While Georgia is grappling with the surge of migrant children in the state, it has also found that it is struggling to protect its foster children. 

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report released earlier this year found that in 2021 a record number of unaccompanied migrant children who arrived in the United States were sent to live with Georgia adults that were unrelated to them, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

464 migrant children had been released in 2021 to “family friends” and “unrelated sponsors.” Before then, between 2015 and 2020, there was an average of 60 migrant children who were released each year to Georgia sponsors who were unrelated to them. It has been argued that the sharp increase is a “significant red flag for human trafficking.” The next year even only had a negative decrease by around 8.67 percent. 

Meanwhile, the state is struggling to care for its own people, especially when it comes to the foster care system. ProPublica reported that in over 700 cases in the last five years, the sole reason for Georgia taking a child into foster care was due to inadequate housing and argued that it is more affordable than getting families into better housing. 

The ProPublica article shared a story about a single mother who was sent to jail over a traffic ticket, and she contacted the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to care for her children. She was in jail for three days, but when she was released, DFCS did not return her children due to lack of stable housing and income for her children. 

There have also been disagreements between U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. and state officials in the state over a foster children report. 

Ossoff and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) launched an investigation in February 2023 and found information that over 400 children in Georgia custody were likely victims of sex trafficking over five years, while nearly 2,000 were reported missing. Ossoff and Blackburn also claimed that Georgia spent $28 million in 2022 to house children in hotels. 

In September 2023, the commissioner of the Department of Human Services and director of DFCS, Candice Broce said there were no children in hotels, contrary to the report. The Georgia Department of Human Services also said that the report did not include the improvements “in addressing the issue of hoteling, strengthening rigorous safeguards for the children in our care, and streamlining service delivery.”

With disagreements and confusion surrounding the state’s foster system, relevant questions surrounding caring for the many migrant children coming to the state need to be addressed.