Opinion ID: 73631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: D.M. Reportedly Requests GAO Representation

Text: In May 1995, the Juvenile Court of Jasper County, Georgia, placed D.M., then a minor, in the temporary legal custody of the Jasper County Department of Family and Children Services (“DFCS”). Subsequently, in November 1995, DFCS and Georgia’s Multi-Agency Team for Children (“MATCH”) Committee placed D.M. in West Central Georgia Regional Hospital (“West Central”). GAO asserts that its legal and advocacy representation of D.M. commenced on February 13, 1996, when D.M. telephoned GAO and requested legal assistance in connection with her status as a patient at West Central. According to GAO, D.M.’s initial request was for GAO to 2 assist her in being released from West Central to a less restrictive environment, and in particular, a foster family setting. On November 4, 1996, D.M. was moved from West Central to the Methodist Home by DFCS and Georgia’s MATCH Committee.