Georgia child welfare leader denies she asked judges to illegally detain children in juvenile jails

Georgia Human Services Commissioner Candice Broce, right, testifies in favor of a bill that would slow the flow of children into foster care, Feb. 16, 2023, at the state Capitol in Atlanta. A juvenile judge testified on Monday, Oct. 30, that such laws serve the interest of the state's child welfare agency, but not children. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

Georgia’s human services commissioner is firing back at an inquiry into the state’s foster care system, saying U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s efforts “leave the unfortunate impression that the goals of this investigation are political.”

Lawyers hired by the state wrote a letter Tuesday to the Georgia Democrat and Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, disputing testimony Monday by two Georgia juvenile judges who said Commissioner Candice Broce asked judges to violate state law by keeping some children inappropriately locked in juvenile detention centers.

The judges said Broce, in an August meeting, asked judges to order children with mental and behavioral problems to be detained by the Department of Juvenile Justice while the state’s Division of Family and Children Services looked for a place to house them.