[Senate Hearing 118-612]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 118-612
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF FOSTER CHILDREN
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 25, 2023
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Serial No. J-118-39
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Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
www.judiciary.senate.gov
www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-957 WASHINGTON : 2025
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COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois, Chair
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina,
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota Ranking Member
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOHN CORNYN, Texas
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey TED CRUZ, Texas
ALEX PADILLA, California JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
JON OSSOFF, Georgia TOM COTTON, Arkansas
PETER WELCH, Vermont JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
LAPHONZA BUTLER, California THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
Joseph Zogby, Chief Counsel and Staff Director
Katherine Nikas, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
JON OSSOFF, Georgia, Chair
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee,
PETER WELCH, Vermont Ranking Member
LAPHONZA BUTLER, California JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
Jessica Jensen, Democratic Chief Counsel
Josh Divine, Republican Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Ossoff, Hon. Jon................................................. 1
Blackburn, Hon. Marsha........................................... 3
WITNESSES
Aldridge, Rachel................................................. 5
Prepared statement........................................... 32
Carter, Melissa.................................................. 16
Prepared statement........................................... 35
Hetherington, Emma............................................... 18
Prepared statement........................................... 45
Houston, Mon'a................................................... 7
Prepared statement........................................... 64
APPENDIX
Items submitted for the record................................... 67
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF FOSTER CHILDREN
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2023
United States Senate,
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m., in
Room 226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Jon Ossoff,
Chair of the Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senators Ossoff [presiding], Blumenthal, Welch,
Butler, Blackburn, and Hawley.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JON OSSOFF,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA
Chair Ossoff. The Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
will come to order.
Eight months ago, as Senator Blackburn and I discussed the
highest purposes to which we could apply this Subcommittee, we
agreed that protecting our Nation's most vulnerable children
was a shared priority and a moral imperative.
We then opened together this bipartisan inquiry into the
welfare of children in foster care.
To date, the Subcommittee has interviewed over 100
witnesses and sources and has reviewed thousands of pages of
records, and this work continues today with our first public
hearing on, ``The Human Rights of Foster Children'' in the
United States.
I thank you, Ranking Member Blackburn, for your
participation and your ongoing contributions to this bipartisan
effort, which demonstrate to the Nation that elected officials
in Washington can put the interests of children above partisan
politics.
Naturally, representing the State of Georgia, I've taken a
particular interest in the health, safety, and treatment of
children in my State.
In recent years, multiple independent oversight bodies in
Georgia have raised the alarm about serious failures to protect
children from abuse and neglect.
In 2021, according to Georgia's Office of the Child
Advocate, or OCA, Georgia DFCS received reports directly from
several local child advocacy centers and from the statewide
child advocacy centers of Georgia of failures which OCA
characterized as evidence of, quote, ``Systemic threats to
children who are victims of physical and sexual abuse.''
The following year in 2022, OCA issued a report outlining
15 breakdowns within Georgia DFCS, which OCA described as,
quote, ``systemic,'' and reported that in all cases they
reviewed to produce this report, quote, ``DFCS failed to take
adequate steps to respond to allegations of physical and sexual
abuse,'' and that OCA itself encountered those same systemic
failures, quote, ``consistently throughout the State through
OCA's day-to-day investigative work.''
In response to this OCA investigation, Georgia DFCS
vehemently denied OCA's findings.
But OCA stood by its report.
Last year, Georgia DFCS received many millions of dollars
of Federal funding, and as part of our inquiry, the
Subcommittee has reviewed in detail DFCS' own audits of its
compliance with Federal safety standards to protect children in
their care.
And here's what we found. DFCS does initiate timely
investigations in almost 90 percent of the abuse and neglect
reports that were audited, but DFCS systematically fails to
actually address the risks and safety concerns associated with
these children.
According to DFCS' own internal assessment, DFCS fails in
84 percent of cases to, quote, ``make concerted efforts to
assess and address risks and safety concerns to children in
their own homes or in foster care,'' which is a Federal child
protection benchmark.
According to HHS documentation, failing to assess risk and
manage safety includes failing to report or formally assess and
investigate maltreatment allegations about a family, failing to
substantiate those allegations despite evidence that would
support substantiation, and closing cases before safety
concerns are adequately addressed.
But this is not ultimately an investigation about
statistics and bureaucratic terminology.
This is an investigation about children, the most
vulnerable children in our Nation: orphaned children, children
who have faced the most extreme forms of abuse and neglect
imaginable, children who have been abandoned, children who rely
upon State agencies and Federal policy which oversees those
State agencies as their last hope for safety.
Two years ago, I became a parent, and what we have learned
is happening to children in the State's care and in the care of
State agencies across the country is heartbreaking. Instead of
safety, too many children have experienced neglect, abuse,
apathy, humiliation, denied and delayed healthcare, human
trafficking.
I want to emphasize that this is an active and ongoing
inquiry. Today, we will hear firsthand testimony from children
and parents who have suffered from systemic failures to protect
vulnerable children.
We'll also hear from expert witnesses who will explain that
these stories we hear today illustrate broader and long-
standing failures to protect the most vulnerable children in
Georgia and across the Nation.
I, again, thank Ranking Member Blackburn for her support
and for her invaluable contributions to this bipartisan effort.
I know, having worked closely with Senator Blackburn over the
last year, how deeply she cares about the welfare of children.
I have seen her passion displayed time and time again as an
advocate for vulnerable children, and it is imperative that
this work spur the long-overdue reforms, necessary both at the
State level and in Federal policy, to protect America's most
vulnerable children.
I thank you, all, for your presence today and yield to
Ranking Member Blackburn for her opening remarks.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN,
A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
Senator Blackburn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
begin by welcoming Senator Butler. We're delighted to have you
as a part of our Subcommittee and the Judiciary Committee, so
welcome. We look forward to your participation.
And I want to thank you, all, for being here, each of our
witnesses today. You've been open, you have testimony that we
appreciate having, and we look forward to having your response
to our questions as we move through today.
I do thank Senator Ossoff and his team for the consistent
work that they have done on this issue. Now, he mentioned that
several months ago, he started the investigation into what was
happening with Georgia.
And likewise, we looked at what was happening in Tennessee.
That's important to do. These are the States that we represent,
and looking at what of--is happening there is paramount to
having an understanding of what is happening all across the
country.
And when we look at the foster care system, we know that
the children that are there are not there because of something
they have done. They are there because of situations or because
of adults who have let them down or a circumstance that has
occurred in the life of a family.
So what we have to do is make certain that these children--
as Senator Ossoff said--the most vulnerable children, are not
going to be let down by the system.
And as our work here on the Human Rights Subcommittee, what
we're doing is bringing this issue home and saying how does--
let's start right here with where we are and look at the
situations that are out there with children that are in our
communities and in our States.
And it is our duty to make certain that these children are
going to be safe and that they are going to be protected from
predators, they're going to be protected from traffickers, and
that they know that they are surrounded by people who honestly
care about them and care about their well-being.
In February, I sent a letter over to the Tennessee
Department of Children's Services expressing concern about
several items. There was a 2022 finding and report regarding
the agency's performance in protecting children that were in
their care.
In that letter, I expressed a commitment to work together
with the State of Tennessee to better protect the children that
are in the custody of DCS.
Since that time, under the leadership of Commissioner
Margie Quin, the Department of Children's Services has
undergone a complete and total overhaul. Commissioner Quin,
who, by the way, has done a phenomenal job in our State working
on issues of children being trafficked, making certain that
children are being protected.
Here are some of the things that she has done, and, Mr.
Chairman, I think, these are so instructive to us and to how we
solve this problem of protecting children in the States'
custody.
Commissioner Quin has cut State manager--case manager
vacancies in half, causing the caseloads to drop dramatically.
And as of March 2023, not a single child was being housed in
DCS offices, another big benchmark.
Now, in Tennessee, the faith-based community had stepped up
to really fill the gap to house children immediately when they
enter State custody. And 48 more beds in a clinical and secure
setting will be opened by the end of the calendar year.
Of course, there's always more to be done to protect these
vulnerable children, and Commissioner Quin has put in the work
that is necessary to get this department on the proper footing.
And I believe her response to my letter highlights a lot of
that good work.
And Mr. Chairman, I do want to enter that for the record.
Senator Ossoff. Without objection.
[The information appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Blackburn. And I think that what we will see is
what they have done when they were presented with this
situation is to move forward with corrective action that can
help so many other States, and it will be a model for States
that have these persistent problems.
Now, we can't talk about protecting our foster care
children without talking about the individuals who make a
profit off exploiting our children.
Human traffickers target those who they perceive to be the
most vulnerable among us. So it should be no surprise that
children in the foster care system are disproportionately
targeted for sex and labor trafficking.
I look forward to hearing from our experts today on how we
can close that pipeline, which we have to close that pipeline
between the foster care system and human trafficking. Because
until we put an end to child trafficking, we cannot truly
fulfill our commitment and our goal of making certain that
these boys and girls that are in our care are going to be
protected.
Thank you so much, and thank you for your leadership.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Ranking Member Blackburn, for
your opening statement.
And before we hear from those witnesses in our--excuse me,
from those experts in our second panel, we're going to hear
from two courageous witnesses in our first panel who have
firsthand experiences interacting with the foster care system,
Ranking Member Blackburn, in my home State of Georgia.
