Perdue, others have until Oct. 10 in child welfare case

A judge has given Gov. Sonny Perdue and other defendants in a child welfare case until Oct. 10 to resolve complaints that they have failed to live up to a court settlement that promised to find homes for more children in foster care.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob had found in August “clear and convincing evidence” that the state had failed to comply with two critical parts of the settlement agreement reached in 2005: To find homes for a certain percentage of foster children and to do so within designated time frames.

In August, Shoob gaved the defendants 20 days to show why they should not be held in contempt. The defendants are Perdue, state Human Resources Commissioner B.J. Walker and the directors of the Fulton and DeKalb offices of the state Division of Family and Children Services.

On Sept. 9, Shoob signed an order granting the defendants until Oct. 10 to resolve the matter. The lawsuit was brought by Children’s Rights Inc., a New York nonprofit group that advocates for better foster care services.