    [Senate Hearing 118-614]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 118-614

                             ABUSE IN FOSTER CARE:
                                 A DEEPER LOOK

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAW

                                     of the

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION
                                   __________

                                NOVEMBER 6, 2023
                                   __________

                                ATLANTA, GEORGIA
                                   __________

                              Serial No. J-118-41
                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

                   [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                            www.judiciary.senate.gov
                                www.govinfo.gov
                                    ______

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    59-963                     WASHINGTON : 2025

                           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

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENT

                                                                       Page

    Ossoff, Hon. Jon.................................................     1

                                   WITNESSES

    Atkinson, Brian..................................................    17
        Prepared statement...........................................    30

    McLean-Camp, Tiffani.............................................     3
        Prepared statement...........................................    34

    Sahl, Samantha...................................................    12
        Prepared statement...........................................    37

    Winfrey, Earnelle................................................    14
        Prepared statement...........................................    44

                      ABUSE IN FOSTER CARE: A DEEPER LOOK

                                  ----------

                            MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2023

                          United States Senate,
              Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law,
                                    Committee on the Judiciary,
                                                      Atlanta, Georgia.
        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 a.m., in
    Room 041, Georgia State University College of Law, Hon. Jon
    Ossoff, Chair of the Subcommittee, presiding.
        Present: Senator Ossoff [presiding].

                 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. Thank you, all, for joining us.
        Eight months ago, the Subcommittee opened a bipartisan
    inquiry into the safety and human rights of children in foster
    care because protecting America's most vulnerable children from
    abuse and neglect is a moral imperative.
        Please remember, we are talking about the most vulnerable
    children in the United States and the most vulnerable children
    in the State of Georgia: children who have faced abuse,
    children who have been trafficked, children who have faced
    neglect and who have been orphaned.
        For these children here in Georgia, the Georgia Division of
    Family and Children Services, or DFCS, is meant to be a
    sanctuary.
        But watchdogs, oversight bodies, and advocates have been
    sounding the alarm for years about alleged systemic failures at
    DFCS, which receives hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal
    funding each year and which is subject to Federal child welfare
    standards.
        According to the Georgia Office of the Child Advocate, or
    OCA, in 2021, DFCS received reports of failures directly from
    several local child advocacy centers and from the statewide
    organization, Child Advocacy Centers of Georgia.
        OCA characterized these reports as evidence of, quote,
    ``systemic threats to children who are victims of physical and
    sexual abuse.''
        The following year, in 2022, OCA issued their own report
    outlining 15 breakdowns within DFCS, and OCA described them as,
    quote, ``systemic'' and reported that in all cases they
    reviewed to produce their investigation, quote, ``DFCS failed
    to take adequate steps to respond to allegations of physical
    and sexual abuse.'' They went on to say 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 denied
    OCA's findings. OCA stood by its report.
        These allegations of widespread failures that leave
    Georgia's foster children vulnerable to abuse and neglect
    demand investigation, and Georgia, as a case study informing
    our Subcommittee's inquiry, will yield crucial insights about
    threats to the health and safety of foster children nationwide.
        To date, the Subcommittee has interviewed over 100
    witnesses and sources and has reviewed thousands of pages of
    records.
        The Subcommittee has already held two hearings where we
    have heard from former foster youth, from a Georgia mother
    whose child was murdered after being placed with unfit
    caregivers, from experts and practitioners in child welfare
    law, and from juvenile court judges who interact with children
    in Georgia's foster care system, and with Georgia DFCS.
        In between those hearings, we also discussed analysis
    conducted by the Center for Missing & Exploited Children, or
    NCMEC, which found that 1,790 children in DFCS care were
    reported missing to NCMEC between 2018 and 2022.
        As a reminder, the Federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and
    Strengthening Families Act, signed into law in 2014, requires
    State agencies to report a missing child to both law
    enforcement and to NCMEC within 24 hours of receiving
    information about a missing child under their care.
        NCMEC was designated by Congress to serve as the national
    clearinghouse on issues relating to missing and exploited
    children. NCMEC is funded partially by a mandatory Federal
    grant from the Department of Justice and serves as a reporting
    and case management center for issues related to the prevention
    of and recovery from child victimization.
        Our investigation continues today with a third public
    hearing. We will hear from and about children subjected to the
    worst forms of abuse, including sex trafficking, exploitation,
    and sexual abuse.
        This is an investigation about children, the most
    vulnerable children in the Nation. The investigation is active
    and ongoing, and I believe it can and must spur the long-
    overdue reform that these children deserve.
        First, we will hear from Tiffani, a young woman from
    Georgia who will testify today about her experience within the
    Georgia foster care system.
        And after Tiffani, we will have an opportunity to hear
    directly from the National Center for Missing & Exploited
    Children on their findings as well as further experts on the
    challenges and risks facing foster children here in Georgia.
        I will now introduce Tiffani, and, Tiffani, thank you,
    again, for joining us today. Tiffani McLean-Camp will be our
    witness on our first panel, and, Tiffani, if you would please
    rise and raise your right hand.
        Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to
    give before the Subcommittee is the truth, the whole truth, and
    nothing but the truth, so help you God?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Yes.
        Senator Ossoff. Let the record note that the witness
    answered in the affirmative.
        Tiffani, please take your seat. I will ask your colleague
    to ensure that your microphone is enabled with the red light
    showing, and whenever you are ready, Tiffani.
        With gratitude from the Subcommittee for your courage in
    coming forward and speaking with us today, you may offer your
    opening statement.

         STATEMENT OF TIFFANI MCLEAN-CAMP, NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD
          WITH EXPERIENCE IN  FOSTER CARE SYSTEM,  SAVANNAH,
          GEORGIA