Rachel Aldridge is the mother of Brooklynn Aldridge, who
died in DFCS' custody in 2018 when Brooklynn was just 2 years
old.
Mon'a Houston is a 19-year-old from Savannah, who recently
signed out of DFCS custody. Ms. Houston spent 5 years in 18
different placements, and only two of those placements were
foster homes. The rest were group homes, institutions, or
hotels.
Before opening statements, it's the practice of the
Subcommittee to swear in witnesses. If you two, please, would
kindly rise and raise your right hand.
[Witnesses are sworn in.]
Senator Ossoff. Please be seated, and, Ms. Aldridge, it's
now your turn to offer your opening statement. Please remember
to hit that button to activate your microphone when you're
ready. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF RACHEL ALDRIDGE, GEORGIA PARENT,
WRAY, GEORGIA
Ms. Aldridge. Chairman Ossoff, Ranking Member Blackburn,
and Members of the Subcommittee, my name is Rachel Aldridge.
I'm only here today because of a broken system that led to the
murder of my 2-year-old daughter, Brooklynn.
In 2018, the Georgia Division of Family & Children
Services, better known as DFCS, utterly failed to honor its
responsibility to me and my daughter. My life will never be the
same.
Nothing can bring back my beautiful, sweet, and innocent
Brooklynn, but I hope that my testimony can save another
child's life and prevent families from having to go through
what I experienced. That is why I took the first plane trip my
life to address the Subcommittee.
DFCS is supposed to protect children like Brooklynn.
Instead, they violated my rights as her mother. They placed her
in an unsafe home against my wishes, setting off a chain of
events that led to her murder. The woman who killed my daughter
is now serving a life sentence without parole.
[Pause.]
Ms. Aldridge. It took years to expose the problems that led
to the preventable death of my child.
Here's how the system failed Brooklynn and me.
Before DFCS got involved, I had sole uncontested custody of
Brooklynn. On January the 14th, 2018, Brooklynn was removed
from my care. That happened when I was wrongfully arrested and
detained in jail for a week. The police called DFCS to the
scene of arrest. DFCS was supposed to make sure Brooklynn was
in a safe home while I was in jail.
[Pause.]
Senator Ossoff. Take your time, Ms. Aldridge.
Ms. Aldridge. I promised myself I wasn't going to cry.
Okay.
I had already arranged for my sister, a registered nurse,
and brother-in-law, a Federal law enforcement agent, to take
Brooklynn on the day of my arrest. They knew Brooklynn and are
very close family members. She adored them. They are also--they
were also certified foster parents.
DFCS refused to honor my wishes and rejected them as
responsible caregivers for Brooklynn. Instead, DFCS placed--
DFCS placed her in the home of her father. He was not actively
involved in her life. He was not legally recognized as her
father and is not a certified foster care parent. More
importantly, he did not have custody of Brooklynn.
I was released from jail days later, and my first stop was
to Brooklynn's father's home to pick up my daughter. I was so
worried about her because she had never spent the night away
from me.
Brooklynn was very excited to see me, and I expected to
take her home. But I didn't.
Her father told me ``no'' and showed me paperwork that I
later learned was a forged DFCS safety plan. The forgery said
that if I took Brooklynn, he had to call law enforcement.
I felt I had no choice and left Brooklynn at his home. I
was distraught when I left her that night.
Brooklyn's father had a live-in girlfriend who cared for
Brooklynn while he was at work. I was very worried about that
because I believed his girlfriend was using methamphetamine. I
saw her messages to drug dealers.
Since Brooklynn's father often worked overtime shifts, I
was very concerned about leaving her alone with his girlfriend.
The next day, I spoke to a DFCS supervisor. She told me
Brooklynn's father had temporary custody of her. I shared my
concerns with a supervisor about his live-in girlfriend caring
for my daughter and the signs of meth use in the home.
I begged the DFCS supervisor to move Brooklynn to my sister
and--my sister and brother-in-law's house where she would be
safe. The supervisor ignored my pleas.
Brooklynn stayed at her father's house for another
agonizing 6 weeks, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Brooklynn died on March 6th, 2018. The cause of death was blunt
force trauma to the back of the head, and the girlfriend was
convicted of murdering Brooklynn.
[Pause.]
Ms. Aldridge. I filed a wrongful death lawsuit against DFCS
caseworkers, and my complaint alleged, ``DFCS did not--did not
take immediate action after I repeatedly told them about my
concerns about Amanda Coleman's suspected drug use.''
The system meant to protect children failed Brooklynn at
every level. From management down to the caseworker, repeatedly
they failed to follow the policies meant to keep my child safe
and violated our rights.
Brooklyn's death cannot be in vain. I am here today to seek
change. The child welfare system is supposed to protect
families, not destroy them.
Brooklynn would still be alive if anyone at DFCS had just
been willing to listen to me, her own mother. We need better
oversight of the system to ensure the safety of all Georgia
families.
I am grateful for the support I've received. I'm grateful
to my attorney, Brent Savage, for all the work he has done.
Senators, you can stop this from happening again. You have
the power to change the system. Please remember Brooklynn.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Aldridge appears as a
submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. Ms. Aldridge, thank you on behalf of the
whole Subcommittee for your courageous testimony and for
sharing your story with us.
And, Ms. Houston, when you're ready, it's your turn now to
deliver your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF MON'A HOUSTON, FORMER FOSTER YOUTH,
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
Ms. Houston. Chairman Ossoff, Ranking Member Blackburn, and
Members of the Subcommittee, my name is Mon'a Houston. I'm 19
years old, and I'm here today to share my experience as a
former foster youth in DFCS system in Georgia.
I was in care from 2017 to 2022. During that time, I had 18
placements. Only two were foster homes. The rest were group
homes, institutions, or hotels.
I had three case managers. Only one regularly visited me
and answered my phone calls. I would often go more than 6
months without seeing my caseworker.
I felt alone.
One of the worst parts about being in care is that I was
overmedicated. DFCS kept telling my doctors to open to--I'm
sorry. DFCS kept telling my doctors to up my dosage because I
was not behaving. I was overmedicated to the point of feeling
overtired and sluggish. It hurt to walk. But I had trauma and
no one to talk about it with.
The only time I regularly saw a therapist was when I was in
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health for 10 months. Devereux was
a maximum security residential treatment program. I was in a
behavioral part--I was in a behavioral program similar to a
group home, but with more security.
It was a lockdown facility. It had barbed--two barbed wire
fences. You never left the campus, not for school, outings, or
food. I only left for doctor's appointments.
During this time, I was often physically restrained. They
slammed me into walls and put my arms into locks. They would
wrap their legs around me so I couldn't move.
At three different times, I was put into isolation for more
than 5 days. The isolation room was similar to a jail cell, and
I was treated as an inmate. You had to request access to the
bathroom. I wasn't allowed to shower. Even when my menstrual
cycle came, I couldn't wash or change for 3 days. This was the
darkest time in a placement.
Education was challenging while I was in care. Because I
was moving placements so much, the only education I would get
would be online. I asked my case managers and my placements for
a tutor because I struggled with understanding, but no one
would listen.
Eventually, I just gave up. I still haven't completed my
GED.
My most traumatic experience was when I was arrested at 17.
The group home showed the police a video that didn't include me
getting attacked first. Staff didn't de-escalate the situation.
On September 7th, I was taken to jail from September 7th to
November 8th in Americus, Georgia.
When I was in jail, I was scared and alone, and I didn't
know anything about what was going to happen. My caseworker
never called me. This was my first time ever getting in
trouble. No one from DFCS brought me any medications that I was
on, which resulted in significant depression. I'm sorry.
After a month in jail, the sheriff was trying to help me
get out for my 18th birthday, which is October 26th. They said
I could be released on a $200 bail.
DFCS refused to pay my bail. I could only be released to
DFCS custody. I was at DFCS' mercy, and they left me there for
another month.
The sheriff finally offered a PR bond, and at--on November
8th, I was released to DFCS custody. They picked me up and put
me in a hotel for 2 weeks. The hotel was my last placement.
I thought my case manager was finally coming to see me, but
she sent somebody else instead--like always. This person told
me to sign a bunch of papers. I was so angry that my caseworker
didn't show up, that I just signed the papers. I was furious.
If I knew what the papers said, I would've never signed
them.
The person--the person said to me, ``You just signed
yourself out of care. You need to be checked out of the hotel
by 11 a.m., and we are not responsible to help you get back to
Savannah once you sign out.''
My attorney in CASA was not present. They were unaware of
the papers being presented to me.
They left me at the hotel in Columbus, Georgia. If it
wasn't for one kind behavioral aide, I would've never knew how
I would get back to Savannah.
I'm doing this so other youth know that they can come out
on the other side. I was 17 when I was finally assigned a Court
Appointed Special Advocate, CASA. Ms. Page was the first adult
who listened to me. She would regularly fight with DFCS to get
me what I needed.
I had one good case manager who showed she cared about me
and listened to me, and now I'm connected with Brightside
Advocacy, which supports me and provides me with hope.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Houston appears as a
submission for the record.]
Senator Blackburn. Ms. Houston?
Ms. Houston. Yes, ma'am.
