Foster Care Privatization Put On Legislative Back Burner

The report makes little mention of plans to bid out services like foster care and adoption to private groups. It merely notes, “The Council recognizes that Georgia’s Child Welfare system is already partially privatized.”

As heard on the radio

Instead, the report suggests nearly three dozen legislative fixes to improve conditions for kids in state care. Proposals include creating a child abuse registry, improving data sharing with other state agencies and forming a statewide advisory board for the Division of Family and Children Services.

The report also calls for boosting caseworker and supervisor salaries, as well as support of Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to hire enough caseworkers to bring the average caseload down to 15.

At a press conference to unveil the report, Deal said he already OK’d funding for an additional 103 caseworkers last year and will ask for more money this year.

“We believe that with these rather significant increases in funding for additional personnel over the last couple of years, we are making substantial progress on getting to that 15 cases per caseworker,” Deal said.

The state legislature looked poised to pass a privatization plan last year after a few children with a significant DFCS case history died at the hands of their caretakers. Deal even looked to support the idea, but it ultimately failed amid infighting between the House and Senate.  

A pilot program proposed by the governor to do the same also sputtered. DFCS Commissioner Bobby Cagle said it was eventually scrapped due to a lack of applications and high costs.

Cagle said the focus on the foster care system was misplaced.

“Although well intentioned, the attention was on the wrong part of the system. It needed to be on the part of the system where children were dying, and that was in the investigations end,” Cagle said.

Gov. Deal says some of the report’s suggestions will be taken up in the legislative session.