Deal: State to hire hundreds of child welfare workers
Gov. Nathan Deal wants to spend $27 million to hire 425 new caseworkers over the next three years for the state Division of Family and Children’s Services, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, two child-welfare workers from Cobb County are out of a job following an investigation into the death of 12-year-old Eric Forbes. The Paulding County boy died last month allegedly at the hands of his father, who is charged with murder.
The agency has come under fire or the handling of the Forbes case and of abuse reports involving 10-year-old Emani Moss of Gwinnett County, whose burned, emaciated body was found in a trash can earlier this month. Her father and step-mother have been charged with her murder.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation revealed that deep flaws in the state's child welfare system have left children at risk of abuse and neglect.
About the Author
Alan Judd is a former investigative reporter for the AJC. He has written about persistently dangerous apartment complexes in metro Atlanta, juvenile justice, child welfare, sexual abuse by physicians, patient deaths in state psychiatric hospitals, and other topics.