Senator Blackburn. Did you say your birthday is tomorrow?
Ms. Houston. Yes, ma'am.
[Laughter.]
Senator Blackburn. Well, I think that calls for a big
``Happy Birthday.''
[Laughter.]
Senator Blackburn. Everybody in.
[Committee Members and attendees sing ``Happy Birthday.'']
Ms. Houston. Oh, my God.
[Committee Members and attendees cheer and applaud.]
Ms. Houston. Thank you.
Senator Ossoff. Bet you didn't know that was coming.
[Laughter.]
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, both, for your powerful personal
testimonies and for sharing these stories with the Senate and
with the public to help the public understand that we're
talking about human beings. We're talking about real families.
We're talking about real youth who move through the system.
Ms. Aldridge, my daughter is about to turn 2 in December,
the same age as Brooklynn when she was murdered.
And so, as a father, I want to thank you for sharing
Brooklynn's story with us today. And I know there are no words
that can describe the pain, and I'm so sorry for everything
that you and Brooklynn have been through.
Ms. Aldridge. Thank you.
Senator Ossoff. I am entering into the record a motion for
pretrial summary judgment that was filed in Ms. Aldridge's
wrongful death lawsuit against the DFCS caseworkers who handled
Brooklynn's case.
[The information appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. Now, Ms. Aldridge, DFCS placed your
daughter in the care of her father, Mr. Lott, and his
girlfriend, Ms. Coleman.
But you were still Brooklynn's custodial parent, and you
had the right to object to that placement. Did DFCS ever tell
you that?
Ms. Aldridge. No, sir.
Senator Ossoff. If you had known that DFCS needed your
consent, would you have agreed to let Brooklynn stay with Mr.
Lott and Ms. Coleman?
Ms. Aldridge. Definitely not. I would've--I would've took
my daughter home. She had never been away from me before--
ever--never.
Senator Ossoff. And you knew that--or suspected that Ms.
Coleman was dangerous. Is that correct?
Ms. Aldridge. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. DFCS had a policy requiring it to run
background checks----
Ms. Aldridge. Right.
Senator Ossoff [continuing]. On people who take care of
children.
But DFCS didn't run that background check. Did they?
Ms. Aldridge. No, sir.
Senator Ossoff. And if they had run a background check,
they would've found that Ms. Coleman had a criminal history and
that DFCS had previously pursued a child neglect case against
her. Correct?
Ms. Aldridge. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. Ms. Aldridge, court records show that when
you visited Brooklynn, you noticed there was a bruise on her
leg. Did you report that bruise to DFCS?
Ms. Aldridge. I did.
Senator Ossoff. But even after you reported that bruise,
DFCS kept Brooklynn with Ms. Coleman. Is that correct?
Ms. Aldridge. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. How did that make you feel?
Ms. Aldridge. Helpless. All I wanted to do was take my
daughter home, and I couldn't. That's it. I just wanted my
baby.
Senator Ossoff. And, Ms. Aldridge, your daughter,
Brooklynn, was then killed from blunt force trauma to her head,
and Ms. Coleman was convicted of her murder. Correct?
Ms. Aldridge. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. Court records show that after Brooklynn was
murdered, you received a Facebook message from Brooklynn's
caseworker, Ms. Beaumier, who wrote to you, quote, ``You did
not fail her. DFCS did.''
How did you feel when you received that message?
Ms. Aldridge. Like it was too late. I mean, my daughter was
already dead. There was nothing. I just felt helpless--like the
system that was put in place to protect my daughter failed her.
Senator Ossoff. If DFCS had followed its own policies, had
sought your consent for this placement, had run the background
check that they were required to run----
Ms. Aldridge. Mm-hmm.
Senator Ossoff [continuing]. Had listened to you when you
reported that you had seen bruising on your daughter's body, do
you believe Brooklynn would still be alive today?
Ms. Aldridge. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. Ms. Aldridge, you've been through every
parent's absolute worst nightmare.
And I'm sorry. And I think all of us are grateful that
you've taken the time and summoned the courage to relive this
and to share it with the public and the Senate. Why have you
chosen today to take that step?
Ms. Aldridge. So what happened to Brooklynn doesn't happen
to anybody else.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Ms. Aldridge. I'll yield to
Ranking Member Blackburn for her questions.
Ms. Aldridge. Thank you.
Senator Blackburn. Yes. Thank you so much.
Mon'a, I want to come to you. When we look at having
caseworkers that are appropriate for the job----
Ms. Houston. Yes, ma'am.
Senator Blackburn [continuing]. And that are going to have
that duty of care to the children that they're responsible for,
what I'd love to have from you for the record is--talk to me
about what a caseworker should do.
If you had had a perfect caseworker, how would they have
worked with you, encouraged you, listened to you, helped
provide and protect you?
Ms. Houston. Well, nobody's perfect. But they didn't do
their job.
They were supposed to see me every month in person. They
never saw me every month in person. Maybe if she would've came
to my group home where I was at and saw me in person, she
could've thought about moving me, but she never come--she never
came to see me. They're supposed to let me go to my court.
Senator Blackburn. Let me pop in right there.
Ms. Houston. Mm-hmm.
Senator Blackburn. Now, this was over how many years?
Ms. Houston. Five.
Senator Blackburn. Over 5 years. Okay. So for--she
should've seen you once a month for 5 years, and you said in
your testimony about once every 6 months you would hear from
them.
Ms. Houston. She's supposed to see us in person every
month.
Senator Blackburn. Right. Okay. Okay.
Ms. Houston. And I had three caseworkers. Only one of them
actually did their job. She came all the way 5 hours away to
the lockdown facility to see me.
Nobody's perfect, but they didn't listen, and when I acted
out was the only time that they would ever answer their phone.
If I was in--like, when I had gotten into an accident, they
did not answer their phone. But when it was time for me to
leave that placement, that's when they would answer. They
didn't answer at the times that they should, only when it was
time to move my placement.
Senator Blackburn. So if you were talking to Children's
Services and you were writing the job description for somebody
that is going to be a caseworker, what would you put in that
job description to meet young girls like you? What should--what
would you want to see them do on a daily, weekly, monthly,
yearly basis?
Ms. Houston. Well, listen to the children.
Senator Blackburn. Okay.
Ms. Houston. I need them to check in with them, as they
should every month. Make sure that their placement is
comfortable for them. Don't just stick them somewhere and not
answer the phone for them no more. Don't just tell them the
only reason you're on meds is because you don't behave.
Like, make them feel loved. Make them feel like they have a
family in care, at least.
Senator Blackburn. Excellent. Thank you for that.
Ms. Aldridge----
Ms. Aldridge. Ma'am?
Senator Blackburn [continuing]. As I read your testimony, I
thought about parental rights and parents having rights, and as
you have been through such a terrible ordeal, and I know it's
something that your heart grieves every single day.
And you said that you were doing this because you don't
want other--other moms to have to live through what you've
lived through. So now looking back on your ordeal, what would
be the steps you would encourage other women who find
themselves in the situation where you were, what would you say
here's a way to preserve your parental rights?
Ms. Aldridge. Get an attorney. I would definitely say an
attorney is--know your rights. I guess study about it. I
don't--I don't have no idea. I would definitely say have an
attorney. Having an attorney would--I don't know--you would've
understood what your rights were. I mean, you can go with your
gut, but just have an attorney. That's a big thing, I think,
having an attorney.
Senator Blackburn. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Senator Blackburn. Senator
Welch.
Senator Welch. Well, thank you. By the way, not that I've
been in the Senate that long, but that was the best ``Happy
Birthday.'' ever. Thank you.
[Laughter.]
Senator Blackburn. Absolutely.
Senator Welch. She's from Nashville. You can tell.
[Laughter.]
Senator Welch. But first of all, it's really moving for all
of us to be here with you and to have you tell us what you've
been through. So I want to thank you, and we all do, and it
really matters.
You know, so much of our time here is spent on things that
seem a little bit abstract. To have two people who've
experienced a very searing situation come in and share it has a
powerful impact, and I know the Chairman, and the Ranking
Member, and Senator Butler and I want to do all we can to help
improve the situation.
You know, my questions have been asked largely because
you--I'll just give you each a chance to just describe what you
think would improve the situation.
I mean, you said, Ms. Aldridge, having a lawyer would
really make a difference. I know that's true. I was a public
defender, and I was involved in many cases involving parental
rights. And the State of Vermont made certain that everyone was
represented, the parents and the child, and it forced people to
take things very seriously and not just wave it off. So I think
that's a really, really good recommendation. I thank you for
that.
And, Ms. Houston, thank you. You seem to be doing pretty
good.
Ms. Houston. Now that Ms. Page is here.
Senator Welch. Well, that's great, but it's amazing what
you said earlier--is you're here so that other people who went
through what you did can see that they can get to the other
side, and I think you're really demonstrating that.
You know, when you were asked about a good system, what I
heard you saying, basically, is, the people who were supposed
to be, like, your caseworkers have to take the situation and
the relationship seriously, that you were isolated and alone,
and not just when you were put in isolation, but the whole
time.
Whatever it is you were going through, you had nobody to
help you along the way. Is that more or less a correct
assessment?
Ms. Houston. Yes, sir.
