ATLANTA — After a series of meetings on foster care and adoption reform, the Georgia Senate Foster Care & Adoption Study Committee has set forth its recommendations.

Challenges within the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services were spotlighted during budget hearings earlier this year when DFCS director Candice Broce reported to lawmakers the hefty cost of “hoteling,” or housing children who are in DFCS custody in hotels or DFCS offices.

Broce said children considered “complex” often have difficulty obtaining placement due to a heightened level of supervision or care that they may require and are most likely to be subjected to hoteling.

“If a child is suicidal, homicidal, suffering from active addiction, sexually or physically aggressive, delinquent or disabled, we may be wholly unable to find an appropriately-equipped foster family or group home placement,” Broce said. “Demand far exceeds supply for complex children.”

In fiscal year 2022, DFCS spent $28 million in hoteling costs.

To help address the issue, $10 million was added to the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget to help address hoteling of children in DFCS custody.

While Broce provided updates throughout the year that indicated record lows of hoteling, the committee continued to meet for recommendations on how to better improve the foster care and adoption system.

Georgia lawmakers this year approved more than a handful of to reform the state’s foster care system. Among them was the resolution creating the Senate Foster Care & Adoption Study Committee to review guidelines and processes related to improving foster care and adoptions, and recommend any action or legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.

More than 11,000 children are in foster care.

The committee approved recommendations at its fourth and final meeting Nov. 27.

Committee chair Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-32, said some of recommendations can be accomplished through legislation and may require budget approvals, while some can be accomplished through DFCS without any legislative intervention.

“I think we’ve got a clearer picture of where we stand in Georgia now with foster care and adoption, and I really appreciate everybody’s hard work and look forward to moving the ball down the field,” Kirkpatrick said.

The committee’s recommendations

Permanency: Legislation to create a uniform reporting system that allows timeline reporting for getting foster children to permanency whether through reunification or adoption. While there are existing statutory reporting requirements within the juvenile court system, there are data limitations due to the lack of a uniform statewide reporting system, Kirkpatrick said.

Roger Moore, senior policy analyst for The Council of State Governments’ southern office, estimates that on average, a child stays in foster care in Georgia for 24 months before reunification or being adopted — above the national average of 21.4 months.

State identification cards: As children in care currently face difficulties in obtaining state IDs and photo IDs, which can cause problems driving and employment, legislation to provide free easily obtainable state federal IDs to foster children.

Case manager retention: High turnover of case mangers is a large issue within DFCS. Recommendations include increased salaries, more training to include trauma informed care, and more resources to connect to nongovernmental groups that provide services to at-risk families and children.

Contracting with a closed loop referral tracking system could be highly beneficial for case managers looking for community resources

Legitimation: During committee meetings, it was highlighted that the process of becoming the legal father of a child is cumbersome in Georgia and slows the timeline to permanency. The committee recommended creating legislation to streamline the legitimation process “with protections for victims of domestic violence and others” being considered.

Expand infant and toddler courts: Designed for cases involving newborns to age three, testimony was heard by the committee on the success of infant and toddler courts in other states.

Georgia received a federal grant to pilot the program in three counties.

“These courts focus on comprehensive support of at-risk families with infants and toddlers, promote successful reunification and feature enhanced attention to unmet mental health needs of parents whenever necessary,” Kirkpatrick said. “Their expansion in Georgia could prevent many children from entering or returning to the foster care system.”

Foster and adoptive parent retention: While some issues heard in committee meetings included foster parents leaving the system due to redundant paperwork and other process issues, a significant proportion of foster and adoptive placements end due to inadequate support to manage mental health challenges of the children.

The committee recommended the expansion and access to training to foster and adoptive parents in trauma informed care. The committee also recommended and that all future compliance appraisals mandated by the 2022 Georgia Mental Health Parity Act include a separate analysis that exclusively considers the state’s foster and adoptive children.

Ensuring access to mental health services for foster and adoptive parents, themselves, was also added to recommendations from the committee.

Adjust the adoption assistance rates: Adoption assistance rates have not been adjusted since 2009. Currently, the state offers up to $1,500 non-recurring adoption related expenses in cases involving children considered “special needs.” Payments may assist in covering legal fees, court costs, and other one-time adoption-related expenses. Monthly assistance ranges between approximately $441- $486 depending on the age of the special needs child.

Committee’s recommendations for long-term, future reform

• Consider using opioid settlement funds to strengthen residential mental health treatment options for foster children with complex needs.
• Look into protections of children being transported across state lines, which should be considered due to trafficking concerns.
• Law enforcement to notify schools when a child has been involved in a traumatic event.