Human Services Programs

COG's Human Services Program seeks to advance a broader understanding of regional human services issues and helps meet the human services needs of member local governments and the general public. Human Services project areas include child welfare issues, analyses of children in the foster care system; child abuse and neglect; substance abuse control; regional education and training issues; human relations, and human rights.

Human Services Policy Committee
This Committee comprises elected officials and social services and public safety directors and managers. It provides policy direction to committees; reviews and approves committee reports; develops policies directed to the Board of Directors for approval and resolution; shares information on common human services concerns on behalf of local governments; and serves as a forum for debate on human services issues.

Child Care Committee
The Committee consists of representatives from local government, resource and referral, child care consultants, advocates, and others address issues related to child care on a regional basis. The committee collaborates with other organizations to support child care initiatives such as HESP--the Higher Education Scholarship Project, in which child care providers receive tuition aid for college-level education and training.

Foster Care Committee
Representatives from local government foster care agencies participate on this Committee to manage a regional foster parent recruitment campaign, consolidate information about foster care in the region, develop and sponsor training for foster parents and child welfare social workers, and coordinate efforts to identify adoptive families for children in foster care. The Committee also formed the Wednesday's Child Subcommittee, which executes a partnership between COG, local governments, and the media (principally NBC4) to facilitate adoption of children in foster care.

Human Relations Committee
Comprised of human relations, human rights, fair housing specialists, and human relations educators, the Committee meets to explore issues of common concern throughout the region. The Asian Task Force and other ad hoc subgroups are brought together for various projects such as developing reports on the Hate Crimes Statistics Act (see Public Safety also), housing discrimination and promoting dialogue on bias and other work and life issues.

Program Contacts

Terri Braxton, Foster Care / Adoption Program Manager - (202) 962-3264