Senator Welch. Yes. And by the way, you know, all of us
need a little help along the way. Especially when we're in a
situation that's totally alien--but you tell me, you had 19
placements in foster----
Ms. Houston. Eighteen.
Senator Welch. Eighteen in foster care? So how long would
you be there before you had--you were gone somewhere else?
Ms. Houston. Four months.
Senator Welch. So minimal sustained relationships with a
parental figure or even with friends, I imagine.
Ms. Houston. I never had friends.
Senator Welch. Right. So you were bouncing from school to
school and never had an opportunity to have your feet solidly
on the ground. Yes, I mean, that's just really, really
shocking--that you have no chance with that.
Ms. Houston. It got to a point where I would self-harm
because I didn't know nobody to talk to.
Senator Welch. Right. Well, it's really shocking, it's
inexcusable, and I think all of us are very, very sad that that
was so much a part of your life so far. But I think it's
inspiring to see you here being strong.
And, Ms. Aldridge, the same thing. I guess, you know, we're
parents, and you suffered the loss that all of us fear the
most, and thank you for being here to try to help other people
out. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Senator Welch. Senator Butler.
Senator Butler. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your
leadership on this issue, the--having a conversation with such
courageous women like Ms. Aldridge and Ms. Houston really is an
honor for us.
And we owe you a debt of gratitude for organizing such a
thoughtful hearing, and set of witnesses and conversation.
I have a 9-year-old daughter who is adopted. My family and
I went through the certification process in California, in Los
Angeles County, to become certified foster parents.
That wound up not being our final path, but I experienced
the other side of the system and the deficiencies that exist:
the gaps, the imperfect but hardworking people in most
instances who try their best to get it right.
Ms. Houston, I'd like to start with you, if it's okay. I
just want to--I appreciate so much you coming and sharing your
story. And I couldn't help but notice you being so moved by Ms.
Aldridge's story. And that level of empathy and human
connection I just wanted to recognize for the record. The world
would tell us that we are all so different. And----
Ms. Houston. That's me all the time.
Senator Butler. Right. And to see you--to see your heart be
pained by another human's tragedy, I think, is just an example
and a reminder that there is more that binds us even in the
painful times than the--than that that divides us.
It was interesting to hear you talk about your treatment as
care. You talked about the care that you received as had been--
has been sort of interrogated or questioned a little bit by my
colleagues. I think the fact that you refer to as care says so
much about who you are.
Here's my question to you. There was a moment in your
testimony when you referred to an individual whose intervention
seemed as if it has had a positive impact on you.
And I want to give some breath and offer you the
opportunity to give a little bit about that CASA worker who was
assigned to you, who made your soul smile. And talk to us about
that experience and how that helped to support you to get to
this moment.
Ms. Houston. Okay. Right before I went to jail, like, maybe
3 months before, I met Ms. Page. Ms. Caton assigned her to me.
And when she came all the way from Savannah to see me, I did
not want to talk to her, like, I was shooing her away. I was
like, just go away. Like, just go back to Savannah. I'm okay.
And she would not give up on me. Like, she kept prying her
way in until she got in.
And then eventually I got out of care because of the
situation. I signed the papers on accident, and she still was
there for me. She did not let me sleep outside.
Like, she reached out to CASA, the program, and she worked,
like, hard with them to get me somewhere to be like--they even
got me back in care, and the foster system did not want me
back, and they still made it happen.
So I just want to thank Ms. Page, and she's still here in
my life. She's texting my phone, cheering me on right now. I
thank her a lot.
Senator Butler. I think we all thank Ms. Page.
[Laughter.]
Senator Butler. There are lots of Ms. Pages in the world,
as many as there are who let you down. There are some Ms. Pages
out there, and we're grateful for it. You were going to offer
something additional?
Ms. Houston. Yes. It's just, it's crazy because a lot of
people that I tried to push away, they actually leave, but she
didn't.
Senator Butler. Yes. Yes. There are a lot of Ms. Pages. In
my life, her name was Ms. Pearl. So we all have a Ms. Page or a
Ms. Pearl.
Just quickly before I run out of time. Ms. Aldridge, as a
parent, I couldn't imagine the pains of what you went through.
I remember--I remember when my daughter turned 2, and she just
turned 9, and thinking about her life being cut short, I just
could not imagine it.
So I want to appreciate your courage for sharing your
story, for not swallowing what others would have us to believe
as personal shame, but for giving voice to young Brooklynn.
I would just ask you--you said a lot about, like, the
reason you being here is to prevent this kind of harm and
tragedy for other Brooklynns that might be in the system. And,
I think, for other Ms. Aldridges who might be in the system, as
well.
Do you think that there's something unique about your
experience in Georgia, or are there other parents and/or
children that you know?
Are there--is there something that we should be paying
attention to that families might have in common where we can
think across the system and across the States to try to answer
the call that you put before this Subcommittee to act and
save--save other families?
Ms. Aldridge. I don't know. I have no idea. Can you like--
--
Senator Butler. Yes. I guess, without knowing any details
and only hearing your testimony and reading your written
testimony, I guess I wonder, are there other people that you
might know in the--in the Georgia system that had similar
negative experiences?
Ms. Aldridge. I mean, personally, I don't know anyone else.
Senator Butler. Yes.
Ms. Aldridge. No, ma'am.
Senator Butler. Well, thank you for that. I appreciate it,
and most of all, I appreciate you being here and giving voice
to parents and to young people. Thank you, so much. Thank you,
Mr. Chair.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Senator Butler.
And before we move to the next panel, Ms. Houston, I'm just
going to ask you a few more questions just to make sure the
record reflects what you've experienced and what you need the
public to understand about what you've experienced based upon
your opening statement. You described being overmedicated while
in a maximum security facility. Tell us what that means. How
did it feel?
Ms. Houston. I was overmedicated the whole time, the whole
5 years. I felt, like, sluggish, like, I couldn't move, and it
started affecting my physical--I started eating a lot.
And one time I went to court and my judge even said she's
on too many meds. Somebody has to take her off some of these
meds or lower the dosages.
The next day after court, I went back to my psychiatrist,
and they upped my dosages. So--and I feel like it made me worse
rather than better because they only put me on the medicines to
make me behave.
Instead of putting me on meds to help my mental health,
they just wanted me to sit down and behave for them. And they
never talked to me about what was wrong. They never asked me
any questions. They just said, ``She doesn't behave and she
needs meds.''
So I felt--and also, as I kept eating, it gave me high
cholesterol. I was pre-diabetic. And I kept telling my
psychiatrist, like, is there any meds that does not have this
hunger effect, this appetite effect? And they did not take me
off of the meds. My DFCS caseworker was telling my psychiatrist
that I needed those meds, that I don't behave, that I need
those meds to behave.
Senator Ossoff. So it sounds like the impression you got,
and indeed what they may have said at the time, despite what a
judge had said, was that this wasn't about your mental health.
It was about controlling your behavior.
Ms. Houston. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. Did I hear correctly that at one of your
placements you were slammed against the floor or the wall?
Ms. Houston. Yes, at the lockdown facility.
Senator Ossoff. And placed in solitary confinement for up
to 5 days at a time?
Ms. Houston. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. And were you threatened with solitary
confinement as a punishment?
Ms. Houston. Yes.
Senator Ossoff. You mentioned this in your opening remarks
and your exchange with Senator Blackburn, that DFCS has a
policy requiring your caseworker to visit you monthly, and that
at one time you were in jail while you were in foster care.
Correct?
Ms. Houston. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. And you were kept there for about 2 months?
Ms. Houston. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. And after 1 month, you were cleared to be
released. Is that right?
Ms. Houston. Yes, sir.
Senator Ossoff. And why weren't you released at that point?
Ms. Houston. Because DFCS told me that they didn't want to
be responsible for me getting back to court or--because when
you sign a bond, you're responsible for that person. Like, if I
don't show up to court, they could get in trouble, so they
didn't want to be responsible for that.
Senator Ossoff. So the jail was prepared to release you,
but DFCS wouldn't come pick you up.
Ms. Houston. Basically.
Senator Ossoff. Ms. Houston, I want to echo what Senator
Butler said and thank you for your courage and also for your
spirit.
I can tell you, you know, we do--we hold a lot of these
hearings. We speak to a lot of folks. And the warmth, and
compassion, and kindness that you radiate, I think, has lifted
all of us up, particularly in light of the tremendously
difficult circumstances that you're describing.
And to see you here, not just persevering and surviving,
but, in fact, using your voice to fight for other youth who are
going through the same thing and to make a difference has
inspired all of us. So thank you, Ms. Houston.
Ms. Houston. Thank you.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Ms. Aldridge, for your
courageous testimony.
We are going to now take a brief recess so that Members can
go and vote. We have a vote on the floor. We will then return
and reconvene with Panel Two, and so the Subcommittee stands in
recess.
[Whereupon the hearing was recessed and reconvened.]
Senator Ossoff. The Subcommittee will return to order.
I will now introduce our second panel of witnesses. Thank
you, again, for joining us today.
Professor Melissa Carter is the executive director of the
Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory Law School.
Professor Carter and her clinic promote and protect the legal
rights and interests of abused, neglected, and court-involved
children in Georgia.
She also serves in a variety of capacities across the State
as a member of the First Lady's Children's Cabinet, vice chair
of the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Group, and co-chair of
the Children's Justice Act Task Force, a congressionally
mandated oversight panel.
