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A removal starts a 30-day clock. Who's watching it?
What federal law and Georgia policy promise relatives after a child is removed, what a family can do in the first 30 days, and what we still can't see.
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Hundreds of thousands of children are in foster care right now. Everyone around them, from parents and foster families to caseworkers and advocates, is working without the tools, information and data they need. We build them. We study what's broken. We change the law.
GA DFCS Policy Manual · §19.20 Diligent SearchEff. Nov 2023
…Within 30 calendar days after the removal of a child from the custody of the parent(s)/caregiver(s) of the child, exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to the following relatives…
Provide notice via the Diligent Search Notification Form by certified mail with return receipt requested or verified email, within three business days of identifying the relative…
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Fig. 01AFCARS
Children in U.S. foster care on September 30
Source: U.S. HHS, Children's Bureau, AFCARS Dashboard No. 32 · *FY2024 preliminary · verified Sep 29, 2026
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The count is falling. The questions aren't.
The number of children in foster care on a given day fell every year from 2019 to 2024. The federal count doesn't say why, or whether the kids still in care are better off. Those are the questions we're building the data to answer.
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The rules are written. Nobody's keeping score.
When a child is removed from home, federal law gives the state 30 days to find and notify grandparents and other adult relatives. Georgia's own policy says the notice goes out within three business days of finding each relative. We read the law line by line, show what it promises, and ask who is checking.
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A removal starts a 30-day clock. Who's watching it?
What federal law and Georgia policy promise relatives after a child is removed, and what a family can do in the first 30 days.
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