        Ms. McLean-Camp. Thank you. My name is Tiffani McLean-Camp.
    I am 19 years old.
        I first entered foster care in Georgia when I was 15, but
    that is not where my story begins.
        I was born in Detroit and removed from my biological mother
    when I was 2 years old. At the age of 3, I was adopted.
        From the age of 3 until I was 15, I was physically abused
    and neglected by my adoptive parent and sexually abused by a
    family friend. My adopted parents were involved in 23 Child
    Protective Services reports.
        While living in Michigan, at one point I was removed from
    my adopted parents and placed in foster care. We moved to
    Georgia in 2019, but that--but the abuse did not end there.
        One day I told the teacher that I was afraid to go home,
    and they called DFCS. A case manager came out to our home and
    asked me a question right in front of my parents. I was afraid
    I would get in trouble, so I said everything was okay.
        When no one protected me, I tried to protect myself. I
    tried to run away and tried to fight back, anything I could to
    escape.
        I was arrested for trying to protect myself from my
    father's abuse. He was never arrested, and DFCS said that I was
    the problem.
        No one listened to me. No one believed me. When I was put
    in foster care, DFCS didn't believe that I had been abused or
    neglected even after I told them. To them, I was unruly, a
    runaway, and a behavior problem.
        I was in DFCS custody until I was 18. While in DFCS
    custody, I experienced abuse, medical neglect, educational
    neglect, and was even sexually assaulted and trafficked.
        I moved placements more than 20 times. I was put in group
    homes, detention centers, and foster homes.
        Like Mon'a, I was in--I was at Devereaux. For the nearly 8
    months I was there, I don't remember my case manager coming to
    see me once in person.
        Like Mon'a, I remember the barbed wire fence, being
    overmedicated and put in isolation. I remember staff forcing my
    pants down and forcing me to get a shot on my bottom and then
    feeling drowsy. They treated me like I wasn't human.
        I was placed in a few different group homes that were
    supposed to be safe houses for girls who was trafficked. At one
    of these placements, I witnessed the staff fighting with the
    other girls in the home that was smoking marijuana, and not
    being allowed to go to school in person, not for my protection,
    but to protect group homes and staff's other children.
        Staff would call me and the other girls the ``B'' word. One
    time I even heard the staff call other girls in the home a
    ``slut.''
        When I was 18, I signed myself out of care but then found
    out I was pregnant. I called my case manager to tell her to get
    what I needed to prepare myself for motherhood. For example,
    DFCS still had my social security card and birth certificate. I
    needed information about transportation.
        My son was born premature and was in the NICU for 3 weeks.
    Foster care left me without housing or assistance. I needed to
    take care of myself and my child. I wanted a better life for my
    son, so I called DFCS to sign back into care.
        DFCS couldn't find a placement for us, so my son and I had
    to spend the first 6 weeks of his life in an emergency shelter.
    Then I was placed in a group home for teen moms. A staff member
    falsely accused me for neglecting my son, and DFCS took him
    from me for a month.
        The court ordered DFCS to find a placement for me and my
    son to be together, and if they couldn't find somewhere for us,
    that I get to see him 3 times a week. But I didn't get to see
    him 3 times a week, and we weren't placed together.
        For a month, three bonds was broken: the bond between a
    mother and her child; the bond we were building for the first 3
    months of his life while I was breastfeeding; the bond created
    through skin-to-skin and other interactions important for his
    development.
        Instead, DFCS tried to force me to sign myself out of
    foster care and kept me and my child apart. After 1 month of
    being apart, my son returned to me. The court found that DFCS
    did not have any evidence that I was abusing or neglecting my
    son.
        During all of this, DFCS was neglecting me as I signed
    myself back into care. I had been asking for therapy to help
    my--help me with the past and trauma and postpartum depression.
    I asked to see a doctor for infections I had related to past
    abuse. In my pregnancy, I had an infection caused by pieces of
    leftover placenta. I didn't see an OBGYN until more than 6
    months after giving birth to my son.
        Despite how DFCS has treated me, I am still here because I
    have to focus on what is best for my son. I am working on
    getting my GED and planning on going to nursing school.
        Because I have an attorney at CASA who will fight for me
    and listen to me and believe me, my son and I are now living in
    a foster home where we feel safe and supported.
        I have a new case manager who listens to me and asks me
    what I need.
        For the first time since I was 15, I hope--I have hope.
        I hope through my testimony, other children won't have to
    go through what I went through. Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. McLean-Camp appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Ossoff. Tiffani, thank you for sharing your story
    with us. No child should have to go through the experiences
    that you've survived.
        And I know it must be painful to revisit and to relive
    these things, but the public and the Senate are grateful to you
    for having the courage to speak out.
        You testified that you were trafficked while in DFCS care.
    Trafficking while in foster care represents one of the worst
    ways that the State can fail a young person.
        I also understand that there is or will be a criminal case
    against those who attacked you, so I'm not going to ask you to
    talk about that experience in more detail, given the other
    ongoing legal matter.
        But I do want to ask you some questions to understand your
    experiences in foster care.
        You testified that when you moved to Georgia, you tried to
    report abuse in your home to a teacher. But when DFCS
    interviewed you, they did so right in front of your parents.
    Did you feel like you could tell DFCS about the abuse you were
    experiencing in that setting?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Honestly, no. I felt like I couldn't tell
    them because it was my parents that I--that they interviewed me
    in front of. And then I knew that my siblings was there. So
    it's, like, I couldn't explain or show how I really felt inside
    because I felt like if I did, I was going to be--hold
    accountability with my parents of, like, anger and hatred
    toward me, or they would look at me a different way--me, you
    know, reporting them.
        So I tried to, like, tell them it's okay or I'm okay, I'm
    going to get through it, I'm fine. And I just remember my case
    manager was like, ``Well, you can say what you have to say.''
        But I was, like, ``No, it's okay.'' And I kept saying I was
    okay because I didn't want to get in trouble by my parents, so
    I tried to hide everything with, ``No, I'm okay,'' and tried to
    change the subject to, like, ``Oh, I'm doing this in school,''
    ``I'm working on a project''--so trying to hide all that dark
    moment inside because I didn't want to deal with consequences
    with my parents.
        Senator Ossoff. And, Tiffani, I can hear you fine. I want
    to make sure that everybody can. Ma'am, if you wouldn't mind
    perhaps just moving the microphone a little bit closer to
    Tiffani, I'd be grateful to you.
        Now, Tiffani, I can only imagine, again, how challenging it
    is to speak publicly about these things, and so if at any time
    you need a break, you just let me know. We're all grateful to
    you for speaking today.
        You testified that when you did eventually enter foster
    care, you had 20 placements.
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Yes.
        Senator Ossoff. What was it like to move around so often?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. To move around so often, it was scary,
    especially because they was all in--located in different areas
    that I have never been to, so it was like--it was scary.
        And then being in different settings with other youths that
    been through what I went through and then dealing with staff.
    It was hard because you had staff that was rude to the girls,
    judging them, making us, like, make them feel like they wasn't
    worth being, you know, being part of this world.
        Like, you had staff like, ``Oh, why are you wearing that--
    that's not cute,'' or, ``Why you do your hair like that? '',
    or, ``Oh, you think that perfume smells good on you? '' And it
    was like, I felt like that wasn't appropriate because it's,
    like, everybody should feel comfortable in their skin.
        And it was a group home where they didn't even let us go to
    school. So it's, like, how are we supposed to learn when we're
    locked down 24/7? You rarely even--you don't go outside. You're
    just trapped.
        So it's like, how are we supposed to learn any type of life
    skill or education skills or just different activities in the
    community when you have no skill or you don't have no mindset
    to even do anything where you're not taught mind skills or life
    skills.
        You don't have that type of skill because imagine being in
    a group home with 6 to 10 girls, and we're like, you know, what
    are we supposed to do? Like, are we learning anything today, or
    can we go outside, and staff's like, ``Oh no, you can't go
    outside.'', ``You can't do this.'' So it's like, well, what is
    there to do?
        And when I asked about more toward going to school, I was
    like, why are we not going to school? ``Oh, we're just trying
    to protect you guys from going out to the community and
    interacting with other kids.''
        Well, I didn't really understand what she meant by that, so
    I was like, ``What do you mean about, like, protecting us from,
    like, other kids? ''
        It was a cover-up, as in, staff was doing things they
    shouldn't have been doing in the group home.So they really was
    trying to protect theirselves from us telling, like, other kids
    or teachers, even if we went to school, to not to say anything.
        So they will punish us as though, ``Oh, you have to do
    school inside the group home.'' But we was barely even doing
    schooling inside the group home. It was a lack of education to
    even learn any type of skills.
        Like, you had some youth, even including me, like, how are
    we supposed to learn how to do math when we don't know no
    skills? How we supposed to learn how to read? How we supposed
    to do anything because your education is going to take you so
    far in life. It's going to get you where you need to be.
        So it's like, if this is supposed to be a setting for young
    females, and then not only just that, the staff's you're all,
    women, too, to like, help us, help each other to get better--
    and it wasn't no support or care in there.
        It was like, ``Well, we're the staff, you're all locked
    down, you all can't do what you all want to do. You all can
    watch TV, and that's it.''
        So it--it felt like being in prison, like you're in a jail
    cell, but you've just been locked down forever, and, it's like,
    when are--when am I going to get out? Because, like, you had
    other young ladies, including me, want to run away from the
    problem because it is like, why be stuck and why are we stuck
    when I can just run?
        But even when you try to run away, they punish you for
    that, too. But I just never got the understanding of, like, why
    are we being treated like that when we all come from different
    backgrounds? We all come from different traumas?
        So it's like, where is that therapy, support? Where is that
    caring, loving support? Where is just any type of support?
    Where--just, there's--where's there any type of--sorry--any
    communication skills? Where--where is it? And I just feel
    like--it made me feel like I wasn't human. It just made me feel
    like an animal that's locked up in a cage.
        Senator Ossoff. You testified about your experience at
    Devereaux.
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Yes.
        Senator Ossoff. What was Devereaux like?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. It was like jail. I remember the first
    time I came in, it was around June, and you just see a gate and
    barbed wires, and I'm like, what is this place?
        They was like, ``This is your new group home.'' But I'm
    like, this don't look like no group home. This look like jail.
        They was like, ``No, it's not jail. It's friendly here.
    You're going to like it.''
        So the two first months that I have been there, I'm like,
    this is not okay.
        You have staff abusing young men and young females. You
    have staff body slamming them, choking them, injecting them
    with medication, over drugging them.
        And it's like, this is what we came here to be treated for?
        And it just feel horr--it felt like a horror movie that
    you're just stuck in, like, you can't never get out of.
        And you have kids that been there for 2 years and dealing
    with that. You have kids that been there for 4, 5 years, and
    it's like, that time--that they've been here for years, what
    are you guys doing to help them? What are you guys doing to
    better them?
        And it's like, you just see kids crying, begging to go
    home, or ``Can I talk to my caseworker?'', ``Can I talk to
    somebody?'', ``I want to leave.''
        And it's like, ``Oh, well, you are not going to leave.'',
    ``You're not going to see your family, your friends.'',
    ``You're here to get treatment.''
        But it's like, how are we here to get treatment if you're
    all abusing us and just drugging us? That's not the right
    treatment.
        I feel like, in a youth--the youth in a group home, the
    treatment that we needed was love and care and a support
    system. And it should've been more support because they'll try
    to say, ``Well, you know, sometimes you guys push out--your own
    selves in situations that you shouldn't have put yourself in
    the situation.''
        But it's like, no child asks to be put in care to be
