2023 CODE OF GEORGIA › Title 49 - SOCIAL SERVICES (§§ 49-1-1 — 49-10-7) › Chapter 5 - PROGRAMS AND PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (§§ 49-5-1 — 49-5-281) › Article 1 - CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES (§§ 49-5-1 — 49-5-25) › Section 49-5-8 - Powers and duties of department

(a)
The Department of Human Services is authorized and empowered, through its own programs and the programs of county or district departments of family and children services, to establish, maintain, extend, and improve throughout the state, within the limits of funds appropriated therefor, programs that will provide:
(1)
Preventive services as follows:
(A)
Collecting and disseminating information about the problems of children and youths and providing consultative assistance to groups, public and private, interested in developing programs and services for the prevention, control, and treatment of dependency and delinquency among the children of this state; and
(B)
Research and demonstration projects designed to add to the store of information about the social and emotional problems of children and youths and improve the methods for dealing with these problems;
(2)
Child welfare services as follows:
(A)
Casework services for children and youths and for mothers bearing children out of wedlock, whether living in their own homes or elsewhere, to help overcome problems that result in dependency or delinquency. The department shall be authorized to contract with, certify, or partner with licensed child-placing agencies to assist with or provide such casework services;
(B)
Protective services that will investigate complaints of abuse or abandonment of children and youths by parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis and, on the basis of the findings of such investigation, offer social services to such parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis in relation to the problem or bring the situation to the attention of a law enforcement agency, an appropriate court, or another community agency;
(C)
Supervising and providing required services and care involved in the interstate placement of children;
(D)
Homemaker service, or payment of the cost of such service, when needed due to the absence or incapacity of the mother;
(E)
Boarding care, or payment of maintenance costs, in foster family homes or in group-care facilities for children and youths who cannot be adequately cared for in their own homes;
(F)
Boarding care or payment of maintenance costs for mothers bearing children out of wedlock prior to, during, and for a reasonable period after childbirth;
(G)
Day-care services for the care and protection of children whose parents are absent from the home or unable for other reasons to provide parental supervision; and
(H)
Casework services and care to all children and youths where the parent, custodian, or guardian has placed such children in the custody of the department by voluntary agreement, until such agreement is revoked by the parent, custodian, or guardian upon request that such children be returned to the parent, custodian, or guardian or to another relative or the voluntary agreement expires; provided, however, that nothing in this subparagraph shall prohibit the department from obtaining an order placing such children in its custody in accordance with Article 3 of Chapter 11 of Title 15. The department shall be authorized to contract with, certify, or partner with licensed child-placing agencies to assist with or provide such casework services;
(3)
Services to courts, upon their request, as follows:
(A)
Accepting for casework services and care all children and youths whose legal custody is vested in the department by the court;
(B)
Providing shelter or custodial care for children prior to examination and study or pending court hearing;
(C)
Making social studies and reports to the court with respect to children and youths as to whom petitions have been filed; and
(D)
Providing casework services and care or payment of maintenance costs for children and youths who have run away from their home communities within this state, or from their home communities in this state to another state, or from their home communities in another state to this state; paying the costs of returning such runaway children and youths to their home communities; and providing such services, care, or costs for runaway children and youths as may be required under Chapter 4B of this title;
(4)
Regional group-care facilities for the purpose of:
(A)
Providing local authorities an alternative to placing any child in a common jail;
(B)
Shelter care prior to examination and study or pending a hearing before juvenile court;
(C)
Detention prior to examination and study or pending a hearing before juvenile court; and
(D)
Study and diagnosis pending determination of treatment or a hearing before juvenile court;
(5)
Facilities designed to afford specialized and diversified programs, such as forestry camps, ranches, and group residences, for the care, treatment, and training of children and youths of different ages and different emotional, mental, and physical conditions;
(6)
Regulation of child-placing agencies, child-caring institutions, and maternity homes by:
(A)
Establishing rules and regulations for and providing consultation on such rules and regulations for all such agencies, institutions, and homes; and
(B)
Licensing and inspecting periodically all such agencies, institutions, and homes to ensure their adherence to established standards as prescribed by the department;
(7)
Adoption services, as follows:
(A)
Supervising the work of all child-placing agencies when funds are made available;
(B)
Providing services to parents desiring to surrender children for adoption as provided for in adoption statutes;
(C)
Providing care or payment of maintenance costs for mothers bearing children out of wedlock and children being considered for adoption;
(D)
Inquiring into the character and reputation of persons making application for the adoption of children;
(E)
Placing children for adoption;
(F)
Providing financial assistance to families adopting children once the child has been placed for adoption, determined eligible for assistance, and the adoption assistance agreement has been signed prior to the finalization of the adoption by all parties. Financial assistance may only be granted for hard-to-place children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities or with other problems for whom it is difficult to find a permanent home. Financial assistance may not exceed 100 percent of the amount that would have been paid for boarding such child in a family foster home and for special services such as medical care not available through insurance or public facilities. Such supplements shall only be available to families who could not provide for the child adequately without continued financial assistance. The department may review the supplements paid at any time but shall review them at least annually to determine the need for continued assistance;
(G)
Providing payment to a licensed child-placing agency which places a child with special needs who is under the jurisdiction of the department for adoption. Payment may not exceed $5,000.00 for each such adoption arranged by an agency. The board shall define the special needs child. One-half of such payment shall be made at the time of placement and the remaining amount shall be paid when the adoption is finalized. If the adoption disrupts prior to finalization, the state shall be reimbursed by the child-placing agency in an amount calculated on a prorated basis based on length of time the child was in the home and the services provided; and
