ATLANTA — While foster families wait for the results of a federal inquiry, lawmakers are moving forward with several measures aimed at keeping foster children out of hotels.
It’s positivity for reform, but some Georgia foster families tell Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln that more needs to be done.
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Some families say while these bills may keep kids out of the foster system, they don’t address the dozens of kids who are currently sitting in hotels.
“It’s great to me, but it really didn’t address the hoteling. It addresses let’s keep the kids in the home,” said Julie Selander.
A series of bills aimed to reduce the number of foster kids entering the system recently passed the Georgia Senate. Lawmakers say these bills are intended to make it easier for children to stay with their parents. One bill includes Senate Bill 133 that’s aimed at streamlining custody and guardianship procedures.
The bills will go before the house for a vote.
“We need more resources for these children, not leaving a 13-year-old in their home when they’re being sexually abused by a sibling,” foster parent Julie Selander told Channel 2 Action News.
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Selander said she’s been trying to get a foster child, who’s stayed in eight hotels over the course of seven months, placed into her home.
“A 12-year-old to move from hotel to hotel with no education. He’s not received any education, no counseling. He cannot read and he’s 12,″ said Selander.
Selander says the child was dropped off by Child Protective Services last August for a temporary stay before being placed in the state’s hoteling system.
She says none of the bills actually address getting foster kids out of Georgia hotels.
What do we do with these kids that are currently in the hotel? How are we going to get them out? Where do they go?” she said.
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The Department of Human Services sent Channel 2 Action News the following statement about the bills:
We deeply appreciate Governor Kemp, Lt. Governor Jones, Speaker Burns, Chairwoman Kay Kirkpatrick, Chairwoman Mandi Ballinger, Chairman Matt Brass, Chairman Bill Cowsert, Chairman Brian Strickland, and Chairman Blake Tillery for their leadership to improve Georgia’s child welfare system. Through their advocacy, these six bills – if passed in the opposite chamber and signed into law – will have a significant, positive impact on countless children’s lives.
While these bills are advancing, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office is awaiting results from a February federal bi-partisan inquiry into the state’s handling of foster children, after a series of Channel 2 Action News investigations.
A Georgia Department of Human Services spokesperson said they couldn’t go on the record regarding the reason for the delay but said in a prior statement:
We have received the letter, and we look forward to sharing our efforts to protect Georgia’s children.
DFCS director Candice Broce stated during a January committee session hoteling was born out of necessity because of staffing issues.
Ossoff’s letter also pointed out that between 2021 and 2022, 55% of all DCFS caseworkers left the job.
Channel 2 Action News found so far the state has spent roughly $250,000 in taxpayer funds to hotel a single child. Last year the state spent $28 million to fund housing foster children in hotels.
Selander has started a nonprofit to help foster children and families in need. For more information, click here.
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