    neglected. And I feel like there is no such thing as a behavior
    child or--or a bad or a terrible child because, well, if it
    came down to it, it's a lot of kids--I'm not going to say
    ``kids''--a lot of youths that's been in care.
        It's over a thousand of us in care, and for all these cases
    to have been looked at as neglect? Abuse?
        You have kids that went through trauma where they're not
    eating--being trafficked, being abused, have no support
    system--then be in a group home setting.
        If you know these backgrounds with these youths, why not
    help them if that is your job, to help us get better? You're
    saying that, ``Oh, I'm working here because I love children. I
    want to help you guys get better.''
        You can't say you love and you want to help somebody when
    you're--you're abusing them.
        Senator Ossoff. Do you remember, Tiffani, your DFCS
    caseworker coming to visit you while you were at Devereaux?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. No. I never--the whole entire time I've
    been there--I've been there for half a year. I have received no
    phone calls from my case manager. No visit. The only phone
    calls I've been getting was, like, maybe from, like, family
    members and maybe a friend, but besides the case manager. I
    never had that support from her.
        And it's like, all this time, I'm like, I'm in care, and
    you're supposed to be my case manager, you know--you're
    supposed to help me with my needs, whether it's emotional
    needs, physical needs, mentally.
        It was no support with her, and it made me feel like less
    of a human because it's like, I've been through so much, and
    you're not even realizing that this--the trauma and everything
    I went through from the age of 3 to 15--even now, you never--
    you never helped me get better. You never helped me get past of
    the things that I need to get past.
        Senator Ossoff. You have a baby boy. Right?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Yes.
        Senator Ossoff. I have a 2-year-old daughter.
        How old is your son now?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. My son is 8 months and a half.
        Senator Ossoff. Eight months and a half? You described how
    you left foster care at age 18, but you signed back in or
    extended services after having your son----
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Right.
        Senator Ossoff [continuing]. That it took 6 weeks for DFCS
    to find a placement for you, and that while you waited, you
    were living in an emergency shelter with your baby. Did I
    understand you correctly?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Yes.
        Senator Ossoff. What was it like being in an emergency
    shelter with a newborn baby?
        [Pause.]
        Senator Ossoff. Take your time, Tiffani.
        Ms. McLean-Camp. You know, I had so many thoughts and
    worries my being in that shelter. My son was a preemie. I had
    my son at 34 weeks, and I signed back into care to get that
    extra help, right, because I'm a young single mother, so I
    needed the help.
        So I was like, you know, maybe if I sign back into care,
    they might actually care this time and, you know, help me and
    my son. So maybe it might change a little different since I
    have a plus-one.
        So I remember my caseworker and DFCS came out, like, 2 days
    after I had my son to the hospital. And they was like, ``Oh
    hey, is your name Tiffani? '' I was like, yes, and I was scared
    at first because I'm like, who are you people?
        So they came in, and I was like, oh, I'm Tiffani. She's
    like, ``Are you wanting to sign back in care? '' I was like,
    yes. So they went over paperwork with me, and they was like,
    ``Okay. I'll return back to you when I hear anything.'' I was
    like, okay.
        And the whole entire time, just being in the hospital for a
    month, and you just see your bundle of joy just connected to
    wires--it--it--it broke me inside because it was like, still,
    my case manager was not there to even see me.
        Well, when we went to the shelter at the time, in the
    beginning of March, she came, she dropped my belongings off,
    and made me sign papers to get back into care. After that, she
    took off. She left in her car, and I'm like, what is it I'm
    supposed to do now?
        And just being there and you just see different families,
    and then you just see yourself with your newborn child and
    other families, it kind of broke my heart because it's like,
    what--like, I just had different thoughts of, like, okay, what
    happens if I can only stay in this shelter for this much of
    time? Where is me and my baby supposed to go afterwards? What
    are we supposed to do next?
        It literally took a month for me to even get into another
    placement after the shelter. And even being in the shelter, I
    just feel like--it made me hurt inside because I just wished I
    had the skills to be more at a stable mindset, in a stable
    position for me and my child. I just wished things was
    differently.
        I wish I would've been--you know, had a house or a car, you
    know, more to offer for my child. But I just feel like being in
    a shelter and you just have your 6-week-old newborn in there
    with you, it feels bad because it's, like, I have thoughts
    like, dang, like, I'm a bad mother. I wish I would've--I
    would've changed. I wish I could've did this.
        I don't--like, I have thoughts like, maybe I should run
    away from here or should I just stay put because I don't want
    to run away from the shelter and have nowhere to go. So I'm
    like, I just try to work it out.
        And then not even just that, being in a shelter, you kind
    of had to buy your own food. You don't buy your own food,
    you're not eating. So thank God at the time I had WIC where I
    can supply my son with formula and groceries for myself. But
    after that, you're still going to be hungry.
        And then it was hard enough being in the shelter and having
    lack of transportation being in a shelter because I'm, like,
    just having thoughts. Like, my mind is racing, my thoughts
    racing. I feel like I'm losing it. So I'm like, how am I
    supposed to take my newborn to his doctors' appointments? How
    am I supposed to get back here to the shelter? How am I
    supposed to get back to the doctors, back and forth? It was
    hard.
        So like, I had a couple times where I remember one person
    from DFCS reached out and took me to my son's appointments.
        But after that time when it was time to--like, ``Okay,
    Tiffani, you know, you and your child are going to have to
    go.''
        And I'm like, we don't have nowhere else to go. So I'm,
    like, begging. I'm like, you know, can we just stay here a
    little longer? I'll try to get a job in the meantime and find a
    babysitter. I will try to do anything, you know, just for us to
    stay here.
        And he was like, ``Well, this is only a temporary
    shelter.'' And I'm like, okay, so I'll try to call my case
    manager.
        It was no phone calls from her, no texts, no emails. It was
    just like, she went ghost on me. Like she disappeared.
        And at that time, I mean, it was just--it was depressing.
    And then having depression on top of postpartum depression, it
    was hard enough.
        It felt like my heart was sinking. It felt like my heart
    was ripping into pieces. It felt like my mind was, like, going
    crazy. It felt like I was losing myself, like, I didn't feel
    normal. I didn't know what to do.
        Senator Ossoff. Tiffani, you mentioned that you had some
    complications after delivery and an infection associated with
    leftover placenta, but you had to wait nearly 6 months to see
    an ob-gyn? Is that right?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Yes. Dealing with--dealing with that, I
    was--it made me feel like I had no rights as a human or even as
    a mother in the care of me and my child because my pregnancy--I
    had a rough pregnancy.
        And then with my son being premature, having him--having
    him at 34 weeks and then me being sick in my pregnancy. I had
    lost 26 pounds in my pregnancy being sick.
        I was dealing with kidney problems--I was having kidney
    problems. They was trying to tell me that I might--I'm not--I'm
    not--I'm almost close enough to having kidney failure in
    pregnancy. I was at high risk of having high blood pressure and
    diabetes being pregnant.
        It was a lot. Having to have a lot of IVs connected to you
    to have enough fluids for you to stay hydrated. I was--it was
    just--it was just--it just felt like a nightmare during the
    time.
        And then they was telling me the time that I had my son I
    was losing a lot of blood. It was times that I didn't eat
    because I was so sick. And they was talking about, ``Oh, well,
    you lose more blood than what you lose, then, you know, we
    might have to give you surgery to, you know, give you more
    blood.''
        And I'm like--I'm like, this can't be true. Like, this
    can't be happening because, God forbid, what happen if I did
    have surgery and I didn't make it out the right way in surgery?
    Who's going to take care of my child?
        So like, I would try to think, like, no, we can't do that.
    I have to stay here for him because I'm his number one
    protector. I'm his--I'm his--I'm his savior. I'm his mother.
    I'm his--I'm his everything. I can't afford you for you guys to
    do surgery on me, and I just had him and I don't even know what
    was going to happen with us--so I can't afford that. And they
    was like, ``I understand.'' And I'm like, okay.
        So when they run a couple tests on me, everything came out
    okay. So, they told me I had a kidney infection, so I had to
    get, like, a lot of medication. I'm still sick. And then after
    losing 26--I lost, and I was like, I can't believe I lost 26
    pounds. I was 154 pounds when I was pregnant.
        Before I even got pregnant, I used to weigh 123 pounds.
    From 123 pounds to 154 pounds, that's a lot of weight, and then
    closer to me having him, I was almost 200 pounds.
        So imagine all that weight, being sick, throwing up, you
    can barely move, you feel weak--and it's like you're trying to
    force yourself to eat because you're trying--you're trying to
    make sure that your child has all the nutrients for them to
    grow and develop inside. And it's like, you can't because you
    just feel so--you feel gross, so.
        And then not even having that medical care of being, you
    know, treated with me being sick and having to wait 6 months
    from my son being born, it made me feel--it made me feel less
    of a woman and as a mother because I had thoughts like, well,
    if I can't get the medical needs that I need, how am I supposed
    to get my child's medical needs if I'm not getting--if I'm not
    receiving care?
        Well, I tried to tell DFCS about it, and like, ``Oh, okay,
    you--you''--they say, ``You've been seen. You've been checked
    out.''
        I have not, and I used to beg--like, beg them, like, I need
    to be checked. I have not been seen.
        I haven't been to a dentist in half a year and from the
    time of being 15 to now, I have got no--no help from you guys.
    I got no help. I have no--I haven't got help when it comes to
    life skills, medical, mentally--help with support and skills. I
    have not got no help from it.
        From the time of 15 and 18 being in their care, I had to
    learn everything on my own. I had to teach myself. I had to go
    around and ask people, you know, how do you do this and this.
    How do you fill out a housing application? How do you fill out
    a job application? How do you do this, and how you do this? It
    was a lot, but I learned from people that I didn't even know.
        And it's like--I, like, told DFCS one time, I'm like, so
    what do--what's my--what's my purpose even being in care?
    What's my purpose even working with you guys if you're all not
    even helping me? What's the point?
        ``Well, you know you can just sign yourself out.''
        So you're giving me an option of signing out, but you give
    me no options of the help and skills that I need.
        Senator Ossoff. Mm-hmm.
        Ms. McLean-Camp. So I'm like--I thought about it, and I was
    like, no, you know why I'm not going to sign out? Because
    people that went through things I went through, we got so far
    where we needed to be, even without your guys' help.
        But one thing I will say to DFCS: You all failed the system
    real bad. You failed youths of the caring, the support that
    they needed--especially knowing everything they went through--
    trauma, family background, situations where they needed help,
    and not even just that, the lack of guidance.
        Senator Ossoff. Tiffani, thank you so much for sharing your
    story and your testimony with the Subcommittee today. And the
    public and the Senate are grateful to you for speaking out
    about what you have been through.
        And I wish you and your baby son all the best. And we'll
    check up on you. Okay?
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Thank you.
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you.
        We will now take a moment and pause and bring our second
    panel to testify. Thank you.
        Ms. McLean-Camp. Thank you.
        [Pause.]
        Senator Ossoff. Okay. We're reconvening now for Panel Two,
    and I will now introduce our witnesses. Thank you so much for
    joining us today.
        We will hear this morning from Dr. Samantha Sahl. Dr. Sahl
    is the supervisor of the Child Sex Trafficking Recovery
    Services Team at the National Center for Missing & Exploited
    Children, or NCMEC.
        We'll hear from Deputy District Attorney Earnelle Winfrey.
    District Attorney Earnelle Winfrey oversees the Special Victims
    Division, Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Unit at the
    Fulton County District Attorney's Office.
        And we'll hear from Brian Atkinson. Mr. Atkinson is staff
    attorney and adjunct instructor at the Wilbanks Child
    Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation, or CEASE, Clinic at the
    University of Georgia School of Law.
        Before opening statements, we'll swear in our witnesses. So
    if you'd all please rise and raise your right hand.
        [Witnesses are sworn in.]
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you. You may be seated, and please
    note for the record that all witnesses answered in the
    affirmative. Dr. Sahl, you may now begin with your opening
    statement.