Professor Emma Hetherington is the director of the Wilbanks
Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic at the
University of Georgia School of Law. Professor Hetherington and
her clinic represent children in foster care who survive sexual
abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.
She also serves on several statewide task forces and
multidisciplinary teams, including the Supreme Court of
Georgia's Committee on Justice for Children.
Once again, it is the practice of the Subcommittee to swear
in our witnesses. If you will both please rise and raise your
right hand.
[Witnesses are sworn in.]
Senator Ossoff. Please take your seats. Professor Carter,
when you are ready, we will begin with your opening statement.
Thank you.
STATEMENT OF MELISSA CARTER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
EMORY LAW BARTON CHILD LAW AND POLICY CENTER, DECATUR, GEORGIA
Professor Carter. Good afternoon, Chairman Ossoff, Ranking
Member Blackburn, and Members of the Subcommittee.
My name is Melissa Carter. I'm a clinical professor of law
at Emory Law School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thank you for inviting me here to talk about this important
topic today. I'm doing so in my personal capacity. The views I
express are my own and do not necessarily represent my employer
or any board, commission, task force, or other body on which I
serve.
My comments do, however, represent more than 20 years as a
child welfare professional in Georgia, serving in direct
representation and system improvement roles.
At Emory Law School, for the past 13 years, I have led the
Barton Child Law and Policy Center. The Barton Center is where
law students and other graduate students come to learn how to
protect children's rights through litigation and policy
advocacy strategies.
Today, I'm going talk about Georgia's child welfare system
to try to provide some context for what we've heard today.
First, I want to start with some hard data to paint a
picture of the basic hydraulics of the system, and then, I want
to highlight just two systemic conditions that perpetuate the
status quo in Georgia. And to be clear, the status quo is
unacceptable.
First, let me start with some basic facts and figures. As
we sit here today, approximately 11,000 children are in foster
care in Georgia, and that number is trending up.
Our removal rate is relatively low. Children in Georgia
enter foster care at the rate of 1.9 per 1,000 compared with
the national entry rate, which hovers closer to 3 to 4 per
1,000.
Foster care is meant to be temporary. What that means in
Georgia is that children spend, on average, 19 months separated
from their families once they are in foster care.
That's longer than the Nation's median length of stay,
which has increased over the last decade and is now around
17\1/2\ months. This profile makes Georgia seem somewhat
unremarkable from a data perspective, but this data doesn't
tell the whole story.
Behind those numbers are real whole people, as you all have
recognized. The data doesn't give us that up-close
understanding of how the system impacts their lives, like the
heartbreaking testimonials we've heard today.
Those stories are difficult to take in, but they are not
outliers. The child welfare system is complex. There are
multiple failure points. All jurisdictions confront similar
challenges to a greater or lesser extent, but local context
matters.
A lot of this, as we've heard already today--it can be
summed up quickly in thinking about two aspects of our system
that we could improve. One, we don't give case managers the
tools that they need, and two, we don't listen well enough to
children and families.
But I also want to highlight two systemic conditions that
illustrate how we also don't manage our system well.
One affects safety. Georgia cannot reliably measure or
monitor child victimization. Whether a child is subjected to
maltreatment is determined by the substantiation of alleged
maltreatment. That's the practice of looking at all of the
evidence gathered during an investigation and determining
whether that evidence suggests that it is more likely than not
that the abuse or neglect occurred.
We've lost our bottom-line metric for success in our
primary mission, child safety, because we don't reliably make
that determination. And without it, we have less confidence in
conclusions about how effective the agency is when it
intervenes in families.
The other condition at the system level is one that affects
family integrity. Georgia has not sufficiently invested in
prevention, nor have Federal funds been well spent. For
instance, as you know, one goal of the Federal Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families block grant is to provide
assistance to low-income families so that children can be cared
for in their own homes. It gives Georgia certain discretion how
to do that.
Georgia could spend the money in direct support to families
and prevent children from entering foster care. But instead,
Georgia is content to withhold the money from families and use
it to pay for services only after a child suffers harm.
These spending choices may keep us compliant with Federal
requirements, but they impede our ability to transform our
child welfare system into one that promotes children's healthy
development through prevention and family strengthening.
This is not about individual shortcomings. There are many
dedicated case managers, supervisors, and others at the
frontline working tirelessly to solve problems for families.
This is about systemic failures. Georgia lacks the
operational capacity, policy infrastructure, and practice tools
to support effective case management and to offer meaningful
and sustainable solutions for children, youth, and families.
I hope this provides you with some context for deeper
understanding of the system realities as they relate to the
outcomes we seek. I welcome your questions. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Professor Carter appears as a
submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Professor Carter. Professor
Hetherington, it's now your turn for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF EMMA HETHERINGTON, DIRECTOR, THE WILBANKS CHILD
ENDANGERMENT AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION CLINIC, ATHENS, GEORGIA
Professor Hetherington. Chairman Ossoff, Ranking Member
Blackburn, Members of the Senate Subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to testify today.
My name is Emma Hetherington, and I'm a clinical associate
professor at the University of Georgia School of Law and
director of the Wilbanks CEASE Clinic, as mentioned by Senator
Ossoff.
Like Professor Carter, the views I express today are my own
and do not represent the views of the University of Georgia,
the School of Law, or the various Subcommittees and task forces
on which I have the privilege to serve.
Rather, today I'm testifying in my personal capacity as an
attorney, expert in child welfare law, and advocate for
children in foster care who have been sexually abused,
exploited, and trafficked.
Over the past 12 years working in this field, I have
witnessed a system that fails on a daily basis to protect the
well-being, health, and safety of children, and instead
violates their civil and human rights.
The foster care system in Georgia has always struggled with
systemic challenges and barriers. But I have never seen it as
dismal as it is today.
Here's a snapshot of 35 of our clients and their
experiences in foster care in counties across Georgia.
One hundred percent of our clients experienced early
childhood maltreatment.
Seventy-four percent of our clients have made credible
allegations of abuse or neglect at the hands of their foster
care placement caregivers.
Only 17 percent of our clients are on track to graduate
from high school with their peers.
Only 5 percent of our clients who have exited foster care
are now better off than when they entered.
Zero percent of our clients have received adequate, timely,
and consistent medical, dental, and mental and behavioral
healthcare while they've been in the custody of Georgia DFCS.
As Professor Carter mentioned, I, as well, would like to be
clear that my statement is not meant to disparage the
individual case managers and other professionals working for
Georgia DFCS who are protecting children in Georgia.
However, DFCS' overarching structure, internal policies,
and administrative barriers obstruct their good work, and when
this happens, our clients experience extreme harm.
The following are examples of some of the abuse and neglect
that my clients have experienced while in DFCS' legal custody.
In listening to Ms. Houston's testimony, they sound very
similar.
Being placed in solitary confinement with no therapeutic
oversight after a suicide attempt.
Being handcuffed during an intravaginal ultrasound to
confirm pregnancy after being trafficked.
Having chronic urinary tract infections and leftover pieces
of placenta after childbirth--which can be deadly--but not
being provided access to postpartum medical care.
Being prohibited from going to school in person by a
placement--that was approved by DFCS specifically for
trafficking victims--in order to protect other students and
school employees from their promiscuity.
Having their pants forcibly pulled down and being
administered a sedative in their buttocks because they talked
back to staff.
Calling DFCS case managers during emergencies and not
receiving any response, leading to acute psychiatric
hospitalizations and, at times, sexual exploitation.
While my clients may not have suffered these acts of abuse
and neglect at the hands of DFCS employees, DFCS knew about
this treatment, and they did nothing to stop it or remedy it.
Instead, they have blamed my clients for their fear, anger,
and victimization. Here's some words that we have seen in
internal and external DFCS documents and heard in conversations
with DFCS employees about our clients: ``They're promiscuous,
hypersexualized.'' ``They're a sex addict.'' ``They're a
prostitute.''
Let me make it clear: There is no such thing as a child
prostitute.
In conclusion, I would like to share some words with you
from one of my clients who gave me permission to share some of
her experiences with you today.
``I'm a victim of Georgia DFCS. Children go into the system
to be in a safer environment, to grow, and to learn.
``However, the way my case has been handled these past 3
years has caused me further pain and trauma and worse off than
before I entered care. I've experienced a lot, from abuse, to
neglect, to commercial and sexual exploitation.
``I've put my life in jeopardy and placed myself in
dangerous situations in an attempt to leave DFCS' care, the
care that has failed to provide me with adequate or any
medical, dental, or mental healthcare.
``In my mind, getting out of DFCS has always been the goal.
And at times, I didn't care if I ended up dead trying to
leave.''
Thank you, and I welcome any questions the Committee may
have.
[The prepared statement of Professor Hetherington appears
as a submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. Professors Hetherington and Carter, thank
you for your powerful opening statements.
And Professor Hetherington, I'd like to begin with some
questions for you to elaborate on the alarming and shocking
testimony that you just presented. How many children have you
worked with over the years, Professor Hetherington, who have
been sexually abused, exploited, or trafficked?
Professor Hetherington. It's essentially impossible to
really know. We know that children are not highly likely to
disclose abuse, especially when they are in situations where
they do not feel safe, which includes in the custody of Georgia
DFCS.
