A House study committee has released 17 recommendations to help children at risk of abandonment stay in their homes and get appropriate care.

ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers are confronting a persistent child welfare crisis: children with complex mental and behavioral health needs abandoned in emergency rooms and psychiatric facilities because families say they have run out of options.

So far this year, hospitals told lawmakers they know of more than 20 children left behind at emergency rooms and psychiatric facilities across the state. At the same time, the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) is facing a projected $85 million budget shortfall, forcing more scrutiny to services that many of these children need.

“Parents aren’t walking away lightly,” advocates told lawmakers. 

Many families describe years of repeated hospitalizations, dangerous behaviors at home, long waitlists for treatment, and insurance denials. Some have called it “trading custody for care.”

Three years ago, 11Alive News Investigates documented how gaps in Georgia’s behavioral health system were pushing parents to leave children at hospitals, believing the state would have better access to care. The series, #Keeping, amplified an already growing chorus of providers and families expressing concerns about the lack of treatment beds, workers, and services for these children.

Lawmakers responded with a sweeping mental health parity law and increased funding. But legislative hearings this fall revealed gaps persist.

State officials say DFCS is currently tracking about 500 children in its custody with complex behavioral health needs.

Without early and appropriate treatment, behaviors can escalate. Some children grow bigger and stronger, leading to violent outbursts that parents say create safety risks for siblings and themselves.

State Rep. Katie Dempsey, who chaired the House study committee, said the word “abandonment” often masks a far more complicated reality.

“People usually gasp — like abandon a child? What is happening?” Dempsey explained. “(Parents) have done everything they can. Their tears, their heartbreak are nonstop… It’s not an intentional avoidance — but kind of like, ‘this is all I can do.’”

Dempsey said the committee wants lawmakers to better define abandonment in state law and shorten timelines that leave those children stuck in hospitals long after they’ve been stabilized.

The House study committee 17 recommendations aimed at keeping families together and preventing future abandonments. Among them: Expanding treatment capacity, including more in-state residential beds and step-down outpatient services to help families transition home. Holding insurers accountable for denying medically necessary care. Fixing data systems so hospitals, treatment centers, and state agencies can share real-time information and create better case management. Tapping federal prevention funds to intervene earlier, before families reach crisis. It could include funding for parent education, family therapy, and respite care.

“If someone has been there five times for a similar situation, we need to know that. We need to know it immediately,” Dempsey said. “You can’t deal with helping to solve a problem if you don’t know all of the parts of the problem.”


Earlier in December, DFCS Commissioner Candice Broce told lawmakers the agency is running out of money. Along with the $85 million shortfall, DFCS has added a new approval process that providers say is slowing access to critical mental and behavioral health services.

That puts lawmakers in a bind: many of the committee’s recommendations require significant investment, at a time when child welfare agencies say they’re already stretched thin.

Still, Dempsey said the cost of doing nothing is higher. 

“When there is a gap like that and a state that is profoundly known for its balanced budget, something not functioning well,” she said.