         STATEMENT  OF  SAMANTHA  SAHL,  DSW,  SUPERVISOR  OF
          CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING RECOVERY SERVICES  TEAM,  NA-
          TIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN, AL-
          EXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

        Dr. Sahl. Good morning, Senator Ossoff. My name is Dr.
    Samantha Sahl, and I am honored to be here today on behalf of
    the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, NCMEC.
        For those of you who are less familiar with NCMEC, we are a
    private nonprofit organization that was created in 1984 by John
    and Reve Walsh after the tragic disappearance and murder of
    their 6-year-old son, Adam.
        NCMEC has grown over the years to become the Nation's
    largest and most influential child protection organization.
    NCMEC serves as a national clearinghouse and resource center to
    fulfill its congressionally authorized mission to help find
    missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent
    future victimization.
        I have had the privilege of working directly with at-risk
    youth and survivors of child sex trafficking for the past
    decade as a forensic interviewer and advocate, and a
    coordinator of a multidisciplinary response team.
        Within my current role at NCMEC, I supervise the Child Sex
    Trafficking Recovery Services Team, the team that was created
    specifically to address the topic of this hearing: a
    significant intersection between foster care, missing youth,
    and child sex trafficking.
        Thank you for hosting this hearing to raise awareness about
    this very important issue.
        In 2014, as you mentioned, the Preventing Sex Trafficking
    and Strengthening Families Act was passed. This law required
    child welfare agencies to report children missing from foster
    care placements to NCMEC after reporting them missing, to law
    enforcement.
        NCMEC is grateful for this legislation as it ensures that
    children missing from care and the child welfare professionals
    responsible for their well-being receive the resources
    available through NCMEC to support their location and recovery.
        Between 2018 and 2022, NCMEC received over 2,400 reports of
    children missing from care in Georgia involving 1,790 children,
    many of whom went missing several times throughout the year.
    Four hundred and ten of these children were identified as
    likely child sex trafficking victims.
        Trends show us that when children run away frequently or
    for long periods of time, they tend to be running from an
    unsafe situation or to an unsafe situation.
        As you heard from Tiffani this morning, children in foster
    care have already experienced significant trauma which led to
    child welfare intervention.
        When children are then placed in foster homes or group
    homes that don't have the resources, training, or support
    necessary to meet their needs for love, belonging, and self-
    exploration, running away from their--these placements often
    becomes their effort to problem solve to meet these needs.
        This creates a perfect storm that traffickers are skilled
    at taking advantage of. We know we have an urgent issue when
    children feel better on the streets or with a trafficker than
    they do in their foster care placements. This is a national
    crisis that we must devote additional Federal and State
    resources to address.
        My team at NCMEC has the important task of offering
    individualized coaching and support to foster care workers
    while children are missing to support them in meeting some of
    these needs.
        Every day we hear foster care workers express how
    overwhelmed they feel trying to navigate systems that are
    overstretched, under-resourced, and ill-equipped to meet the
    needs of the children that they serve. Child welfare agencies
    can play a crucial role in the prevention, intervention, and
    response to child sex trafficking.
        While significant legislative progress has made a shift
    from a juvenile justice to a child welfare response to child
    sex trafficking, we now must ensure the child welfare systems
    have the support, the resources, and the practices necessary to
    meet the needs of our most vulnerable youth.
        Many States have developed innovative responses to attempt
    to address these issues. I would be remiss if I didn't
    highlight the State of Georgia as an innovative and proactive
    leader in the child sex trafficking response.
        NCMEC works closely with the Georgia Division of Family and
    Children Services when children go missing from care. And I
    have personally participated in a monthly statewide call that
    is co-facilitated by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and
    Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia that brings together key
    stakeholders, including law enforcement, child welfare, and
    victim service providers, to increase coordination and
    information sharing. It truly takes a village and cross-system
    collaboration to meet the needs of youth.
        In closing, the issues of missing children from care and
    child sex trafficking are complex and multifaceted. Successful
    solutions cannot fall solely at the feet of a single agency.
        Like the hope that Tiffani expressed this morning, despite
    experiencing so much hardship, hope is what keeps us going at
    NCMEC. We hope that children in foster care will have the
    opportunities for healing, self-exploration, and caring
    relationships that we know all children so desperately need in
    order to thrive.
        But today we must move beyond hope and into action. NCMEC
    looks forward to linking arms and developing innovative,
    collaborative, and system-shifting solutions. Thank you for the
    opportunity to represent NCMEC at this hearing, and I look
    forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Sahl appears as a submission
    for the record.]
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Dr. Sahl. We will turn now to
    Ms. Winfrey and then Mr. Atkinson. Ms. Winfrey.

