To Georgia Lawmakers: Families Who Are Struggling Are Not Broken. The System Is.

There is something deeply wrong happening in our state.

Not in the homes of “bad parents.” Not in the families who don’t love their kids. But in the system that claims to protect children — while quietly tearing them away from the very people who love them most.

Right now, across Georgia, children are being removed from their parents.

Not because they’re unsafe.
Not because they’re unloved.
But because their families are experiencing poverty.

Because rent is too high.
Because groceries cost more than paychecks stretch.
Because childcare costs more than a week’s wages.

Poverty is being mistaken for neglect. But poverty is not neglect. And until we face that truth, families will keep being torn apart — not because of harm, but because of hardship.

Why Do We Pay to Separate Families Instead of Helping Them Stay Together?

Georgia spends millions every year to place children in foster care with strangers.

Meanwhile, almost nothing is invested in helping struggling families keep their children in the first place.

What if that same money paid for a mom’s childcare so she could keep her job?
What if it covered a dad’s rent before DFCS knocked on his door?
What if it gave families access to food, transportation, therapy — or just a little breathing room?

That would be true child welfare. That would be prevention. That would keep kids safe by keeping families together.

Caseworkers Hold All the Power — But Where’s the Compassion?

Parents are held to impossible standards:
Work. Court. Therapy. Parenting classes. Recovery. Housing. All at once.

Miss one appointment and risk losing your child forever.

Meanwhile, caseworkers can skip a visit, lose a file, miss a call — with no consequences.

This isn’t fairness. It isn’t empathy. It’s fear and judgment wrapped in red tape. Families who are already drowning are being pushed under.

If You Want to Fix the System, Listen to the People Who Lived It

The mother who stayed up all night writing letters to get her child back.
The father who missed a visit because the bus broke down.
The young person who aged out of care wondering why nobody ever asked what they wanted.

They don’t need pity. They need power.
They don’t need to be spoken for. They need to be heard.

If Georgia is serious about change, the voices of those who’ve survived this system must be leading the way.

Georgia, Our Families Deserve Better

A system that takes children from loving parents because they are experiencing poverty is not protection. It is punishment.

A system that pours money into foster care while families sleep in their cars is not safety. It is control.

A system that silences the very people it claims to serve cannot heal.

It is time to build something new:
Where help comes before judgment.
Where support is stronger than surveillance.
Where children grow up in the arms of their parents, not strangers.

Georgia lawmakers, we are asking you — with love and with truth:
Listen to families. Invest in them. Believe in them. Stand with them.

Because every child deserves to grow up at home.
And every parent deserves the chance to raise the child they love.

Don’t just change the system. Rebuild it — with keeping families together at the center.

With Hope,
Together with Families Apprentices