Two Georgia juvenile court judges on Monday told U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff that the head of the state’s child welfare agency asked judges to violate state law by keeping some children inappropriately locked in juvenile detention centers.
The judges said during a hearing in Atlanta that Human Services Commissioner Candice Broce asked judges to order children with mental and behavioral problems detained by the Department of Juvenile Justice while the state’s Division of Family and Children Services looked for a place to house them.
“Commissioner Broce said that DFCS was not set up to be caregivers for these children and she asked judges to consider detaining the children, locking them up in a juvenile detention center for a few days so that DFCS could maybe find a placement for them,” said Paulding County Juvenile Judge Carolyn Altman, who said the request would violate state law. “As judges, we do not lock up children, especially special needs children, because we cannot find a place for them.”
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