         STATEMENT OF EARNELLE WINFREY,  DEPUTY  DISTRICT AT-
          TORNEY, SPECIAL VICTIMS DIVISION, HUMAN TRAFFICKING
          AND CHILD EXPLOITATION  UNIT,  FULTON  COUNTY  DIS-
          TRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

        Ms. Winfrey. Good morning, Chairman Ossoff.
        Senator Ossoff. Just making sure your microphone is on and
    the red light is on. Okay.
        Ms. Winfrey. Good morning, again. My name is Earnelle
    Winfrey. I am the deputy district attorney and lead prosecutor
    for the Human Trafficking and Internet Child Exploitation Unit
    at the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney.
        I've been practicing law for 22 years, and for the last 6
    years, I've been prosecuting human trafficking and sex abuse
    cases.
        As a prosecutor and expert in this field, I have the
    privilege of serving as an advocate for survivors of commercial
    sexual exploitation by giving them a voice in the courtroom
    while also holding the traffickers accountable.
        The views I express today are my personal ones. They should
    not be construed as a representation of the various statewide
    committees and multidisciplinary teams and task forces on which
    I have the privilege to serve.
        In my work as a human trafficking prosecutor, I'm seeing
    about 80 percent to 90 percent of CSEC survivors we serve.
    They've been sexually abused and enter the life of commercial
    sex with this type of adverse childhood trauma, which increases
    their vulnerability of exploitation.
        Approximately 40 percent to 50 percent of the CSEC
    survivors we serve have either been in foster care or they have
    some sort of CPS history. Many CSEC survivors in the foster
    care system present with complex trauma, and with no real
    support to facilitate healing while in DFCS care.
        Sexual abuse causes feelings of shame, guilt, low self-
    esteem, and low self-worth, and over time, victims that we see,
    they see themselves as damaged goods.
        Not addressing this complex trauma while in care increases
    their likelihood and entrance into the commercial sex trade or
    reentry after recovery. And most of these children survive as
    merely bones, shells of their former selves.
        Several CSEC survivors I encounter report negative
    experiences while in foster care. Most express a lack of trust
    and faith in the system, as we heard from Miss Tiffani this
    morning.
        Children in State care are far more vulnerable to
    trafficking than those with similar risk factors. Youth in
    foster care do not have ties to their biological families in
    many cases. It is hard for them to feel secure and to develop a
    sense of identity.
        When in care, routines change with each placement, and many
    have been susceptible to what we can call ``motel
    warehousing,'' in the absence of qualified caregivers. At times
    it can be inefficient, and at its worst time, it can aid in the
    exploitation of young children and feed them to the machine of
    forced labor and sex trafficking.
        We must dispel the youth--excuse me--the myth that human
    trafficking involves a stranger riding around in a white van
    kidnapping children off the street and selling them into a life
    of sexual servitude. Most survivors were trafficked by someone
    they knew or someone even in their own family.
        Please understand that traffickers practice tactical
    warfare. In creating victims, sometimes their weapons of choice
    are kind words or alleviating an immediate need.
        Many times, those needs are for food, appropriate clothing,
    even sleep and drugs. Other times, it's a sense of belonging
    and security and acceptance.
        A child with their hope and trust intact in a world with no
    support is ripe for the picking. They are deceived into a life
    of sexual servitude, and it creates a world for them that they
    only know and understand while with the trafficker. There are
    casualties and dis-casualties always, and sometimes it's their
    innocence that's lost. It's their spirit that's lost.
        I had an occasion where--and we're seeing the trend--where
    there are inappropriate placements for CSEC youth. There was an
    example of young girls running away from a placement and
    finding themselves in the jaws of commercial exploitation.
        And when they were recovered, they disclosed the horrific
    experiences and heinous acts of violence committed against them
    while in the streets.
        It came to my attention that following their return from
    the--being exploited, they were instructed not to sit on the
    furniture of the group home. They were made to leave their
    clothing on the outside. Sources close to this group home
    placement say the home was sorely lacking in quality food,
    personal care items, and cleaning supplies. In this home,
    enrichment activities were nonexistent.
        Did the system fail them by not regularly investigating the
    placement that housed these young girls? Did the department
    ensure that the placement was proper for CSEC youth?
        Some of the children placed in care are labeled unruly, bad
    kids, recruiters, runaways, delinquent. Terror and sadness
    often wear the mask of anger and show up in various stages of
    acting out. If they're running away from care, what are they
    running from?
        We must take time to listen to their back story. Why don't
    we train caregivers to look for and understand the trauma they
    suffered prior to entering into care? Can we get past the
    perception of foster youth as unwanted throw-aways? How will we
    address the underlying trauma and the root causes so that these
    children may heal?
        If we are to be responsible for children in foster care, it
    is necessary to establish better safety measures and require
    placements to be trauma-informed and trained. The current
    protocol is not working like we thought it would. So it's time
    to reassess, not just investigate, but we must seal up the
    cracks that allow for further traumatization perpetuated by
    those in positions of authority and trust.
        Another example I had was a case with a CSEC youth that was
    recovered during an operation targeted at recovering missing
    kids. And when she was taken in for medical care, the detective
    noted that she was aware of her history in the foster care
    system as a habitual runaway.
        With this knowledge, they reached out to DFCS and requested
    that they take custody of her pursuant to [Georgia] Senate Bill
    158. This CSEC youth had nowhere to go, and she had been
    trafficked and had a history of past sexual abuse by a family
    member.
        DFCS did not send anyone to the medical facility, nor did
    they begin the process of exercising their authority under
    [Georgia] Senate Bill 158. In fact, because this child was
    known to be a runaway, the detective was advised to detain her
    and place her into a detention center.
        DFCS informed the detective they had no place for this CSEC
    youth to go. The detective informed them that she could not
    detain the CSEC youth because the youth did not do anything to
    warrant charges for placement into a detention center.
        Consequently, the detective, in collaboration with a
    Federal agency partner, located an out-of-State placement for
    this child for her to go in and get immediate care and
    emotional support.
        Under these emergency circumstances, DFCS did not act in a
    timely manner, and the out-of-State placement was lost for this
    child. Shortly after being returned to her family, the CSEC
    youth ran away again. And she was exploited again.
        The question is, do we have a crisis in housing? This is
    not to disparage caseworkers that work tirelessly in ensuring
    the safety of children in care. Caseworkers often do many
    interviews daily. They write report after report, respond to
    child abuse calls, and investigate claims.
        Caseworkers consistently whisper that they're lacking
    support. For example, caseworkers must get approval for
    decisions from equally overworked supervisors as opposed to a
    review team or a case reader.
        Can we restore the system in a way that's fair and place
    the needs and interests of our children in the forefront? Who
    will hear their voices and their cries?
        No child deserves to live in a life of exploitation. They
    do not deserve to be labeled with negative words like
    ``delinquent,'' ``recruiter,'' or the like, if there is no
    evidence to substantiate it.
        Who will have the courage to say, ``If it's broken, it's
    just broken, let's do something to change it'' ?
        We should include everyone in this solution, especially
    those in the health and human services. The department will not
    benefit from policies written for them by those who are not in
    the field. In my closing arguments to juries, I always say that
    it's their job to not look for doubt--it is to look and to seek
    and see the truth.
        It is my hope and prayer that through this investigation,
    the Subcommittee will seek and see the truth, and will be able
    to work through the problems to end the trends that I've spoken
    about.
        Again, thank you for this opportunity to share my
    experiences as a prosecutor in this field. And I hope and pray
    that we will have real answers to fix the system and make it
    work at optimal performance.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Winfrey appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Deputy District Attorney. Mr.
    Atkinson.

