Between 2018 and 2022, Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFACS) lost track of 1,790 children in state custody. Not 17. Not 170. One thousand seven hundred ninety children. Gone.

This is not just a tragedy. It is a systemic failure so egregious it prompted a federal investigation. These were not runaway cases filed in error or simple paperwork issues. These were real children, some as young as toddlers, who vanished under the watch of a system designed to protect them.

Key Findings from the Federal Probe

• Source: Georgia DFACS shared data with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
• Timeframe: 2018 to 2022.
• Concerns: Children were vulnerable to sex trafficking, homelessness, and violence while in state custody.
• Systemic Failures: A state audit revealed an 84 percent failure rate in responding to child safety threats. In many cases, it remains unclear whether reports were made to law enforcement at all.

Operation Not Forgotten

In 2020, U.S. Marshals partnered with local and federal agencies in Georgia to recover 39 missing children. Many were believed to be victims of human trafficking, abuse, and exploitation. While that operation was commendable, it barely scratched the surface. The sheer volume of missing children suggests a systemic crisis far deeper than one operation can resolve.

This Is a National Red Flag

Georgia may be where the audit landed, but this is not an isolated problem. Across the country, children are entering foster care only to end up homeless, trafficked, or dead. Many are placed in homes or facilities that are never properly vetted. Some are removed from their families over poverty, not abuse. And once inside the system, they disappear into silence.

Where Is the Accountability?

We demand to know: Who signed off on these placements? Who failed to follow up on safety checks? Who ignored the signs that something was wrong?

When 1,790 children can vanish under state care with an 84 percent failure rate in response to child safety threats, the system is not broken. It is operating exactly as designed.

Every official who turned a blind eye must be held accountable. Every agency head who buried these numbers must answer to the public. And every child who went missing deserves a name, a face, and a voice behind the numbers.

This is not a Georgia issue. It is an American crisis.

We have now entered 2026. What would those numbers look like today? How many more have vanished while the public remains in the dark? The numbers may be outdated. The crisis is not.

To the public: Share this. Talk about this. Demand answers. Children’s lives are not expendable, and silence is not an option.

Families vs DHR Editorial Team

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