I have represented hundreds of children over the last 12
years, most of whom are--have been older youth, ages 14 and up,
and many of whom have been sexually abused and trafficked.
Currently at the CEASE clinic, all of our clients, every
single one of them, have been sexually abused or trafficked,
most of the time since an early age.
So I wish I had a number for you--an exact number for you,
but unless we listen to children when they disclose acts of
abuse or indicate red flags that would demonstrate abuse--
sexual abuse and exploitation, we'll--we will never know how
many there actually are.
Senator Ossoff. You described an incident in your
testimony, Professor Hetherington, where one of your clients
was handcuffed while receiving a transvaginal ultrasound after
having been trafficked. What is the effect of that kind of
treatment on someone who is in care--or any human being?
Professor Hetherington. Well, first of all, for that
client, it was a clear violation of her human rights, her
dignity, her personhood. She was 16 years old. It's obviously
re-traumatizing. I can never know the full effect.
My clients are the experts on their own experiences, but
the effect of her life today is that that particular client is
currently homeless. That child, her--the child she had was
taken out of her care, is thankfully being cared for by
relatives. And she is, to my knowledge, still being trafficked
now as an adult. And that--those are the consequences that we
see on a daily basis in our cases.
Senator Ossoff. You described an incident, Professor
Hetherington, in which a client struggled to get postpartum
medical care, leading to infections.
Do your clients--and by the way, we're using the term
``clients''--and these are your clients, but I just want to
remind everybody that we're talking about children, youth,
minors. We're talking about children.
We're talking about children being subjected to degrading
and abusive medical procedures.
We're talking about children being denied postpartum
medical care.
Professor Hetherington, do your clients receive healthcare?
Your clients, these children, do they receive healthcare from
DFCS?
Professor Hetherington. They receive some healthcare, is
probably the easiest answer. But first, I just want to say
thank you for recognizing that when I say ``clients'' it's
because I'm used to it as an attorney.
But my clients are children, and that is something that we
are constantly fighting to remind DFCS of. They're treated--
they're adultified. They are treated as if they traumatized
themselves. And so thank you for that acknowledgement.
Senator Ossoff. Yes, let's unpick that a little bit because
I think that's a powerful thing that you just said.
Is there a recognition within this bureaucracy that we're
talking about the most vulnerable children in our society? I
mean, describe what you mean by ``adultified.''
Professor Hetherington. Sure. So often, children in foster
care, particularly black and brown girls, and LGBTQ youth, are
treated more like adults.
They are not treated as children. They are treated as if
they're responsible.
I'll give you an example. I represented a child who is 15
years old. She was a mother. DFCS removed her child from her
care. That happens very often when children are in foster care.
And one of the reasons that DFCS listed for why the child was
in foster care was because my client did not have stable
housing.
My child--my child client was 15. She didn't have stable
housing because her parents abandoned her because she had been
sexually abused since a young age. She was effectively
homeless, and she was being held responsible for that
homelessness and not having that stable housing--but she was
15. And that is an example of how they would adultify a child.
Senator Ossoff. You mentioned that one of your clients,
again, a child, had been prohibited from attending school in
person. And if I heard you correctly, and I did a double take
when you said this, I think what you said is that your child
was forbidden from--your child client was forbidden from
attending school because the State deemed that child sexually
promiscuous. Is that what you said?
Professor Hetherington. Yes. In that case, and in many
instances, children who are victims of commercial and sexual
exploitation are deemed to be either a run risk or too
promiscuous. They're going to cause too many problems in
school, and that--there are some group homes in Georgia that
will not allow children who have been trafficked to go to
school off campus.
And it is a denial of the recognition that every child is
unique and different, and that we have a Federal mandate that
children be placed in the most family-like, least-restrictive
setting.
And not every child who's been trafficked needs to be in
lockdown. And, in fact, they feel very unsafe in lockdown,
quite often. But yes, that is exactly what I said. They were
worried that they would prey on other--on other people.
Senator Ossoff. I will come back with some additional
questions. I want to be respectful of Senator Blackburn's time.
So Ranking Member Blackburn, over to you.
Senator Blackburn. Thank you so much.
Professor Carter, what is the process that the State of
Georgia uses to vet the sponsors and the foster parents?
Professor Carter. So with respect to foster parents----
Senator Ossoff. You'll need to turn on your microphone.
Senator Blackburn. Yes.
Professor Carter. Forgive me. Thank you. So with respect to
foster parents, there is a process. In most States, it's a
licensure process.
In Georgia, it's an approval process, but that process
still follows the same steps. That involves a background check,
it involves requirements for training, and then you are then
able to--to select for the State--to identify for the State
which children you want to open your home to.
So if you think that you might be best equipped to take
teenagers, if you think you might be best equipped to take
large sibling groups, you think you might be best equipped to
take an infant, you can make those preferences known. And then
it's a matter of waiting for the State to need your home as a
placement for a child who's entered foster care.
Senator Blackburn. Okay. And we've heard a lot about the
adverse experiences in Georgia. So what percentage of children
in the system have an adverse experience?
Professor Carter. I think you're referring to the adverse
childhood experiences context where we really think about this
sort of broad array of experiences that we may all have as
children that then manifest later as adults in ways that stunt
our development and that cause us even physical health
conditions as we age.
I'm not aware of a study that's looked at Georgia
specifically to know that. We know, generally speaking, that
children in foster care, as you might expect, have suffered
much greater adversity in their young lives, and that children
in foster care very often have four or more ACEs, adverse
childhood experiences, and, therefore, will--would expect to
have much greater challenges across their life.
Senator Blackburn. Yes, I am sure of that. Tennessee has
been successful in a program with the ACEs, and Children's
Services has a Building Strong Brains initiative that they have
launched.
And recently, I introduced the National ACERT Grant Program
Authorization Act. This is something Senator Shaheen and I are
doing to nationalize this and to make certain that every State
has the tools that they need.
So, Ms. Hetherington, I want to come to you on this. If you
could speak for a moment about the importance of having that
early childhood intervention for children that have had this
trauma.
Professor Hetherington. Sure, and Senator Blackburn, I just
wanted to--wanted to thank you for highlighting the issue of
trafficking.
And when you mentioned the pipeline between foster care and
sex trafficking, there is an abuse-to-prison pipeline that we
see, often referred to as foster care-to-prison pipeline or the
sexual abuse-to-prison pipeline.
Early childhood maltreatment alters a child's neurological,
biological, developmental health, their growth.
A wonderful resource on that, if you haven't read it, I
highly recommend you read the book, ``The Body Keeps the
Score.'' And one thing that is--that we know from research is
that when a child or when a person experiences extreme traumas,
often we're stuck in that trauma.
I'm not a neurologist, I'm not a neurobiologist, but I do
know from the research that I've done and the work that I've
done with children, and anecdotally that it's true that
children will become stuck at the age, right, where they were
abused and neglected. So if a child is----
Senator Blackburn. Okay.
Professor Hetherington [continuing]. Sexually abused at
age----
Senator Blackburn. Let's clarify that for the record.
Professor Hetherington. Sure.
Senator Blackburn. Their maturity stops----
Professor Hetherington. Yes. Yes.
Senator Blackburn. You want to--yes.
Professor Hetherington. A lot of the social, emotional
development.
Senator Blackburn. Right.
Professor Hetherington. Yes. Thank you. Absolutely.
And so I always think of it as most of my clients--not all
of my clients, but many of my clients, they may be 16, and you
have a 16-year-old standing in front of you, but socially,
emotionally, they're still 6 years old.
Senator Blackburn. Yes.
Professor Hetherington. That's the age when they were first
sexually abused, and it sends them on a straight path toward
eventual behavioral issues, health issues. Mon'a mentioned pre-
diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a terrible side effect, for lack of a
better way of putting it, of early childhood maltreatment.
If you think about it, they are having this constant rush
of cortisol through their bodies. They're in constant fight,
flight, or freeze mode. And so if we do not provide that early
childhood intervention and care, then we are sending children
down that pipeline.
Senator Blackburn. You know, we had a hearing on
unaccompanied alien children in Judiciary Committee, a Full
Committee hearing earlier this morning, and a lot of it
centered on the 85,000 children that HHS and the Office of
Refugee Resettlement cannot find.
And they are children that have come into the country.
They've been placed in foster care or with sponsors. The 3--1-
month follow-up call was given, they couldn't find the sponsor,
and they don't know the condition of these children.
And the fear is, and what we have learned from some New
York Times reporting and other things, is that these children
are in labor gangs and crews, and some of them are being
trafficked.
And I--it just is heartbreaking to me, absolutely
heartbreaking that we have a Federal agency that has so failed
these children and for what they're being exposed to because,
as you're saying, this is something that many of them never get
over.
Professor Hetherington. Yes, absolutely, and this is
something that we see often.
Our office has represented several undocumented youth. Some
have been victims of labor trafficking.
And, as I was mentioning before, when it comes to Georgia
DFCS, what we--what we will often see is maybe there was a
phone call. This child's not in school. Why is this 15-year-old
working full time? This 10-year-old is working on a farm? What
is going on here? There's an allegation of sexual abuse.
