Outstanding Advocates for Children Honored with the 2022 Hines Award
Atlanta- In a ceremony at the State Bar of Georgia’s annual meeting on June 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Justice for Children Vice-Chair Justice Charlie Bethel presented two recipients with the sixth annual Chief Justice P. Harris Hines Awards for Outstanding Advocacy for Children in dependency proceedings.
Each year the Committee honors one Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) case manager and one attorney for their exemplary work in the child welfare system. This year’s winners are Hall County DFCS Supervisor Katie Hamm and Special Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Cline of the Rockdale Judicial Circuit.
Justice Charlie Bethel and Katie Hamm
Katie Hamm has served as a DFCS supervisor and case manager in Hall County for five years. Those who work with Ms. Hamm tout her ability to resolve complex issues within some of the most difficult cases and her ability to confront crises with grace. Ms. Hamm is someone who “cares about the parents and children she serves and always works to ensure that the parents and children have all of the services they need to work past the trauma of removal, abuse and neglect,” according to Hall County Juvenile Court Judge Alison W. Toller.
Justice Charlie Bethel and Jennifer Cline
Jennifer Cline has served as Special Assistant Attorney General in Rockdale County for over four years. She is known for her collaborative approach to achieving positive outcomes for DFCS and the families it serves and her expertise in Georgia’s child welfare system. She is a certified Child Welfare Law Specialist with prior experience as a parent attorney and Guardian Ad Litem.
“Jennifer is working daily making a difference in the lives of our local children and families through her fierce advocacy both in and out of the courtroom,” wrote Rockdale Chief Juvenile Court Judge Maureen Wood in support of nominating Ms. Cline for the Hines Award.
The Chief Justice P. Harris Hines Awards were created in 2017 by the Georgia Supreme Court’s Committee on Justice for Children in partnership with Georgia’s Office of the Child Advocate
and the Georgia Bar’s Child Protection and Advocacy Section. Chief Justice Hines served as Chair of the Justice for Children Committee for 16 years and was a leading supporter of the child welfare system and juvenile court improvement. His work and commitment are honored by giving an annual award in his name to a child welfare case manager and a child welfare attorney who exemplify efforts to improve outcomes for children in foster care and other children and families involved in the child welfare system.