Georgia's foster-care agency entered FY26 with an Out-of-Home Care funding problem that grew into an $85.7M projected deficit. Services were restricted before lawmakers substantially backfilled the program. Signed FY27 gross authority is now on the record. This site tracks what Georgia enacted, how it compares with final amended FY26 and whether the next budget prevents another emergency.
Projected Out-of-Home Care state-fund deficit disclosed during FY26.
Approx. net state-authority increase: +$81.094M gross utilization line less a separate $371,500 transfer.
Signed gross FY27 authority, $22.545M below final amended FY26. That unlike-year comparison is not proof of a shortfall.
DFCS put the FY26 Out-of-Home Care state-fund deficit at $85.7M. Read the Out-of-Home Care funding record Calling it a projected deficit matters: the number represented the agency's expected year-end gap, not an $85.7M unpaid bill sitting on one date.
GPB / AP — Feb. 28, 2026reportingReporting documented fewer family visits, reduced behavioral-aide support and transportation problems after DFCS tightened approvals and canceled contracts. The legislative fix did not erase the months families and providers spent under those restrictions.
GPB / AP — impact reportingreportingThe final AFY26 budget substantially increased Out-of-Home Care funding. The signed FY27 budget then added money for utilization growth and higher costs of care. Any current accounting of the crisis has to say that plainly.
HB 973 — final AFY26 appropriationsprimaryFY27 began July 1. The AFY27 / FY28 agency request deadline passed on September 1, and as of Sep 11, 2026 OPB had not publicly posted the current-cycle request files. The public question is whether the state can show a stable funding, capacity and service plan before another amended-budget rescue is necessary.
Georgia Senate Press Office — second meeting advisoryprimaryDHS announced a projected shortfall above $80M, canceled contracts and tightened authorization for services. Providers later described disrupted services and family contact.
GBPI DHS FY27 budget analysisanalysisA joint House Appropriations Human Resources / Judiciary Juvenile hearing took place on Dec. 18, 2025; subsequent reporting tied the hearing to the foster-care funding crisis.
Georgia House official hearing recordingprimaryDHS Commissioner Candice Broce told lawmakers the projected FY26 state-fund deficit in Out-of-Home Care was $85.7M.
Atlanta News First — Jan. 21, 2026 hearingreportingThe final AFY26 conference budget sets Out-of-Home Care state funds at $449.1M, about $80.7M above the prior FY26 appropriation.
HB 973 — final AFY26 appropriationsprimaryThe Governor signed HB 974. It contains $426.6M state / $556.6M total in gross OHC authority, and its comparison schedule contains a +$50M state utilization-and-cost adjustment. Gross FY27 authority remains below final amended FY26 authority, an unlike-year warning rather than proof of a shortfall.
Governor — FY27 budget signingprimaryThe original deficit is no longer an open June 30 deadline. The question now is whether current funding, provider capacity and service rules prevent another emergency cycle.
HB 974 — FY27 appropriationsprimaryGeorgia agencies were required to submit their AFY2027 and FY2028 budget requests to OPB by September 1, 2026. As of September 11, OPB has not publicly posted the current-cycle request files. The open question is what DHS requested for Out-of-Home Care and what assumptions support it.
Georgia OPB — AFY27 / FY28 budget instructionsprimaryGeorgia OPB — agency budget requests indexprimaryThe joint committee began examining OHC delivery, costs, service capacity and cross-agency responsibilities. Testimony is attributed evidence, not automatically an independently verified fact.
Georgia Senate Press Office — first meetingprimaryThe Sept. 14 Georgia Senate Press Office advisory says 9:00 a.m. ET in CLOB Room 307 in Atlanta, open to the public and to be livestreamed on the Georgia General Assembly website. The live Georgia General Assembly schedule currently lists 1:00 p.m. ET in 307 CLOB for the same joint foster-care cost study meeting. Both sources identify Room 307; confirm official sources before attending or tuning in. The Senate advisory says the meeting will examine rising out-of-home-care costs, with planned presentations from the Office of the Child Advocate, Together Georgia and Justice for Children, followed by DFCS responses to committee questions. No attendance, testimony, outcome, final agenda, livestream-start state or public-comment activity is asserted without official material.