       STATEMENT OF  BRIAN ATKINSON,  STAFF  ATTORNEY,  WIL-
        BANKS CHILD  ENDANGERMENT  AND  SEXUAL  EXPLOITATION
        CLINIC, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCHOOL OF LAW, ATHENS,
        GEORGIA

        Mr. Atkinson. Good morning, Chairman Ossoff. I want to
    thank you, and Ranking Member Blackburn, and Members of the
    Subcommittee for the opportunity to testify today.
        My name is Brian Atkinson, and I'm the staff attorney for
    the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation
    Center--or Clinic, also known as the CEASE Clinic, at the
    University of Georgia School of Law.
        The views that I express today are my own and do not
    represent the University of Georgia or the other committees,
    teams, or task forces on which I have the privilege to serve.
        I am testifying today in my personal capacity as the lead
    attorney at the CEASE Clinic, an expert in sex crimes and
    trafficking against children, and an advocate for children in
    foster care who have been sexually abused, exploited, or
    trafficked.
        Last month, the Subcommittee heard from the director of the
    CEASE Clinic, Emma Hetherington. And I'm here today to provide
    additional context and information based on my experience
    representing youth in foster care.
        As CEASE's staff attorney, I provide direct representation
    to survivors and supervise legal fellows and law students in
    representing child survivors in foster care dependency cases,
    adult survivors in civil litigation against their abusers, and
    survivors of trafficking in post-conviction relief cases who
    were convicted as a result of, or while they were being
    trafficked.
        Prior to joining the CEASE Clinic, I was the chief
    assistant D.A. in Georgia's Northern Judicial Circuit where I
    prosecuted offenses, including child sexual abuse. My
    responsibilities included serving on multidisciplinary teams to
    discuss the investigation, prosecution, and response to
    instances of child abuse and maltreatment. I have had a
    firsthand view of how survivors are treated within various
    systems as well as the barriers survivors can face in accessing
    justice.
        While CEASE's child clients may at first appear dissimilar
    to the majority of children in foster care, the reality is that
    every child in foster care starts on the same path. And the
    final trajectory depends in large part on the State's response.
        Risk factors with the highest correlation to child
    trafficking include running away, homelessness, sexual abuse, a
    history of abuse or neglect, and entry into foster care.
        If a child's caregivers, families, friends, communities,
    and then the State aren't there to provide for their basic
    needs of food, shelter, safety, security, love, and belonging,
    their survival instincts kick in, and they seek out other ways
    to have those needs met, heightening their risk of landing
    straight in the hands of traffickers, buyers, or those who will
    exploit them.
        Since I have been at the CEASE Clinic, and as Dr. Sahl
    noted, I have noticed a concerted effort in Georgia to update
    policies and practices to attempt to better respond to the
    realities of trafficked youth.
        However, these efforts are slow to be incorporated into
    everyday practice. Most significant is the movement to change
    the conversation so that these young people can be better
    identified as victims and survivors and treated as such, rather
    than criminalized and punished for their abuse and for their
    responses to that abuse.
        Regrettably, I've not seen a change in how that's impacting
    the day-to-day treatment of children.
        Specifically, I have observed progress in how we talk about
    the population as victims and survivors and saying that certain
    negative behaviors are likely trauma responses, and agreeing
    that victims and survivors should be supported and not blamed
    for their victimization.
        But when that conversation shifts from talking about the
    population generally to discussing individual children, they're
    often labeled as at fault and are blamed for their
    victimization. Within the foster care system, this hinders
    efforts to secure appropriate placements for youth.
        The placement applications for my clients emphasize their
    flaws rather than their strengths, and that's the first piece
    of paper that a placement often receives--the first information
    they get about a child.
        So while DFCS says it's hard to find placements, it's
    harder still when they are painting incomplete pictures of
    these kids that accentuate their flaws, minimize their
    strengths, and paint a misleading picture who these children
    really are.
        It also informs how the placements will treat these kids
    because they never got a second chance or really even a first
    chance to make a first impression. That first impression was
    made for them.
        The portrayal of these children as being at fault or
    sharing the blame in their own abuse or exploitation also
    hinders their opportunity to seek justice.
        The State of Georgia has a robust network of child advocacy
    centers throughout the State that are available as tools for
    both DFCS and law enforcement to identify and respond to child
    abuse and maltreatment.
        However, when children are not seen as victims, they are
    less likely to be referred to those organizations when either
    they report abuse or when abuse is otherwise suspected. Not
    fully investigating those instances leaves both the foster care
    system and our communities less safe and denies those children
    the opportunity to seek justice.
        I have seen that when our clients reach out to DFCS to tell
    them about their experiences in placement about feeling unsafe,
    about the need for therapeutic or other services, they're met
    with disbelief, dismissiveness, and often no response, at all.
        At the end of the day, DFCS is the legal guardian for these
    children, and it is their responsibility to make sure that
    these kids are given spaces that are safe and comfortable.
        These children were removed from their families, which we
    know is a traumatic event regardless of how a child is treated
    within that home. But we--that being the system, courts, DFCS,
    others involved--have collectively decided that the cost of
    removal is worth the benefit of being in the State's protective
    custody.
        But then, these children aren't protected. We wouldn't and
    we don't put up with similar treatment of children by their
    parents, and we should hold ourselves, and especially the
    State, to a higher standard.
        Thank you, again, for the opportunity to testify, and I
    look forward to answering any questions you may have.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Atkinson appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you, all, for your powerful
    testimony, your expertise, and your service, each in your way,
    to those most vulnerable kids in Georgia and nationwide.
        Dr. Sahl, I'd like to begin by diving into some of the
    numbers and to ensure the public fully understands your
    methodology.
        In the testimony that you submitted, you described an
    analysis that NCMEC performed at the request of the Human
    Rights Subcommittee, which found that since 2018, 410 children
    who were reported missing from the State's care in Georgia were
    likely trafficked, and that some of these children were
    assessed to have likely experienced trafficking multiple
    times--a total of 624 episodes of trafficking. We'll dig into
    exactly how you arrived at those numbers in a moment.
        First, let's just establish the baseline. Federal law
    requires foster care agencies to report missing children to
    NCMEC within 24 hours. Why is it so critical that children
    missing from foster care be reported to NCMEC, as required by
    Congress?
        Dr. Sahl. Absolutely. So we know that any time a child goes
    missing, whether they are missing for a couple hours or days or
    weeks, they are not under the care and supervision of the
    agency that they were in the care of, and they're then
    vulnerable to experiencing any number of endangerments,
    including child sex trafficking. We have found that the longer
    a child is missing from care or the more frequent the missing
    episodes become, that risk increases exponentially.
        Senator Ossoff. We've heard from multiple former foster
    youth through these hearings. We heard from Mon'a several weeks
    ago. This morning we heard from Tiffani about their
    experiences, for example, in group homes.
        In the written testimony that you submitted, you stated
    that, ``Children in foster care often run away because their
    placements are unable to meet their needs'' and that they're--
    and this is affirmed by guidance from the Department of Health
    and Human Services at the Federal level--``are highly
    vulnerable to trafficking.''
        Can you elaborate on how foster care placements may fail to
    meet the needs of a child and, thereby, increase their risk of
    running away, and of trafficking?
        Dr. Sahl. Absolutely. I do want to mention that any child,
    by nature of being a child, is vulnerable to experiencing child
    sex trafficking.
        But in the testimony that I have heard from my colleagues
    this morning, we know that children who are in foster care,
    often entering the system after experiencing early childhood
    abuse and neglect--which we know can have a lasting impact on
    their brain development, on their self-perception, their self-
    worth, on the way that they interact with or engage with
    others, their ability to form trusting relationships--if they
    are then placed in placements where their needs for love and
    belonging and connection aren't met or placements that are not
    equipped to support them through their trauma processing or
    trauma responses, we find that youth are often running away
    from those placements--in effect, in order to meet those needs.
        So we also see that sometimes placements might not have the
    ability to create for children the normalcy that other children
    might have. So the ability to engage in normal adolescent
    activities, the ability to engage in self-exploration, so--and
    figuring out who they are, what they enjoy, what they're good
    at.
        And so sometimes they're leaving out of a sense of boredom.
    Sometimes it becomes a trauma response. Something might trigger
    them in a placement.
        And if they haven't learned coping strategies or they don't
    have, for example, a safe adult that they feel they can reach
    out to who will consistently pick up the phone to say, hey,
    something isn't working well for me here, running, again,
    becomes their effort to problem solve.
        And traffickers are really skilled at identifying youth