We don't know if they--we don't know what's happened to
them. We don't know what's going on. Oh, but they want to work,
right, and all of a sudden they're adultified.
Maybe they are in a situation where they're arrested trying
to defend themselves against traffickers, against--and
sometimes we've seen that some sponsors have been involved in
that trafficking.
And the system, though, the Georgia DFCS, the child welfare
system responds punitively. They do not always see those
children as dependent, as having been abused or neglected. And
I would imagine there are several in their care that are not
getting what they need.
One thing I think that is also very important to note is
the importance of the training for caseworkers and other
professionals at DFCS to understand Special Immigrant Juvenile
Status, to understand when you need to refer children for
potential immigration relief. Maybe they are eligible for a U
visa or a T visa, specifically for trafficking victims, and
they can get that relief.
And we've also seen recently a lot of issues in--with
Georgia DFCS, where undocumented youth who are in their care,
who do not have permanent status by the time they reach the age
of 18, even if they've been in foster care for at least 6
months after the age of 14, they're kicked out the door and
left homeless and told they cannot stay in care post-18, even
though that is available to all other children under similar
circumstances.
Senator Blackburn. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Ossoff. Senator Blumenthal.
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and
Ranking Member, for focusing on this issue, which is so deeply
troubling.
Human trafficking is a scourge everywhere, not only in the
States where you work, but in Connecticut and elsewhere around
the country. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act and its
Reauthorization really brought the full power of the Federal
Government to bear. But it also established civil remedies.
My understanding is that, on average, only about 30 civil
cases are filed in Federal courts every year. My question is,
why aren't there more? Is it a lack of representation? Is it
fear or shame on the part of the trafficked victims? They are
victims or survivors? What is your analysis?
Professor Hetherington. Sure. So we at the Wilbanks CEASE
Clinic, our original mission was to represent survivors in
civil lawsuits against perpetrators individually.
I think one of the major issues that we see is that in our
American tort system, and I know this is not a hearing on
American torts, but is that, typically, lawyers will go after
deep pockets. So an individual trafficker might not have those
deep pockets. That would be one answer.
Another is the lack of survivors coming forward. When we
have--when we see survivors, particularly of adult sex
trafficking, the estimates are that between 70 and 90 percent
of them have been sexually abused at a younger age or
trafficked at a younger age. And the majority of them had some
sort of child welfare system involvement, and that is
absolutely consistent with what we see.
At the CEASE Clinic, we also do some post-conviction relief
work for victims of--adult victims of trafficking. They were
all sexually abused or trafficked as minors, and we hear from
every single one of them they were either in DFCS custody or
had child welfare involvement in another State.
When that happens and children are maltreated in care and
the system that is supposed to protect them and help them and
give them voice instead silences them, they're not--they're not
going to come forward. They don't trust the system. They don't
trust anyone to believe them when they say I'm a victim of
this. So I think there are a number of different reasons for
it, but I----
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you----
Professor Hetherington [continuing]. Think those are some
of the main ones.
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, very much. Thanks, Mr.
Chairman.
Senator Ossoff. Professor Carter, in your opening
statement, you talked about systemic failures in Georgia DFCS
and Georgia's child welfare system. Can you elaborate on what
that means for children in Georgia who are at risk of abuse or
neglect?
Professor Carter. I'll get this button right eventually.
You know, I think, you know, really to take your lead, to
follow your lead and always ground our observations in the
realities of the children and families and youth who are
impacted, I think when we talk about systemic failings, we're
looking at these conditions, right, these broad, removed,
structural, and organizational features of our system. But the
truth is, we don't know about those things. They're sort of
invisible and hidden until there's an impact that we can
identify and point to. And those impacts come in the
experiences of children and youth.
So I would echo some of the examples that Professor
Hetherington and even our earlier speakers provided. The kinds
of themes that we are seeing that are indicative of systemic
failures at the experience--at the level of experience of
children and youth involved, for example, undocumented youth,
youth with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status who have been left
with their abusers because the department is unwilling to take
them into custody and serve them through foster care, or
children who become, at the age of 18, eligible for what we
would refer to as extended youth support services.
This is the continuation of support for children, now young
adults beyond the age of majority, so that we are extending
that safety net of support. And we see and hear regularly and
routinely that these young adults now are denied the right to
send to sign themselves back into care.
Or, like Ms. Houston was describing in her own experience,
they are encouraged, if not pushed, out of those support
services because they might be ``difficult to serve.'' And
``difficult to serve'' often means expensive to serve.
We hear about, pretty consistently and routinely, about
children who have open child--families who have open Child
Protective Services cases, and we're seeing what seems to be
increasing number of reported fatalities of infants, despite
having the open Child Protective case.
We have all--many persistent and historical challenges with
youth who have been institutionalized in high-end residential
settings, or in juvenile detention facilities, or adult jails,
and not been picked up upon their release, or conversely,
children who are threatened with being committed to psychiatric
treatment facilities or arrested for noncompliance with
services.
We have, locally, observations and reports around the
department's outright disregard for court orders to prevent
children from--that they're disregarding an order that children
not enter care or threats that are made to parents that they'll
be charged with abandonment.
We also have a lot of local departments just, you know,
looking at the courts and at the judges and saying, you know,
``This isn't us. Right? Make this someone else's
responsibility. Choose a different agency. Characterize what's
going on with this family in a different way.''
We also have consistent and persistent problems that really
speak to a lack of support for caregivers, particularly
relatives or what we refer to as fictive kin, people who aren't
related by blood or legal relationship but take children in
when they're known to those children, and a real, you know,
lack of support once those folks step forward and take in
children.
We also have increasingly reports about children being
placed out of county. So children who are taken into foster
care, but not--there's--because of a lack of placement
resources, not kept in their home county, which, of course,
impedes the ability to--for that child to have ongoing
relationships and contact with their families, to be stable in
school, to be--have some stability with their healthcare
providers, et cetera. All of that is disrupted when children
are relocated.
Senator Ossoff. And I want to thank you, Professor, for
giving us that kind of clarity and specificity about the kinds
of cases you are seeing.
As you know, this is an active and ongoing inquiry, and you
have pointed us in the direction of additional areas of
necessary investigation.
Now, I want--I want you to walk the Subcommittee and the
public through this internal audit process. So the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services reviews how well State
foster care systems are performing, including Georgia's, as
part of the Child and Family Services Review. Can you please
just briefly describe the case review process that HHS
undertakes as part of that process?
Professor Carter. Yes, sure. So thank you for the question.
As you describe it, the Child and Family Services Review is a
periodic kind of Federal audit of State foster care and family
preservation programs. Every State undergoes this audit at
different cycles.
The review assesses the outcome of services by looking at
some individual case review, as you describe it, along the--
along, essentially, seven defined outcome areas.
And then, each of those outcome areas is further defined by
measurements that are referred to as items. So you'll see items
under outcomes, and the outcomes are meant to reflect the
State's performance in these broad areas of safety, permanency,
and well-being, and those three domains really define the
outcomes that we are seeking from this system.
As you describe it, the process in its entirety involves a
lot of data collection. The State also undergoes its own self-
assessment.
But I think key to your question is the--are these case
record reviews where a sample of cases--when the Federal
Government conducts it, it's 65 cases--which are a mix of both
foster care and family preservation cases, those are cases
where children are still at home with their parents but the
family's receiving mandated services.
And through those 65 cases, again, the reviewers are
looking across these seven outcome areas for evidence to
support these measurements to--in order to have an ultimate
understanding of how the system is faring with respect to those
outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, and the Subcommittee has
obtained Georgia's DFCS' assessment of its performance on those
same Federal standards for a period of March to June of 2023.
I'd like to go through DFCS' assessment with you. Please
turn to Tab 3 or Slide 3, and --excuse me--please turn to
Exhibit 2. This is Spring 2023 DFCS Audit, and I'm introducing
this document into the record.
[The information appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. And if we turn to Slide 3 in the bottom row
of the chart under Item 3----
Professor Carter. Mm-hmm.
Senator Ossoff [continuing]. We see that according to this
internal Georgia DFCS audit of its own performance, DFCS found
that it met risk assessment and safety management obligations
only 16 percent of the time.
So in other words, Georgia DFCS, according to this self-
audit, failed 84 percent of the time on risk assessment and
safety management. Can you translate that for the public to
understand what that means for children in Georgia?
Professor Carter. I think it's important first to think
about what we refer to as safety assessment. To think about
here what's happening is that the State is intervening with
family. Right?
We're--as parents, we're allowed to direct our daily lives
of our children without the government telling us how to do
that.
The threshold for government intervention is really a
question of harm or risk of harm to the child. That's what
invokes the State's responsibility, its duty to protect
children. Once it does intervene in families, every decision,
every action thereafter is calibrated around this assessment of
the child's safety.
So as a matter both of policy, like in every State, but
certainly true here for Georgia DFCS, and a matter of best
practice, there is an initial safety assessment that happens,
and then there's an expectation that safety is assessed on an
ongoing basis. And safety assessment is both an art and, I
suppose, a technique. It's a formal skill. There are both
formal and informal ways that safety assessment can happen.
And so what we're looking at here in Item 3, which is,
again, in one of these broad domain areas of safety, is really
looking at the adequacy of the response.
So a report has been made to the department that says a
child has been abused or neglected. The department then makes a
response and conducts a safety assessment.
