On any day, about 7,000 Georgia children reside in foster homes, removed from their abusive families by state social workers. Under a plan unveiled Friday, Gov. Nathan Deal would put private organizations in charge of those children and the care they receive.
Deal’s proposal, on the eve of the General Assembly’s 2014 session, is part of his response to revelations of widespread failings by Georgia’s child-protection agency, the Division of Family and Children’s Services.
“We should all be open to anything to improve the opportunity of children removed from their parents’ homes,” Deal said in an interview. “Privatization is one option that we should explore and we will be exploring very soon.”
The move toward privatization follows Deal’s earlier proposal to spend $27 million over the next three years to hire more than 500 DFCS caseworkers and supervisors — an increase of 26 percent. That proposal came shortly after the highly publicized deaths of two metro Atlanta children and reports in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that DFCS workers’ mistakes contributed to at least 25 deaths in 2012.
Deal’s aides are still working on the plan, so details remain sketchy. It also is unclear how privatizing foster care would address the problems identified in recent death cases. In 2012, 152 children died despite DFCS intervention in their families. But just 13 of those, or about 9 percent, died while in foster care. The rest either had been returned to their families from foster care or had never been removed despite allegations of abuse or neglect.
Privatization has become the reform of choice for governors, especially Republicans like Deal, who want to fix broken child-protection systems. Deal said he wants to follow the example set by Florida, which began privatizing child-welfare services in the 1990s. Already, Deal has consulted with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who oversaw a transfer of authority to private agencies.
As in Florida, Georgia would retain authority over many aspects of the child-protection system, including investigations. State workers still would decide whether to remove children from family custody, and judges still would have to ratify those decisions. But private agencies — probably nonprofits — would take over once a child goes into foster care and would be involved in deciding when, or if, to send a child home.
Privatizing child welfare has taken hold in numerous states over the past two decades. Besides Florida, leaders in the movement include Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.
In most states, the efforts have received mixed reviews.
Nebraska, for instance, backed off the concept in 2012 when costs greatly exceeded projections. The advocacy group Children’s Rights says states should not expect privatization to save money; private agencies, the group said, are not inherently more efficient than the government.
More important, privately run foster care has not been shown to make children safer (or more vulnerable, for that matter).
“Private agencies are about as capable or not capable as public agencies,” said Crystal Collins-Camargo of the University of Louisville, who has researched child-welfare privatization nationwide. “It can be done well and it can produce good outcomes for kids. Or it can go very badly.”
Privatization advocates say reworking a child-welfare system sharpens its focus.
“It gives an opportunity to really evaluate what the outcomes for kids in child welfare should be,” said Lisa Snell, director of education for the Reason Foundation, a libertarian research organization that promotes privatization. “It helps with a rethinking of outcomes. … It’s more of an opportunity to improve quality.”
Deal has been quietly working with House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on an overhaul for DFCS. Cagle organized a working group last year to examine foster care, and Ralston said this week he was “open” to privatization.
In an interview with the Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV, Deal said he remains committed to hiring more DFCS workers. Privatization, he said, may be a longer-term solution.
“Any time we can involve the private community to assist the state, that’s a good thing,” Deal said.
Lawmakers are expected to consider other child-welfare bills, including one to open more DFCS records to public scrutiny. That bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, said she is open to shifting some functions to the private sector, but “I need more specifics and more details.”
Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, who chairs the lieutenant governor’s foster care group, said Deal’s comments reflect broad agreement that the system needs work. But he said major changes are unlikely this year.
“This isn’t an election year issue,” Millar said. “If you’re going to do this, then for God’s sake, let’s do it right.”
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