    with those unmet needs.
        And they may come in and say, ``You're looking for love and
    belonging? I can provide that to you.'' For youth, you know,
    for example, who are LGBTQ+ and they're looking for acceptance,
    a trafficker will say, ``I accept you for who you are.''
        Traffickers are often creating this illusion of love,
    belonging, voice and choice for youth--creating this promise
    that might lure a child out of their placement.
        Senator Ossoff. Let's talk about the numbers and the
    methodology a bit. First, what does it mean for a child to be
    reported missing from care?
        Dr. Sahl. So, like you mentioned, Federal legislation in
    the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act
    and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of
    2022 require that a child be reported immediately or within 24
    hours to law enforcement and NCMEC.
        So missing from care just means they are--have left their
    placement without the permission of their caregiver and their
    whereabouts are unknown.
        Senator Ossoff. And how do you assess--how does NCMEC
    assess whether a child who has been reported missing from care
    is likely a victim of trafficking?
        Dr. Sahl. So we screen every child who's reported missing
    to us for child sex trafficking. As it's been mentioned, being
    missing from care is the number one endangerment for
    experiencing child sex trafficking.
        So at the time of intake, we are asking a number of
    screening questions to really look at the accumulation of risk
    factors or endangerments that that child may have already
    experienced.
        We know that the person reporting them missing might have a
    different definition of child sex trafficking. So instead of
    just asking if there are concerns, we're really looking at the
    whole picture that we're seeing.
        We also collect information--while that child is missing--
    from law enforcement, child welfare, other victim service
    providers. We have incredible teams of analysts that are
    digging through social media, that are trained at identifying
    the signs or indicators of child sex trafficking. And sometimes
    they might identify an online escort ad that's been posted on a
    child, as well.
        Senator Ossoff. In the testimony you submitted to the
    Subcommittee, Dr. Sahl, you noted, quote, ``It is a national
    crisis when children feel like being on the streets or with a
    trafficker is a better place for them than to be with their
    foster care placement.''
        I couldn't agree more. I think you put it very well, and
    this is a national crisis.
        You also urged Congress to pursue legislation to improve
    protections for vulnerable children in foster care. In your
    opinion, what are the most impactful measures that Congress
    should consider to address this crisis?
        Dr. Sahl. It's a great question. I don't have all the
    answers. I can say there are some incredible people in child
    welfare, both on the front line and at the State level, who
    work in this field every day who really contribute to
    meaningful solutions.
        The one thing that I will share and what we have heard
    consistently from survivors of child sex trafficking, as well
    as what is clear in the research, is that the number one
    protective factor that can keep a child safe, that can prevent
    child sex trafficking, or prevent revictimization is
    relationships.
        I don't know how you legislate that, and maybe--maybe you
    might. But I think also, as we've heard from Tiffani and Mon'a
    in the previous hearing, that it was that person who came into
    their life, whether it was a CASA or a child welfare
    professional, who truly listened to them, who showed up for
    them, who fought for them, who drove 5 hours to visit them in
    their placement, that was able to turn their life around.
    Right?
        And a system--a child welfare system, I don't think it can
    ever be an adequate replacement for a parent. Right?
        It's really the layers of people that are involved in that
    child's life, whether it is their CASA, their foster care
    worker, their attorney, nonprofit service providers, anyone
    else that comes into their life, a teacher at school, right,
    that show up for them, believe in them consistently that I
    think can make a difference.
        We know that the caseworkers that we talk to every day
    entered the field of child welfare out of a desire to be that
    person for the children that they serve. And we hear that
    they're then faced with policies, culture expectations, lack of
    resources, so many systemic challenges that we've heard about
    through the hearings that ultimately prevent them from being
    that person for so many children.
        Senator Ossoff. And I think you make a point that that
    several panelists have made, that as shocking as this crisis is
    and as shocking as these numbers are, here in Georgia, by your
    analysis, hundreds of likely trafficking victims nationally,
    many thousands, we do have to acknowledge the hard work that
    caseworkers on those front lines are doing under very difficult
    circumstances, and not fail to express our appreciation and our
    recognition of the difficulties under which these folks are
    doing a very difficult job.
        And by no means do I interpret any of the testimony that
    you've offered today as condemning those who are working hard,
    often without enough, in order to try to save these children's
    lives and their futures.
        I would like to turn, Ms. Winfrey, to your testimony. You
    raised concerns that survivors of sexual exploitation are being
    placed in group homes that are inappropriate for them. Can you
    elaborate on what makes those group homes inappropriate?
        Ms. Winfrey. Yes, and thank you. Group homes that house
    youth, specifically children who have been trafficked, and I
    know I've said the acronym CSEC, which means children--a
    child--excuse me--children who have been sexually exploited,
    basically, a CSEC.
        Those caregivers who are in group homes have to be trained
    with a trauma-centered focus. I think the issue becomes, if we
    have a group home and you have children that are running away,
    why are they running away?
        And what we're finding is that the underlying trauma that
    those children enter that group home with, it's not being
    addressed--isn't being addressed because we don't have
    caregivers that have been fully trained with a trauma-centered
    focus and understanding of CSEC youth. And I think the issue
    becomes that we have to look at that.
        Handling children who are CSEC who have been trafficked,
    you have to deal with them a little bit different. The risk
    factors for them are a little bit different.
        And I think that, in my experience with kids who run,
    there's always an underlying issue, and what I'm seeing is that
    most of them have been sexually abused. And so if you're not
    dealing with that sexual abuse, them getting help with that,
    and getting emotional support for that, it's like you're
    pouring kerosene on a fire. It just makes it worse because that
    child is going to look for a way to run or someone to love them
    or to be there for them or to understand them.
        And I think that group homes and that the placement has to
    be appropriate. I mean, are we really looking into the
    background of these placements? Do they have adequate
    resources? Do they have people who are actually trying to work
    with the children that are CSEC?
        And I'm finding that that's a question that needs to be
    really looked into and answered.
        Senator Ossoff. You mentioned a law known as S.B. 158 in
    your testimony. Can you explain what powers and
    responsibilities DFCS has under that State law?
        Ms. Winfrey. Yes, [Georgia] Senate Bill 158, codified in
    our Code, talks about several things. One is to hold--it's to
    hold people accountable or anyone involved with the trafficking
    of a kid, or trafficking or exploitation of a child.
    Specifically as it relates to DFCS, DFCS can take emergency
    custody of a child who has been trafficked, and they have 7
    days to do whatever cure they need to do without a court order.
        So it also requires that DFCS refer that child to trauma-
    informed placement, meaning they have to make sure that an
    organization that's assisting--that's assisting that child to
    heal, they are, one, certified by the Criminal Justice
    Coordinating Council of Georgia, and two, they are equipped to
    give trauma-informed care to that child.
        And so that's the responsibility of DFCS. They even have
    the obligation--if they have or suspect that a child has been
    trafficked or is actually trafficked--to remove a child from
    the situation and place them into a better placement, that
    where they have trauma-informed care.
        So I think that that's a very important legislation because
    oftentimes for us who are on the front lines of this, we see
    kids where we go in and have to recover through an undercover
    operation or such.
        And we need immediate help and need immediate assistance,
    meaning the department can step in, take custody of that child,
    and make sure that child is in a safe place where they're
    receiving trauma-informed care, and so, without a court order.
    And we need that oftentimes.
        Senator Ossoff. You testified about an incident where, as I
    understand it, DFCS declined to exercise their authority under
    S.B. 158 of a child who had been trafficked, and that DFCS'
    failure to act quickly resulted in the loss of a placement that
    the detective involved in Federal law enforcement then had to
    scramble to address, and that, as I understood your testimony
    correctly, that it was proposed that, instead, that child, who
    was a victim of trafficking, be placed in detention.
        Did I understand your testimony correctly, and can you just
    recap that case for us, please?
        Ms. Winfrey. Yes, and you did understand that. We were
    actually involved in an operation, and this particular youth
    was recovered and was placed in a medical facility. At that
    time, she wanted to talk about what happened to her body.
        And what you learn in this area is that victims talk when
    they want to talk and when they're ready, and many times
    they're not ready to talk. This particular youth was ready to
    talk, and we knew that we needed to get her into care.
        At that moment, detectives called DFCS, asked them to get
    involved, to send a caseworker to the hospital to ensure that
    the child would be cared for.
        They didn't send anyone. They actually said, ``Well, she
    has a history of running away--we're looking at her CPS
    history, she has a history of running away, detain her, place
    her in a local detention center for youth.''
        That officer that I was working with said, I can't do that.