Georgia Senate Press Office — second meeting advisoryprimaryGeorgia General Assembly — live scheduleprimaryEvery row has a status, fiscal period, source type and verification date. The original $85.7M projected deficit remains the comparison baseline so the scale is easy to understand, not because every dollar below could legally or practically have been moved into DFCS.
$5.6B was in the Revenue Shortfall Reserve and about $9.1B was undesignated at the start of FY26. This is a historical starting balance, not a claim about today's cash balance.
Context for the state's fiscal capacity when the FY26 foster-care crisis emerged.
GBPI analysis of Georgia year-end reserve reportanalysisHB 1000 authorized another one-time special income-tax refund. The Governor's office said the refunds would return more than $1B to taxpayers.
More than 11× the original projected DFCS shortfall. This comparison does not imply the funds were legally interchangeable.
Governor / DOR — refunds began May 4, 2026primaryThe final amended budget set Out-of-Home Care authority at $449.1M state / $581.2M total. Its gross utilization adjustment was +$81,094,424 state; a separate -$371,500 transfer produces an approximate +$80,722,924 net state-authority increase.
Lawmakers substantially backfilled the FY26 program after the crisis became public.
HB 973 — final AFY26 appropriationsprimaryThe signed FY27 budget provides $426.6M in gross state authority and $556.6M in gross total authority for Out-of-Home Care.
Current enacted authority, not a proposal. It is $22,545,343 state / $24,656,685 total below final amended FY26, an unlike-year warning rather than proof of a shortfall.
HB 974 — signed FY27 appropriationsprimaryThe deficit was a projection, not an unpaid invoice. DFCS responded with contract cancellations and tighter service approvals before lawmakers completed the amended budget.
Baseline for comparisons on this site.
GPB / AP — Feb. 28, 2026reportingThe final bill's comparison schedule contains a +$50M state / +$53.395M total utilization-and-cost adjustment relative to its FY2027 comparison base.
An enacted FY2027 annual line not expressly labeled one-time; FY2028 continuation is unresolved.
HB 974 — OHC adjustment line 2571primaryThese are current appropriations leaders with direct roles in the state budget or the Department of Human Services budget. The site does not label anyone "silent" without an exhaustive public-record review; it shows their authority, contact information and source for the role.
Chair, House Appropriations
Leads the House committee that writes and advances state appropriations legislation.
Chair, House Appropriations Human Resources Subcommittee
Chairs the House appropriations subcommittee that hears the Department of Human Services budget.
Chair, Senate Appropriations
Leads the Senate committee that reviews and advances the state budget.
Chair, Senate Appropriations Health & Human Development Subcommittee
Chairs the Senate appropriations subcommittee whose agencies include the Department of Human Services.
Signed appropriations bills, OPB documents, legislative records and agency publications take priority. Reporting is used for service impact and context that budget documents do not capture.
A proposal is never labeled enacted. Historical balances are never presented as today's balance. The $85.7M figure is labeled a projected FY26 deficit.
Showing that one amount is 11× another is a scale comparison. It does not mean the funding streams were legally interchangeable or that the compared program should have been eliminated.
The numerical record is sourced. The site's argument is that a child-welfare system should not need crisis-era service restrictions before its funding model is corrected.
Current claims were reviewed Sep 11, 2026. The repository's content check is set to require another review after Oct 1, 2026.
This site does not argue that every other funded item is bad. It documents public budget choices against a child-welfare program that entered crisis, restricted services and then required a major amended-budget response. Corrections and clarifications should be made against the underlying source record, not hidden.
Three designs. One purpose: keep Georgia’s foster-care funding choices in public view.
Design mockup. Final garment details to be confirmed.
Georgia agencies were required to submit their AFY2027 and FY2028 budget requests to OPB by September 1, 2026. As of Sep 11, 2026, OPB has not publicly posted the current-cycle request files. The open question is what DHS requested for Out-of-Home Care and what assumptions support it.
Georgia constituents, affected families, providers, reporters, researchers, officials and out-of-state allies need different language. Choose the path that truthfully matches your role. Nothing is auto-sent, and no child or case information belongs in a message.
