{"id":20762,"date":"2023-10-25T15:36:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T19:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=20762"},"modified":"2023-10-25T15:36:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T19:36:23","slug":"watch-sen-ossoff-convenes-first-public-hearing-amidst-ongoing-bipartisan-probe-into-safety-of-foster-kids","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/watch-sen-ossoff-convenes-first-public-hearing-amidst-ongoing-bipartisan-probe-into-safety-of-foster-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Sen. Ossoff Convenes First Public Hearing Amidst Ongoing Bipartisan Probe into Safety of Foster Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, watchdogs & advocates have sounded the alarm that Georgia\u2019s Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) is failing to protect children from abuse and neglect<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW FINDING<\/em><\/strong>: A previously undisclosed DFCS 2023 statewide audit shows the agency fails in 84% of reviewed cases<\/strong> to make concerted efforts to assess and address risk & safety concerns to child(ren) in their own homes or in foster care<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington, D.C<\/strong>. \u2014 U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee Chairman Jon Ossoff is convening a hearing as part of his ongoing bipartisan investigation into the treatment of foster children in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairman Ossoff and Ranking Member Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will today receive testimony from former foster kids, parents, and experts as part of the Subcommittee\u2019s ongoing bipartisan investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Subcommittee has found that for years, watchdogs and advocates in Georgia have sounded the alarm that Georgia\u2019s Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) is failing to protect children from abuse and neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not ultimately an investigation about statistics and bureaucratic terminology,\u201d Chairman Ossoff said in his opening statement.<\/strong> \u201cThis is an investigation about children \u2014 the most vulnerable children in our nation. Orphaned children. Children who have faced the most extreme forms of abuse and neglect imaginable. Children who have been abandoned. Children who rely upon state agencies and Federal policy, which oversees those state agencies, as their last hope for safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo years ago, I became a parent,\u201d Chairman Ossoff continued.<\/strong> \u201cAnd what we have learned is happening to children in the state\u2019s care and in the care of state agencies across the country is heartbreaking. Instead of safety, too many children have experienced neglect. Abuse. Apathy. Humiliation. Denied and delayed health care. Human trafficking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through its ongoing investigation, the Subcommittee has reviewed audits conducted by DFCS, which measure whether the agency complied with standards set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) related to child welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairman Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan probe reviewed DFCS\u2019 previously undisclosed 2023 audit, which found that while the agency initiates timely investigations in 87% of reviewed cases, they systematically fail to actually assess and address the risks and safety concerns in\u00a0the vast majority of <\/a>those cases.\u00a0According to this previously undisclosed 2023 DFCS internal audit,\u00a0in 84% of reviewed cases, DFCS failed to \u201cmake concerted efforts to assess and address risk and safety concerns to the child(ren) in their own homes or in foster care.\u201d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to watch Chairman Ossoff\u2019s opening statement.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff\u2019s <\/u><\/strong>opening<\/u><\/strong> <\/u><\/strong>statement<\/u><\/strong> below.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHAIRMAN OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cThe Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law will come to order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c8 months ago, as Senator Blackburn and I discussed the highest purposes to which we could apply this Subcommittee, we agreed that protecting our nation\u2019s most vulnerable children was a shared priority and a moral imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe then opened together this bipartisan inquiry into the welfare of children in foster care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo date, the Subcommittee has interviewed over 100 witnesses and sources and has reviewed thousands of pages of records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this work continues today with our first public hearing on the human rights of foster children in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thank you, Ranking Member Blackburn, for your participation and ongoing contributions to this bipartisan effort, which demonstrates to the nation that elected officials in Washington can put the interests of children above partisan politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaturally, representing the state of Georgia, I\u2019ve taken a particular interest in the health, safety, and treatment of children in my state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn recent years, multiple independent oversight bodies in Georgia have raised the alarm in recent years about serious failures to protect children from abuse and neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2021, according to Georgia\u2019s Office of the Child Advocate, or \u2018OCA,\u2019 Georgia DFCS received reports directly from several local Child Advocacy Centers and from the statewide Child Advocacy Centers of Georgia of failures, of which OCA characterized as evidence of \u2018systemic threats to children who are victims of physical and sexual abuse.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe following year, in 2022, OCA issued a report outlining 15 breakdowns within DFCS, which OCA described as \u2018systemic,\u2019 and reported that in all cases they reviewed to produce their report, \u2018DFCS failed to take adequate steps to respond to allegations of physical and sexual abuse,\u2019 and that OCA itself encountered those same systemic failures, \u2018consistently throughout the state through OCA\u2019s day-to-day investigative work.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn response to the OCA investigation, Georgia DFCS vehemently denied OCA\u2019s findings. But OCA stood by its report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year, Georgia DFCS received many millions of dollars of Federal funding. And as part of this inquiry, the Subcommittee has reviewed in detail DFCS\u2019 own audits of its compliance with Federal safety standards to protect children in their care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what we found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDFCS does initiates timely investigations in almost 90% of the abuse and neglect reports that were audited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut DFCS systematically fails to actually address the risks and safety concerns associated with these children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to DFCS\u2019 own internal assessment, DFCS fails in 84% of cases to, \u2018make concerted efforts to assess and address risks and safety concerns to children in their own homes or in foster care,\u2019 which is a Federal<\/a> child protection benchmark.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to HHS documentation, failing to assess risk and manage safety includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFailing to report or formally assess and investigate maltreatment allegations about a family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFailing to substantiate those allegations, despite evidence that would support substantiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd closing cases before safety concerns are adequately addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut this is not ultimately an investigation about statistics and bureaucratic terminology. This is an investigation about children \u2014 the most vulnerable children in our nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrphaned children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren who have faced the most extreme forms of abuse and neglect imaginable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cChildren who have been abandoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren who rely upon state agencies and Federal policy which oversees those state agencies as their last hope for safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo years ago, I became a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what we have learned is happening to children in the state\u2019s care and in the care of state agencies across the country is heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of safety, too many children have experienced neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHumiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDenied and delayed health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuman trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to emphasize that this is an active and ongoing inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, we will hear firsthand testimony from children and parents who have suffered from systemic failures to protect vulnerable children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll also hear from experts witnesses who will explain that these stories we hear today illustrate broader and longstanding failures to protect the most vulnerable children in Georgia and across the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI again thank Ranking Member Blackburn for her support and for her invaluable contributions to this bipartisan effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know having worked closely with Senator Blackburn over the last year how deeply she cares about the welfare of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have seen her passion displayed time and time again as an advocate for vulnerable children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd it is imperative that this work spur the long-overdue reform necessary both at the state level and in Federal policy to protect America\u2019s most vulnerable children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thank you all for your presence today and will now yield to Ranking Member Blackburn for her opening remarks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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For years, watchdogs & advocates have sounded the alarm that Georgia\u2019s Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) is failing to protect children from abuse and neglect NEW FINDING: A previously undisclosed DFCS 2023 statewide audit shows the agency fails in 84% of reviewed cases to make concerted efforts to assess and address risk & safety concerns […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20762","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/20762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/20762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20770,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/20762\/revisions\/20770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}