The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta covers 71 counties encompassing 22,137 square miles, but only three percent of the population in this area is Catholic. Despite its minority status, the Church has made its presence felt. One way that the Church is serving the population of this area is through the programs and functions of Catholic Social Services, Inc.

In May 1966, the archdiocese held its first Synod and called for the creation of Catholic Social Services to serve as a coordinating, planning and administrative organization of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Governed by a very concerned and active board of parish elected representatives, this agency provides many different services, the primary goals of which were stated in a new charter under which Catholic Social Services became incorporated in 1970:

"To formulate policy effecting a reasonable balance between the delivery of needed social welfare services and the programming of remedial approaches to the underlying social problems existing within the Archdiocese of Atlanta."

The Board of Directors of Catholic Social Services (CSS) meet on a regular basis to review and approve the actions of the executive director, Father Jacob Bollmer. Father Bollmer, who is also regional director for the Campaign for Human Development, assumes overall responsibility for the policies and programs of CSS. Four service divisions report directly to the Executive Director's office, while the Village of Saint Joseph functions as an affiliate agency.

The Clinical Services Division, headed by Miss Mary Julia Hogan, employs a staff psychologist, one full-time and two part-time caseworkers, and two "outreach" workers. Counseling is directed toward married couples, the single individual, children and parents. Also, in collaboration with the Department of Catholic Education, a part-time school psychologist works in the parochial schools offering professional consultation and identifies youngsters with education and behavioral problems.

Other services of this division also include school screening programs for kindergarten and first grade, psychological testing and evaluation for elementary age children, school placement evaluation, and school consultation and counseling of parents and children on learning and behavior problems.

Fees are adjusted to family income and as the Clinical Services Division has become recognized for its professionalism, people in need are referred to the agency by parish priests, friends, school teachers and staff, and many referrals come from other community agencies.

The "outreach" programs of this division are designed to link the Spanish-speaking and Indo-Chinese emigrants with the medical, legal, job, food, and housing accommodations of the Atlanta area.

Sister Barbara Harrington, working with a local Boys Club representative, introduced members of the Spanish-speaking community to the facilities of the Boys Club and, using the club as a base, introduced them to other agencies and services in the community. A new service is the Spanish speaking "hot-line." By dialing 404-885-1752, emergency information, referral and assistance become available to the Spanish-speaking community.

The Indo-Chinese resettlement effort, which is funded in part by the federal government and the United States Catholic Conference, is headed by Ms. Juliette Vu. American sponsors and employment are found and social adjustment seminars are held to explain health and help programs and to allow the Indo-Chinese to come together socially. Some 520 Indo-Chinese people have been settled around the southeast and over 220 are continually serviced by this program.

The Rural Service Division, headed by Sister Jean Cassidy, is centered in Cumming and offers counseling, psychotherapy, financial, food, housing and medical emergency aid for some 350 families.

David Kirksey, former administrative aide to Congressman Andrew Young, is the Director of the Division of Community Affairs. In general, this division focuses its work in the following areas: (1) Catholic Social Service Program Development; (2) Human Service Parish Outreach Programs; (3) Governmental Liaison/Advocacy; (4) Community Liaison/Advocacy; (5) Graduate Social Work Education; (6) Grantsmanship and other funding procurement activities. For example, the Division of Community Affairs is presently coordinating the effort to license the Village of Saint Joseph as an Intensive Care Facility for Troubled Children and Youth and is working to develop grants for the funding of Spanish outreach and other urban and rural human service outreach programs.

Project ReHab, formerly a service project of the Division of Community Affairs, now operates as a separate program and the administrative staff reports directly to Father Bollmer. This past year, some 50 elderly homeowners received assistance from this project. Besides rehabilitating the homes of needy elderly, the project serves as a construction training program for 20 young men and also allows groups such as SEARCH. and IHM's ACTION group to serve their community.

The various fiscal years of federal, state, United Way and private funding sources puts and unusually heavy burden on the accounting aspects of CSS. This has led to the creation of a separate division for administration and finance which is under the direction of Jane Richardson.

In 1976, Catholic Social Services received 5,463 calls for help or assistance. If you, your friends, or neighbors may be in need, dialing 404-885-6571 may help.