The Division of Family and Children Services is seeking expanded powers for case workers and juvenile court judges, despite concerns from some state legislators that the agency could be overstepping its authority.
The agency has asked lawmakers to give juvenile court judges the power to issue arrest warrants across county lines and to grant agency investigators more authority to gather evidence in child abuse cases by protecting them from criminal charges as they possess child sex abuse materials as part of their investigation. Additionally, an amended 2025 budget proposed allocating $1.7 million for DFCS in federal grant funds to beef up its investigations into sexually exploited foster children.
However, some state legislators fear that if some of those measures pass, the agency’s newly formed Special Victims Unit could be tasked with duties that mirror law enforcement and lay the groundwork for the agency to distance itself from working with local police and sheriffs where the crimes occur.
“We’ve had a lot of new discussions this year that sound new to me about DFCS becoming a law enforcement entity or having law enforcement responsibilities,” state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver said in a committee hearing last week.
Oliver, D-Decatur, said the change could threaten the long-standing relationships between DFCS and law enforcement, placing them in conflict over which agency has the authority to investigate crimes in a local jurisdiction.
But Department of Human Services Commissioner Candice Broce said the changes would help the caseworkers and the agency perform their duties and improve communication between DFCS and law enforcement.
“I recently formed the DHS Special Victims Unit, which reports directly to me, to work with Georgia law enforcement to better serve Georgia’s most marginalized children,” Broce said last week during a Judiciary Juvenile Committee meeting.
The newly established unit primarily focuses on cases that cross multiple jurisdictions and other complex cases involving crimes against children, Broce said.
Critics are concerned that the expanded powers Senate Bill 8 would give juvenile court judges could be used in the future by DFCS’ Special Victims Unit to carry out arrests, but Broce denies the bill has anything to do with her agency.
She also said the child welfare agency is not attempting to create a law enforcement entity and that the Special Victims Unit coordinates with police.
A week earlier, Oliver questioned Broce during a Human Resources Appropriations committee hearing, asking why DFCS needed additional funds for the unit.
“You said there wasn’t going to be a budget for the Special Victims Unit. But now it seems to be appearing at $1.7 million,” she said.
Broce said that, though she never requested the funding, she appreciates the House’s recommendation and sees it as a sign the agency is improving.
DFCS has a troubled history of mismanagement, staffing shortages and widespread systematic breakdowns. In 2022, the state’s child welfare ombudsman wrote a memo alleging multiple problems plagued DFCS following an investigation into the death of a child from neglect. DHS disagreed with the memo, but the agency has struggled with staffing levels since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oliver also questioned Broce about a bill that would allow DFCS workers to possess sexually explicit materials of minors — House Bill 435. Those materials are often investigated with the help of law enforcement.
Under Georgia law, case workers found in possession of child abuse material are treated like anyone else in possession of child pornography and could be subject to up to $100,000 in fines and 20 years in prison. But the DHS commissioner said that in some instances case workers are in possession of child abuse material as they are investigating cases and they should have legal protections.
“The reality is that we investigate sexual abuse, and we do in fact get some of these materials,” Broce said. “And that means that a case manager is literally breaking the law unless she can find a way to work with law enforcement and try to get some shield to prevent possible jail time.”
Rep. Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock, said she is skeptical of DFCS’ intentions. If the proposals passed, it would likely only be putting a Band-Aid on the child welfare agency’s mismanagement, she said.
Byrd said she’s seen DFCS continually struggle over the past two decades to manage child abuse cases with no real improvement. What the agency is advocating for is not the solution, in part because it steps into the territory of law enforcement, she said.
This effort comes in the wake of a scathing federal investigation into DFCS, which found evidence of mismanagement and systematic failures.
Last year, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, chaired by Sen. Jon Ossoff, concluded systematic failures in the child welfare agency contributed to deaths of children across the state.
In a statement, a DFCS spokesperson said the agency is taking steps through the Special Victims Unit and other measures to be “a better and more responsive partner for law enforcement.”
Both SB 8 and HB 435 are set for votes in the House chamber.
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