specific child
_____Donate clothing for a particular child (this option for businesses who sell clothing)
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT: I (We) agree to hold confidential any information received regarding request for clothing or shoe items for any child referred through this program. I (We) understand the information provided to me (us) regarding a child or their family circumstances will be limited, and only include information, which will successfully complete a transaction. I (We) understand the information I (We) provide in this agreement will be maintained by DFCS Staff and will be used only to link program requests with community partners. All partnership transactions are final and confidential. I(We) do (do not) agree to release my(our) name to the media for promotion purposes.
_____________________________ __________________
Partner Representative/Contact Date
(A Partner may also include gently used clothing or other requested items, in addition to the new clothing purchased for the child)
PROJECT A.C.F.A.S.C. REFERRAL
CONFIDENTIAL
(THIS FORM SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY THE REFERRAL SOURCE, NOT THE PARENT)
Name of child: ______________________Date of Birth:_________Age:_________
Referring educational program or social service agency:______________________
Referral agency address: ________________________________________________
Type of clothing requested: Coat, size ___; Sweater, size ___; Shirt, Size___; Pants, size ___; T-shirt, size ___; Socks, size___; Shoes, Size___; Underwear, Size_____; Other: __________________________ (state if sizes are youth, ladies, juniors, men's, etc.; include any observation about the child's size, i.e., tall, slim, husky, etc.; include requests for SCHOOL CLOTHING only)
Objective evidence of need (check all that apply): ___Clothing too small/too large; ___Inappropriate for weather conditions; ___Clothing worn several days in a row, unclean odor; ___Clothing with holes or worn character; __Other:______________
Narrative summary to support request: ___________________________________
(Include your observations, what the child may have told you about their clothing, what their teacher has reported, ability of parent/guardian to purchase needed clothing, other available resources to purchase clothing; CHILDREN WHOSE CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT DEMONSTRATE FINANCIAL NEED ARE NOT AN APPROPRIATE REFERRAL. PARENTS WHO REQUEST THIS SERVICE SHOULD BE EVALUATED BY YOU. THEIR REQUEST DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A REFERRAL)
Referred by: _________________________Phone: _______________Date:_________
_______________________________________________________________________
OFFICE USE: PROGRAM NUMBER: _ _ _
Request received by: ________________________Date: ________________________
Action taken: ___________________________________________________________
School/agency contacted regarding disposition: (include who contacted, date, phone): ________________________________________________________________
PROJECT A.C.F.A.S.C.
GIFT CARD CERTIFICATION
This gift card is to be used for clothing and/or shoes for the school age child identified in a request letter provided to the Coordinator of Project A.C.F.A.S.C.
The receipt for the clothing and/or shoes must be returned within one week to the Coordinator. You should ask for a gift receipt for yourself in the event of a need to return an item. Please put the A.C.F.A.S.C. # listed below on your returned receipt and bring it to the DFCS office for Sharon Herbert.
If the gift card is issued to a department store selling food or items other than clothing and/or shoes, a separate receipt must be obtained for the items purchased for the child. Food or drink items, cigarettes, cleaning products, toiletries, or any other items not specifically requested cannot be purchased with the card.
If the card is lost, stolen, or misplaced, it cannot be replaced.
If for some reason the card is not used for the child it was requested for, it must be returned to the Coordinator of the project.
_______________________________ __________ ____________________________________
A.C.F.A.S.C. # Initials Store and Amount of Gift Card
_______________________________
Project A.C.F.A.S.C. Coordinator
_______________________________ _________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Receiving Card Caseworker or Counselor receiving card for Parent
_______________________________ _________________________________________________
Date DFCS Acct. or Partner Sponsored
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