Click here to read the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights Majority Staff Report, “Abuse & Neglect of Children in Georgia’s Foster Care System: A Case Study”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights Chairman Jon Ossoff today announced the release of a 64-page report detailing the findings from his Subcommittee’s 13-month investigation into the safety of foster children.
Click here to read the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights Majority Staff Report, “Abuse & Neglect of Children in Georgia’s Foster Care System: A Case Study.”
The Subcommittee’s final report identifies 7 key findings, which can be found in the Executive Summary on page 4 and expanded upon throughout the report.
“The most vulnerable children in our state and in our nation must be protected from physical abuse, from sexual abuse, and from human trafficking. We cannot and must not look away from these findings, though they are deeply distressing. We cannot accept the abuse, the trafficking, and the preventable death of children. I thank my Subcommittee staff and the more than 100 witnesses whose hard work and courage has brought these facts to the public,” Chairman Ossoff said.
Last February, following reports from independent watchdogs and the press that children in the care of Georgia DFCS have been subjected to abuse and neglect, Chairman Ossoff launched an inquiry to assess the safety of children in foster care in Georgia and nationwide.
Over the course of this 13-month investigation, the Subcommittee convened four public hearings, receiving public testimony from witnesses including juvenile court judges, former foster youth, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and the former ombudsman of Georgia’s child welfare system.
In total, the Subcommittee interviewed more than 100 witnesses and sources and reviewed thousands of pages of documents to investigate the human rights violations children may suffer in foster care.
# # #
