Republican Party Ninth District Nancy Schaefer

As a State Senator, there are many opportunities to listen to constituents and concerned Georgians on a number of issues on a daily basis. On my desk are scores of cases of exhausted families and troubled children. It has been beyond me to turn my back on these suffering, crying, and sometimes beaten down individuals.

We are mistreating the most innocent. Child Protective Services have become adult centered to the detriment of children. No longer is judgment based on what the child needs or who the child wants to be with or what is really best for the whole family; it is some adult or bureaucrat who makes the decisions, based often on just hearsay, without ever consulting a family member, or just what is convenient, profitable, or less troublesome for a director of DFCS.

In response to extensive research over a period of several years, I have introduced SB 415. This bipartisan legislation provides several directives and provisions to the Department of Human Resources (DHR) in regard to child services. The purpose of this bill is to prevent children from languishing in the custody of DHR, from being separated from their families unnecessarily and to reunite them with their families as quickly as possible.

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and DHR should make every effort to keep the family united. There are several components to this legislation. Among the provisions set forth by Senate Bill 415, the legislation seeks to ensure that before a child is placed in the custody of DHR, every effort is made to find other family members with which to place the child. Discovery must be provided in termination proceedings with sanctions for failure to provide discovery. Also notable, the law would be changed to make sure a child can be removed from a home if a parent has murdered the other parent, not just waiting for a conviction of that murder.

The bill also limits the amount of time DHR has to provide emergency care to 72 hours, requiring the department to respond to emergency situations within that specified amount of time. DHR also would be required to obtain a court order to enter the residence of a child's parent or guardian in order to seize a child under certain circumstances. Also, juvenile deprivation hearings would not be closed except upon the written application of the parents or guardian, and for other purposes.

We also must do everything we can to ensure that those who have to be placed in the care of DHR are given the best and only the best treatment possible. I have witnessed such injustice and harm brought to these families that I am not sure if I even believe reform of the system is possible! The system cannot be trusted. It does not serve the people. It obliterates families and children simply because it has the power to do so.

Children deserve better. Families deserve better. It's time to pull back the curtain and set our children and families free.

Quick fact: Did you know that 23 of the 24 House and Senate members representing counties in the 9th Congressional District at the Georgia Capitol are Republican?

Sen. Nancy Schaefer serves as the Republican Caucus Secretary and is a member of the legislative delegation of the Ninth Congressional District of Georgia. She represents the 50th Senate District, which includes Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Rabun, Stephens and Towns counties and portions of White County. She may be reached by phone at 404-463-1367 or by email at nancy.schaefer@senate.ga.gov.