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Staff

MELISSA DORRIS CARTER, Director of the Office of the Child Advocate
As Director, she serves as the child welfare ombudsman for the state and senior policy advisor for the Governor on child welfare matters.  Prior to her work at OCA, Ms. Carter served as Training Director for the Supreme Court of Georgia's Committee on Justice for Children, a federally-funded program focused on improving the processing of civil child abuse and neglect cases in the state's juvenile courts.  Working closely with Governor Perdue, other executive branch agencies, the Legislature, and the child advocacy community, Ms. Carter helps lead OCA's efforts to make Georgia's child welfare system excels at protecting children from harm and providing services to them and their families.  Ms. Carter has extensive experience in child welfare law and policy.  Before graduating from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2002, she worked as a student case manager with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and as a legal intern at the Children's Rights Council in Washington, D.C.  Following her graduation and admission to the State Bar of Georgia, she served as a Post-Graduate Fellow in Law at Emory University Law School's Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic.   In addition to her work experience, Ms. Carter brings to OCA her credentials as a published scholar on child welfare policy; the relationships she has built working as a pro bono attorney, as a federal child welfare reviewer, and as an active member and former chair of the State Bar's Juvenile Law Committee.

TAMMY MILLS, Fiscal Administrator
Tammy runs the administrative and budget functions of OCA.  Prior to joining the office, she worked for Georgia Emergency Management Agency for eight years.  She has deep experience in administration, project management, budgeting, and grant coordination.  She also serves the office as liaison between the director and the public.

PAM PITTMAN, Child Welfare Policy & Practice Analyst
Pam joins the Office of Child Advocate from the Candler County Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), where she served for over 15 years as the county’s sole child protective services investigator and was a “master practitioner” for her region.  During her time with DFCS, Ms. Pittman handled every aspect of child abuse and neglect investigation and often served as a liaison between the Department and many local child advocacy organizations.  She holds a B.A. in Business Management from Georgia Southern University.  

MALAIKA SHAKIR, CFR Program Manager
Malaika Shakir is a program manager under the Child Fatality Review division of OCA.  Her responsibilities include providing statewide technical assistance and training to CFR committee members, building collaborations among child welfare and prevention advocates, and generating an annual report to the Governor and legislators.  Prior to joining OCA, she was employed with Fulton County DFCS where she served as a Child Protective Services Investigation Specialist for 3 years and as a Social Services Supervisor for 2 years.  She attained a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the State University of West Georgia and a Master's degree in Social Work from Georgia from Georgia State University.

SARAH STOCKER, Infomation and Referral Specialist
She conducts preliminary reviews of complaint information to determine whether they fall within the scope of the agency's mission; and if so, then assigns those cases to the Child Welfare Analysts on a rotating basis. Additionally, she is responsible for monitoring case complaints sent to OCA from the Governor's Office. Ms. Stocker maintains the office's tracking and case management system. Ms. Stocker served as an intern during the fall of 2008, while she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Child and Family Development from Georgia Southern University.  She became the Referral Specialist in December 2008.

VICKIE WHITE,  Child Welfare Policy & Practice Analyst
Vicke came to OCA in June 2003 and serves as the agency's intake coordinator and referral specialist, until December 2008, when she was promoted to Child Welfare Policy & Practice Analyst for the agency.  Ms. White brings a background knowledge as a foster care intake case manager for Bibb County Department of Family and Children Services to OCA.