Family Intervention Services: Deborah Battle Celebrates 10 Years with LSG

LSG congratulates FIS' Deborah Battle on 10 years with the agency, and looks forward to many more! When Deborah Battle obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, she was unsure of the direction she would go in so she stayed at her alma mater working in the Financial Aid Office immediately after college. Unbeknownst to Deborah, her best friend submitted her resume to NYC’s Child Welfare Administration where she worked for five short months. Unhappy with the idea of removing children from their homes, Deborah decided to go work for Little Flower Children’s Services where she quickly worked her way up to a supervising position. During her eight years at Little Flower Children’s Services, Deborah felt like she was doing more of helping families rather than disrupting them. This fulfillment made it hard for Deborah to depart when her family decided to move to Georgia.

While working for Department of Family and Children Services in the Foster Care division, Deborah met Kathy Sullivan who was the Lutheran Services of Georgia (LSG) Foster Care Supervisor at the time. Sullivan took note of Deborah’s superior case management skills and hired her on October 1, 2001. Foster Care has grown tremendously since Deborah started in 2001. The staff was much smaller, there were only three case managers and a supervisor and there were no satellite offices. In the ten years that Deborah has been with LSG she has served as a case manager, lead case manager, and recruiter, and has done agency intake as well as home study writing and more recently a trainer. Wearing many hats has been something that Deborah has come to appreciate, citing it as a way for her to learn so much and a way to never get bored here at LSG.

When asked what her plans with LSG were for the next decade, she replied “I’d like to continue to do training and working with FIS. I enjoy what I do, but eventually I’d like to be out of the ‘field’ altogether. I’m getting to old for the all of the driving.” She also believes that LSG is a Blessed agency and believes in the mission. She also added, “I am comfortable here; I love the people that I work with too. Sometimes I wonder if I am missing out on something when others leave, but then when I get to the see a child happy, healthy and progressing after they have been with and LSG home, the reward is immeasurable”.

Deborah has been an exceptional asset to Lutheran Services of Georgia and we congratulate her on 10 years of service with the agency and wish her many more pleasant years to come.