Deal Proposes $27M DFCS Funding Boost
Gov. Nathan Deal says he wants to expand the Division of Family and Children Services.
His plan, which will be introduced in his upcoming FY2015 budget proposal, calls for hiring about 500 DFCS case workers and supervisors and increasing the division’s budget by nearly $27 million over the next three years.As heard on the radio
“This money is about hiring new people,” says spokesman Brian Robinson when asked if the funding was tied to other case-management changes currently being undertaken by the division. “It’s about increasing man power and trying to restore positions that have been lost through the great recession.”
A study by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute published last year says the Department of Human Services, which oversees DFCS, saw a 20 percent cut in state funding between Fiscal Year 2009 and 2013.
Under Deal’s new plan, DFCS would receive about a $7.4 million boost each year to fill 175 new positions. Robinson says the new increase in state funding would allow the department to rely less on federal funding, the savings from which would make up the remainder of the proposed $27 million increase.
Robinson says the funding boost will come from new state revenues, not cuts from other departments. He says the plan is not a response to recent cases that have made headlines, namely that of 10-year-old Emani Moss, whose body was found in a trash can earlier this month.
“But, recent cases certainly have been a reason to as to why the governor is talking about this now,” Robinson said.
Emani’s father and stepmother were arrested and charged with murder.
Deal’s plan still needs legislative approval.
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