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Georgia DFACS warns of $85M shortfall as providers report halted services and layoffs
Summary
State Department of Human Services Commissioner Candace Brose told lawmakers a projected state-funds shortfall of roughly $85 million has forced the agency to pause or centralize authorizations for many delivered services. Providers at a joint appropriations/judiciary-juvenile hearing said suspensions of behavioral aides, transportation and visitation support have crippled case progress and led to layoffs and service cutoffs.
The Georgia Department of Human Services and its child welfare arm, DFACS, told a joint House appropriations and judiciary-juvenile subcommittee on Dec. 18 that a sudden combination of federal funding disruptions, rapidly rising costs for high-acuity placements and dwindling provider capacity produced an urgent state-funds gap.
"I don't have any money," Commissioner Candace Brose said, describing a projected state-funds deficit that the department estimated at roughly $85 million. Brose told the committee her office had tightened authorization processes, curtailed transportation and limited behavior-aid payments to try to keep the agency within its statutory budget limits.
The changes followed an agency memo in November that required local caseworkers to route many service requests (drug screens, certain mental-health assessments, supervised visitation, transportation and behavior aids) to the state office for review. DFACS said some of the program categories already included limits; the new process demanded paper documentation, court orders where applicable and confirmation…
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