Gov. Nathan Deal ousted the leader of Georgia’s child protection division Thursday and replaced her with an early childhood expert he said would bring about a broader cultural change at the troubled agency that could ultimately shift more children to foster care.
Deal said he has ordered Bobby Cagle, the new head of the Division of Family and Children Services, to reverse the “indoctrination” of caseworkers who were taught to focus more on reunifying families than ensuring a child’s welfare.
Cagle, who led the state’s early care department, replaces Sharon Hill, who is taking a job in the state budget agency.
“There is a culture within DFCS that probably has not produced the best results,” Deal said of the focus on family reunification. “While that is a laudable goal, I believe the more appropriate goal is the welfare of the child. It’s going to take someone who is coming in from the outside who can change that direction. It sounds like a subtle distinction but it’s not.”
The governor also said he would support legislation next year that would make it a criminal offense for a parent who knows they are facing a DFCS investigation to move without telling state authorities. Child welfare advocates say investigations frequently stall when a family leaves town without telling anyone.
Cagle was one of Deal’s first appointees after his 2010 election. Cagle was tapped in January 2011 to lead the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, where he oversaw the state’s pre-kindergarten programs and rolled out new day care licensing rules. He previously worked as a lobbyist for DFCS.
Cagle will report directly to Deal, and the governor said he instructed the new appointee to be “more aggressive” in handling early signs of abuse. He said under past administrations, case workers have been sanctioned for not meeting a certain family reunification ratio.
“They have a tough job but I want to make sure we train them appropriately and they know they won’t be punished administratively or otherwise for doing what the policy asks them to do,” he said.
Deal, who said the shakeup came after several cases that “could have been handled better,” previously backed a plan to spend $27 million over the next three years to hire more than 500 caseworkers and supervisors for the agency. He also formed a council comprised of lawmakers, health care workers and experts to study changes, including the privatization of some foster care services.
Arizona’s child safety agency underwent a similar overhaul in January, and the move here could be a precursor for a push to create a standalone child safety division. Deal ruled out a special legislative session to create a separate division, but said he would back a proposal to make it more independent if the next six months proved to be successful.
“I think it’s a very distinct possibility,” he said. “We just want to see in the short-term whether it works better this way, and I think we’ll see that.”
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