(H)
Providing payment to an agency which recruits, educates, or trains potential adoptive or foster parents for preparation in anticipation of adopting or fostering a special needs child. The board shall define the special needs child and set the payment amount by rule and regulation. Upon appropriate documentation of these preplacement services in a timely manner, payments as set by the board shall be made upon enrollment of each potential adoptive or foster parent for such services;
(8)
Staff development and recruitment programs through in-service training and educational scholarships for personnel as may be necessary to assure efficient and effective administration of the services and care for children and youths authorized in this article. The department is authorized to disburse state funds to match federal funds in order to provide qualified employees with graduate or postgraduate educational scholarships in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the board pursuant to Article VIII, Section VII, Paragraph I of the Constitution of Georgia;
(9)
Miscellaneous services, such as providing all medical, hospital, psychiatric, surgical, or dental services or payment of the costs of such services as may be considered appropriate and necessary by competent medical authority to those children subject to the supervision and control of the department without securing prior consent of parents or legal guardians;
(10)
Preparation, education, and training for foster parents which will provide them with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of foster children, including knowledge and skills relating to the reasonable and prudent parent standard for the participation of the child in age or developmentally appropriate activities, and continue such preparation, as necessary, after the placement of the children. The department shall be authorized to require varying levels of initial and annual training based on the experience of the foster parents, the age and needs of the foster child or children, and whether the foster parents are providing only respite care. All or part of such training may be offered online;
(11)
(A)
Each child or youth who has entered foster care, and within 90 days of such entrance, with, a photograph of himself or herself, provided however, that if such child or youth is under 14 years of age, then his or her foster parent or placement shall be provided a photograph of such child or youth. It shall be the responsibility of the Division of Family and Children Services of the department to ensure that each such child or youth receives a photograph in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. Provision of records in accordance with this paragraph shall not be considered a violation of subsection (b) of Code Section
49-5-40
;
(B)
Each child or youth who is 14 years of age or older, has entered foster care, and within 90 days of such entrance, with, if such child or youth is eligible, a personal identification card issued pursuant to Code Section
40-5-100
. It shall be the responsibility of the Division of Family and Children Services of the department to ensure that each such eligible child or youth receives a personal identification card in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. Provision of records in accordance with this paragraph shall not be considered a violation of subsection (b) of Code Section
49-5-40
;
(12)
Each youth who is leaving foster care by reason of having attained 18 years of age, unless the child has been in foster care for less than six months, with, if the child is eligible to receive such document, an official or certified copy of the United States birth certificate of the child, a social security card issued by the Commissioner of Social Security, health insurance information, a copy of the child's medical records, a driver's license or identification card issued by a state in accordance with the requirements of Section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005, and any official documentation necessary to prove that the child was previously in foster care. Provision of records in accordance with this paragraph shall not be considered a violation of subsection (b) of Code Section
49-5-40
; and
(13)
Extended care youth services for youths between 18 and 21 years of age as set forth in Article 4A of Chapter 11 of Title 15 and to receive federal reimbursement for providing such services in accordance with
42 U.S.C. Section 675
, as it existed on February 1, 2018.
(b)
The department is authorized to perform such other duties as may be required under related statutes.
(c)
(1)
As used in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the term "state" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or any territory or possession of or territory or possession administered by the United States.
(2)
The Department of Human Services is authorized to enter into interstate compacts, on behalf of this state, with other states to provide for the reciprocal provision of adoption assistance services.
(3)
The purpose of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection is to comply with the requirements of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272) and Part E of Title IV of the Social Security Act and to assure that recipients of adoption assistance in Georgia who change their residences to other states receive adoption assistance services, other than adoption assistance payments, from their new states of residence.
(d)
(1)
As used in this subsection, the term "sexually exploited child" shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section
15-21-201
.
(2)
The department, in consultation with the Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, and law enforcement officials, shall develop a plan for the delivery of services to sexually exploited children, victims of trafficking of persons for labor servitude, and such children and persons who are at risk of becoming victims of such offenses. In developing such plan, the department shall work with state and federal agencies, public and private entities, and other stakeholders as it deems appropriate and shall periodically review such plans to ensure appropriate services are being delivered. Such plan shall include:
(A)
Identifying children who need services;
(B)
Providing assistance with applications for federal and state benefits, compensation, and services;
(C)
Coordinating the delivery of physical and mental health, housing, education, job training, child care, legal, and other services;
(D)
Preparing and disseminating educational and training materials to increase awareness of available services;
(E)
Developing and maintaining community based services;
(F)
Providing assistance with family reunification or repatriation to a country of origin; and
(G)
Providing law enforcement officials assistance in identifying children in need of such services.
Amended by 2024 Ga. Laws 467,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2020 Ga. Laws 466,§ 4, eff. 7/1/2020.
Amended by 2019 Ga. Laws 278,§ 10, eff. 5/7/2019.
Amended by 2018 Ga. Laws 472,§ 2-1, eff. 7/1/2018.
Amended by 2016 Ga. Laws 625,§ 49, eff. 5/3/2016.
Amended by 2015 Ga. Laws 95,§ 4-3, eff. 7/1/2015.
Amended by 2015 Ga. Laws 77,§ 6, eff. 7/1/2015.
Amended by 2014 Ga. Laws 634,§ 3-3, eff. 7/1/2014.
Amended by 2013 Ga. Laws 127,§ 4-55, eff. 1/1/2014.
Amended by 2009 Ga. Laws 102,§ 2-2, eff. 7/1/2009.
Amended by 2009 Ga. Laws 34,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2009.
Amended by 2004 Ga. Laws 565, § 8, eff. 10/1/2004