    I won't do that. That child has no reason to be placed into a
    detention center. She's done nothing to warrant charges.
        At that time, we were told, well, we don't have a place for
    her at this time. And when our detective worked with Federal
    law enforcement partners to find housing, they actually located
    housing out of State, which we thought would be best for this
    particular youth because she did not need to be in the Atlanta
    area because that's where she had been exploited. We felt like
    her recovery would be better suited out of the State.
        And when we did that, there was a lot of calls back and
    forth of having to get approvals, go up the chain of command to
    try to get someone from the department to approve this
    movement. And as a result, time passed and we lost that
    placement out of State for this child.
        Senator Ossoff. Where was this child during this time while
    you were working to find a place?
        Ms. Winfrey. In the hospital. In the hospital.
        Senator Ossoff. So there was a child who'd been a victim of
    sex trafficking who was hospitalized, and DFCS' proposal was to
    place them in a juvenile detention facility for lack of
    placement.
        Ms. Winfrey. That's correct.
        Senator Ossoff. You testified that the crisis in housing--
    or lack of appropriate placements in foster care is a major
    issue. And I think we just heard a story about what that can
    mean, in this case, a trafficking exploitation victim where it
    was proposed to place them in a detention facility.
        Please speak more broadly to what you're seeing in terms of
    the lack of adequate placements in housing and how that impacts
    particularly vulnerable youth, both those who have faced
    exploitation and trafficking and those who, in the future, as
    we heard from Dr. Sahl, may be at even higher risk because they
    are placed in an inadequate or improperly constructed
    situation.
        Ms. Winfrey. Sure. In the case that I was just talking
    about, the child involved in that case ran from placement.
    Okay? And they ran from their home because they were being
    molested in their home.
        The tragedy of that case is that because we had no
    placement for this child and we did not move in a fast enough
    pace to make sure this child was adequately placed, she's now
    placed back into a home where she was abused.
        And so now she is there for maybe not even a week, and now
    she runs again, and now she's involved again in sexual
    exploitation. She's trafficked, again. So now you've not taken
    an opportunity because we don't have adequate placement.
        Senator Ossoff. Again, after the initial hospitalization.
        Ms. Winfrey. Correct.
        Senator Ossoff. So let me just make sure I understand this
    case.
        Ms. Winfrey. Right.
        Senator Ossoff. A child is trafficked and exploited,
    hospitalized. Because of inadequate placements, DFCS proposes
    to place the child in detention. The detective says we're not
    going to do that, seeks other placement.
        Because of the lack of available placement, an appropriate
    placement, this child winds up once again facing sexual
    exploitation?
        Ms. Winfrey. Yes.
        Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Ms. Winfrey.
        Mr. Atkinson, you testified that children who survive
    sexual exploitation and trafficking often do not receive
    appropriate treatment or services from DFCS. What services do
    they not receive, and how, instead, are they treated?
        Mr. Atkinson. Sure. I think--speaking broadly, I think
    there's a tendency to define these children solely as CSEC and
    then providing services that flow from that, rather than ensure
    that survivors get services that are--that are specifically
    tailored to their individual needs, experiences, and desires.
        So not only are they receiving services that are
    recommended for them, like the trauma therapy that Ms. Winfrey
    described, as being necessary to process and confront and deal
    with and move past some of the underlying traumas that these
    children have experienced and continue to affect them.
        But they're not receiving services that they feel will
    benefit them or in ways that they feel will benefit them,
    leading to them potentially not engaging in any services that
    are offered, but not receiving the services that they want, not
    receiving the services that they feel would be beneficial in
    their recovery.
        Additionally, we've heard from, as Tiffani described, the
    number of placement changes in her case, and at the rate
    placement disrupts for some of our clients, they don't receive
    any therapeutic services before they're moved to a new
    placement because of that disruption.
        And the referral process of trying to find services starts
    anew, creating substantial gaps in therapeutic treatment that
    is necessary for these children.
        In addition, as we heard from Tiffani, I think that our
    clients have difficulty, in general, receiving gynecological
    care. I think it's kind of illogical, like I said, that one
    area of need that all these CSEC youth, especially CSEC girls,
    do share that relates to their experiencing some level of
    sexual trauma is one that's not routinely provided to all
    survivors.
        Senator Ossoff. A crucial issue that requires deeper
    inquiry. Fully agree with you, Mr. Atkinson.
        And I want to talk about education for a moment because
    Tiffani discussed how she was prevented from going to school
    while in a group home. Have you encountered other cases like
    that? What is driving this policy or this practice, at least at
    some group homes, of preventing children from accessing
    education?
        Mr. Atkinson. Yes. We have had clients placed in very
    restrictive placements where their educational needs were
    supposedly being met by programs administered by the placement.
        However, my clients, when they do participate in some of
    those educational programming, aren't receiving credit for the
    school work that they're doing at those placements because of
    issues transferring those credits to other school districts
    when they re-enroll throughout the State, being enrolled in
    classes that they've already taken and already have credit for,
    or simply the programs that are being administered being
    unaccredited and them not being able to receive any educational
    credit.
        I think it's well understood, like Tiffani said, that
    educational achievement is one of the biggest foundations of
    their success in adulthood.
        So not only does that prevent children from graduating on
    time, but many of these children get discouraged altogether and
    abandon their education, even when they had initially and
    previously prioritized getting that high school diploma and
    pursuing postsecondary education.
        Senator Ossoff. Mr. Atkinson, you mentioned in your
    testimony you're a former prosecutor. From that perspective,
    have you observed issues with the way DFCS responds to
    disclosures or reports of abuse that can impede a child's
    opportunity to seek justice for sexual exploitation?
        Mr. Atkinson. Yes. It is frustrating to see situations that
    may be slipping through the cracks. When children disclose
    abuse or exploitation, whether that's physical or sexual or
    something else, there needs to be an appropriate response to
    that disclosure.
        Like I said in my testimony, Georgia has a network of child
    advocacy centers around the State that are available as
    resources for both law enforcement and DFCS to utilize in
    assisting and responding to those disclosures. They allow for
    children to tell their story of abuse or neglect once to a
    trained interviewer who knows how to talk with children about
    those incidences in a way that minimizes the risk of re-
    traumatization and encourages full and complete disclosures.
        Those forensic interviews, what they're called, often form
    the basis for law enforcement investigations that can lead to
    the discovery of corroborating evidence, supporting witnesses,
    and sometimes additional victims.
        Senator Ossoff. In a letter to the Georgia DFCS
    commissioner--excuse me--the Georgia DFCS director and DHS
    commissioner, Georgia's Office of the Child Advocate alleged
    systemic failures in how DFCS treated children who had faced
    sexual abuse.
        One of the issues they reported was that DFCS had allegedly
    adopted a view that children over a certain age could engage
    in, quote, ``self-protection'' against abuse in their own
    homes.
        Have you experienced challenges in getting attention and
    care for your clients--and I want to remind everyone, again,
    we're are talking about clients, these are children who are
    your clients--because of an attitude that they can self-protect
    or that above some age, they can take care of themselves, even
    facing abuse like this?
        Mr. Atkinson. Yes. I think I have seen DFCS generally adopt
    the view that teenage children are in less need of protection
    because of the attitude that they can protect themselves.
        I've seen resistance to intervene in circumstances where a
    child or their parent or guardian aren't engaging in necessary
    or recommended services, which ultimately leaves those children
    less safe. That can lead to situations where more emergent and
    drastic intervention becomes necessary, potentially after
    additional victimization when a less intrusive intervention
    could have prevented that, if it had occurred sooner.
        Senator Ossoff. You testified that DFCS has, quote,
    ``labeled children in ways that make it harder to find
    placements for them.''
        Can you please explain the kinds of labels that you've seen
    DFCS use to describe children and how this complicates finding
    them placements in an environment where, as we've already
    discussed, adequate and appropriate placements, particularly
    for children with the greatest need, are so scarce?
        Mr. Atkinson. Yes. I've seen, specifically in the placement
    applications that I talked about when DFCS is looking for
    placement for children, my clients being described as
    promiscuous, as prostitutes, as placing themselves in dangerous
    situations, as children with sexual problems who are defiant,
    don't do what they're told, and leave without permission.
        Senator Ossoff. These are on documents submitted by DFCS
    describing the children in their care in those terms?
        Mr. Atkinson. Yes. That's how DFCS has described them.
        Senator Ossoff. I thank all three of you for lending your
    experience and expertise.
        [Video access is terminated.]
        [Whereupon, the hearing was adjourned.]
        [Additional material submitted for the record follows.]

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