And then throughout the continuing life of that case, the
continuing involvement of the State in that family, the
caseworkers are, on an ongoing basis, trying to collect
information and make a determination about the existence of a
danger to that child, a threat to the child, and how the
ability of the parents, the competency--the parenting
competencies and resources can mitigate against that threat.
And this determines things like the track assignment. How
much is DFCS going to be involved? Are you going to be
investigated, or are you going to have some other level of
lower concern response? Whether a child is going to be removed,
whether a child will be returned home at some point, what is
the appropriateness of any placement?
So, honestly, I can't think of a much better example than
the one that we heard this morning with Ms. Aldridge. The idea
of what's happened there is that a report would have been
called in on the basis of her reported incarceration and
unavailability as a parent, the department would approach that
circumstance and investigate it. Easy enough to verify.
And then the department is going to, at that point because
there was no available parent, going to, as it did in that
case, create what's called an out-of-home safety plan to figure
out where that child is going to live and who's going to take
care of her during the time that her parent is unavailable.
And so they would have then--should have better assessed
the options that were available for a substitute caregiver. And
through--the course of that assessment would be to check
backgrounds, as you mentioned earlier, to get some additional
information about the suitability of that alternate substitute
caregiver.
And then once the child is placed there, that there's this
ongoing responsibility to be checking in, to just make contact
with that child, with those caregivers, to continue to take in
information to adjust the--sort of, on the basis of changing
circumstances. Is there someone new in the home, right, at this
case? Does the father have a girlfriend that might be
inappropriate? What has changed in the composition of the
household? Where might there be a critical incident that needs
a different response, et cetera?
Senator Ossoff. And, Professor Carter, to that point, in
terms of conveying to the public, okay, what does it mean if,
according to this DFCS audit, there's an 84-percent failure
rate to properly assess and respond to risk and safety issues?
What we also heard from Ms. Aldridge is that she reported
observed bruising on the body of her then-still living child to
Georgia DFCS, but because no proper action was taken, the child
remained in a dangerous living environment and was subsequently
killed.
There are a few statistics on this chart, Professor Carter,
and one assesses whether DFCS timely initiates an
investigation. And on that measure, the number is pretty good.
But on risk assessment and safety management, it's an 84-
percent failure rate. We heard today from Ms. Aldridge
firsthand what that can mean for a child and for a family. Can
you explain why the timely initiation of investigation is
inadequate if the risk assessment and safety response are
improperly undertaken?
Professor Carter. Right. So thank you. So these are, again,
2 of the 3 items that are designed to measure safety and how
well the agency--how effectively the agency is responding to a
report of abuse or neglect.
And the first item, as you describe it, is just the capture
of the activity of responding. So once a call has come in, does
then someone from DFCS go and make face-to-face contact with
the child victim--the alleged child victim within the
prescribed timeframes.
And in Georgia, there are three different levels of
response, depending on the severity of the allegation:
immediately; within 24 hours; or within 72 hours. A DFCS worker
needs to make face-to-face contact with the child and conduct
or initiate this initial safety assessment, again, gathering
the information to determine, under the circumstances as they
were known, whether that child is safe or unsafe.
The other item, Item 3, which we've been discussing, is
really, again, about the adequacy of the response. So what were
the type of activities that were undertaken--not just the
dispatching of a person to make contact, but the actual then
use of clinical and other skills to make a judgment about
what's going on and fashion a plan and services.
And really, just to be sort of--to put it kind of directly
and simply, you ask what the implication of this is for
children. The implication of poor performance on risk
assessment and safety management is that children are unsafe,
or at least that we can't be certain about their safety.
And that being the primary mission of this agency, of this
system, of the--you know, and consistent with the duty of the
State, shows a pretty complete failure.
Senator Ossoff. And Professor Carter, you had mentioned
that you serve--I believe, co-chair one of the three
congressionally mandated citizen review panels whose purpose is
to oversee Georgia DFCS.
And without objection, I want to enter into the record
Exhibit 3, which is the 2021 Citizen Review Panel Annual
Report.
[The information appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. What we find on page 15, Professor Carter,
of this 2021 report is that this panel of outside experts
mandated by Congress to oversee Georgia DFCS activities was
writing at this time in 2021 about ``ongoing concern on the
lack of significant progress.'' That's a direct quote on this
exact item--risk assessment and safety management.
So here we have early 2023, an 84-percent failure rate to
assess risk and respond to safety hazards for children.
Again, this sounds like a lot of bureaucratic jargon. What
it means is, is Brooklynn--when it is reported that there's
bruising on her body--protected from the adult who is harming
her?
That's what's at stake here. And we see in the work of this
citizen review panel, back to at least 2021, explicitly raising
concerns about Georgia's performance on risk assessment and
safety management. Correct?
Professor Carter. That's correct. These oversight bodies
were thought by Congress as a way to help bring in a community
of, you know, perspective on the work and really help to
illuminate these kinds of systemic deficiencies.
So here, this body, which is impaneled by people who know
the work, these are members of our broader child welfare
community and Georgia stakeholders of the system, who know
what--how the system is supposed to work, and who are also in
the business of serving children and families who are in our
foster care system. And so they lifted up this issue and
brought it to light to the department.
Senator Ossoff. And without objection, I'll enter Exhibit 3
into the record.
[The information appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. And finally, I want to turn your attention
to Exhibit 4, which I will likewise enter into the record.
[The information appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Ossoff. This is a July 2022 letter from the Office
of the Child Advocate in Georgia.
In this letter, the Office of the Child Advocate, or OCA,
writes to DFCS regarding, quote, ``systemic issues identified
by Child Advocacy Centers of Georgia and other CICs, finding
that''--this is OCA's finding, ``in all cases reviewed''--as
part of this investigation--``in all cases reviewed, DFCS
failed to take adequate steps to respond to allegations of
physical and sexual abuse.''
And as I mentioned in my opening statement in this same
document, OCA continues to state that they encounter these same
issues, quote, ``consistently throughout the State through
OCA's day-to-day investigative work.''
So in 2021, we have a citizen review panel who is sounding
the alarm on continued failure on risk assessment and safety
response.
In 2022, we have the Office of the Child Advocate
identifying systemic issues to respond to allegations of
physical and sexual abuse.
Again, what does that mean? It means the bruising on
Brooklynn's body and OCA saying that, by the way, they
encounter these same issues, quote, ``consistently throughout
the State in OCA's day-to-day investigative work.''
This is another independent watchdog.
Citizen review panels are one independent watchdog. OCA is
another independent watchdog.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DHS in
Georgia, which runs DFCS, quote, ``vehemently denied OCA's
finding that there were systemic issues impacting child
safety.''
Here we have an internal document from DFCS itself finding,
as you described it to us, the same 84-percent failure rate
earlier this year on risk assessment and safety management.
Correct?
Professor Carter. Correct.
Senator Ossoff. Are you aware of--let me ask you the
question this way. Based upon everything that you are seeing,
do you believe that this agency is accepting, owning, taking
responsibility for, and doing everything that they can, faced
with multiple independent oversight bodies warning them for
years of these issues and their own internal audits confirming
these issues, to fix them as fast as possible? Is that what
you're seeing on the ground in Georgia?
Professor Carter. No.
Senator Ossoff. I want to thank you, both, for lending your
expertise to this effort.
And I want to emphasize a couple of things in closing.
The first is, that this is an ongoing inquiry, and so for
members of the public who have information that we should be
aware of, stories they want to share with the Senate, please
reach out to the Subcommittee. We'd love to hear from you.
Second, I want to reemphasize something that we've touched
on time and time again throughout this session, and it's not
possible to say it enough. We're talking about children.
We're talking about the most vulnerable children in the
country. We're talking about the structures that exist for the
purpose of providing a sanctuary to the most vulnerable
children in the country who have been through, in many cases,
the most shocking and appalling forms of abuse.
And so I want to, again, thank Ranking Member Blackburn for
working together with me to shine a light on these issues, to
empower experts, to offer suggestions for where we go from
here.
And let's all commit--everybody in Georgia, everybody in
the Senate, everybody across the country, from this moment,
let's commit to working together, being clear-eyed and honest
with ourselves about the issues that we face in saving the
lives and opportunities that too many innocent children right
now are being denied.
Thank you for your testimony. Thank you, all, for
attending.
The record will remain open until November 15th for
additional submissions. And with that, the Subcommittee is
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:40 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
[Additional material submitted for the record follows.]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
A P P E N D I X
The following submissions are available at:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118shrg59957/pdf/CHRG-
118shrg
59957-add1.pdf
Submitted by Chair Ossoff:
Aldridge, Rachel v. Beverly Beaumier, et al., pretrial summary
judgment...................................................... 2
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), statement................ 28
Council of Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia (CJCJ), letter....... 35
Georgia Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA) Citizen
Review Panels, 2021 annual report............................. 37
Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS), 2023 audit 135
Georgia Office of the Child Advocate, letter..................... 166
Gupta-Kagan, Josh, J.D., statement............................... 169
Savage, Brent J., letter......................................... 175
Shinpoch, Jennifer L.L., letter.................................. 178
Submitted by Ranking Member Blackburn:
Quin, Margie, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Children's
Services, letter.............................................. 183
[all]