Gov. Nathan Deal plans changes designed to hold Georgia’s troubled child-protection agency more accountable in a reorganization he is scheduled to announce on Thursday, two people with direct knowledge of the move told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The move would restructure the Division of Family and Children’s Services to require its leader to report directly to the governor’s office. The agency’s head, Dr. Sharon Hill, currently reports to the leaders of the Department of Human Services.

It comes after the highly publicized deaths of two metro Atlanta children and reports in the AJC that DFCS workers’ mistakes contributed to at least 25 deaths in 2012.

Deal has since backed a plan to spend $27 million over the next three years to hire more than 500 DFCS caseworkers and supervisors. And he also formed a council comprised of lawmakers and experts charged with studying broader changes to the system, including the privatization of some foster care services.

The move could be the first step toward creating a standalone agency for child safety, but that would require legislative action. Hill’s role in the reorganization is not immediately known.