Georgia’s child welfare system is facing an estimated $85 million funding shortfall, according to testimony and statements provided by Department of Family and Children Services leadership and child welfare advocates during recent legislative discussions.
During a state legislative committee meeting, advocates and agency officials warned lawmakers that the system responsible for protecting abused and neglected children is nearing a breaking point. According to those working within the system, a shortage of foster homes, ongoing staffing gaps, and rising operational costs have left fewer safe placement options for children entering state care.
DFCS leadership and partner organizations told lawmakers that the strain is no longer theoretical. They said service reductions are already occurring as resources tighten.
Dr. Joel Lyon, CEO of ProFamily Georgia, told legislators that services for children and families have been scaled back, describing a system struggling to maintain stability amid financial pressure. According to Lyon, programs designed to support families and prevent deeper crises are increasingly vulnerable.
Officials with the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, which operates under the Department of Human Services, cited federal funding reductions, workforce shortages, and a lack of foster placements as compounding challenges. DFCS leadership told lawmakers that children entering care are presenting with more complex needs, including trauma, instability, and significant mental health concerns that require intensive services and long term support.
During testimony, DHS Commissioner Candice Broce acknowledged that the agency is being forced to make difficult decisions as demand continues to outpace available resources. According to Broce, the margin for error is shrinking as the system struggles to meet growing needs with limited capacity.
Nonprofit organizations that partner with DFCS echoed those concerns. Service providers told lawmakers that transportation assistance, in home therapy, behavioral health programs, and other wraparound services that help keep families stable are now under increased scrutiny or at risk of reduction. According to providers, these services often determine whether a family remains intact or a child enters deeper involvement with the system.
Families vs. DHR is also examining how limited resources are being used when families are pulled into the system unnecessarily. As funding grows tighter, questions emerge about how much time, staffing, and service capacity are being devoted to cases that may not have required removal or prolonged system involvement at all.
According to advocates and DFCS staff testimony, every investigation, case plan, placement, and service referral draws from the same finite pool of resources. When families who could have remained safely intact are pulled deeper into the system, those resources are no longer available to children facing immediate danger, severe neglect, or complex medical and behavioral needs.
The concern raised by advocates is not abstract. When unnecessary system involvement increases, foster placements fill faster, caseworkers are stretched thinner, and prevention services become harder to access for families who truly need them. In times of financial strain, these decisions carry wider consequences across the entire child welfare system.
As lawmakers consider how to address the funding shortfall, advocates say it is critical to examine not only how much funding is allocated, but how responsibly the system determines which families require intervention and which could be better served through voluntary, supportive services outside of state custody.
Advocates and agency officials also raised concerns about how limited resources are being allocated more broadly. According to testimony, every investigation, placement, and prolonged case draws from the same pool of caseworkers, foster homes, service providers, and administrative oversight. When those resources are stretched thin, officials warned, children with the most urgent safety needs face longer waits for intervention and care.
DFCS staff and advocates emphasized that as the system becomes more strained, decisions about allocation carry broader consequences. Children who could have remained safely at home may enter care, while children facing severe abuse or neglect compete for increasingly limited services and placements.
Lawmakers familiar with child welfare policy said the issue must be treated as an urgent priority when the General Assembly returns to the Capitol. They noted that delays in addressing the funding gap could further destabilize an already strained system.
In a statement, the Governor’s Office said steps have been taken to address part of the projected shortfall, citing appropriations made in the current and upcoming fiscal year. At the same time, officials acknowledged that costs have risen rapidly and that the deficit remains fluid as budget discussions continue.
As Georgia lawmakers prepare for the next legislative session, child welfare officials and advocates say the issue is no longer simply about funding levels, but about whether the system can responsibly meet its mandate under current conditions.
According to those working within DFCS and partner organizations, the consequences of underfunding are felt not in budget spreadsheets, but in delayed services, overwhelmed caseworkers, unstable placements, and children waiting for help that does not arrive in time.
The concerns raised during legislative testimony now form part of the public record. What lawmakers do next, advocates say, will determine whether this moment leads to meaningful intervention or becomes another warning left unaddressed.
