Sen. Ossoff, Rep. Kiggans Uncover Foster Children Locked Up Due to Lack of Foster Care Placements

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff's bipartisan investigation has found children are being locked up due to a lack of foster care placements.

Today, Sen. Ossoff and Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) released the second report from their bipartisan investigation into the incarceration of children with special needs in juvenile detention facilities around the country, uncovering that children are being incarcerated due to lack of foster care placements.

In Spring 2024, Sen. Ossoff and Rep. Kiggans surveyed facilities about what circumstances lead to the prolonged detention of children with mental health conditions and children who have not been charged with offenses.

Survey responses, combined with public reports, indicate that in at least seven states total, children were incarcerated due to lack of foster care placements.

In survey responses, four facilities in four states reported incarcerating children who had not been charged with any crime due to a lack of foster care placements. These facilities reported that children were detained without charges after being "removed from their homes for abuse or neglect," because "no foster care placements were available."

"It is unacceptable that children are being locked up instead of being placed in a home with caregivers that can provide a stable environment. The findings of our bipartisan investigation should concern us all, and I will continue working in the Senate to expose the mistreatment of children," Sen. Ossoff said.

Congresswoman Kiggans said, "Children who have experienced trauma, abuse, and neglect deserve stable environments to receive care and treatment. This second report shows flaws in our existing system. I remain committed to strengthening protections for these vulnerable children."

Last month, Sen. Ossoff and Rep. Kiggans released the first report from their bipartisan investigation into the incarceration of children with special needs in juvenile detention facilities around the country, which uncovered that kids with special needs were locked up and incarcerated instead of getting the mental health care they need in their communities.

Among the bipartisan report's findings:

• In at least seven states total, children are incarcerated due to lack of foster care placements.

• Four facilities across four states reported incarcerating children who have not been charged with any offense and were "removed from their homes for abuse or neglect," because "no foster care placements were available."

• A juvenile detention facility in the Midwest reported on a case involving a severely autistic child who was reportedly held in a juvenile detention center because his mother was incarcerated. The facility reported that this child was eventually released into the custody of the state agency administering foster care, but this child reportedly had to sleep at the agency offices because no placements were available after he was transferred from the detention center.

These findings are reflected in Sen. Ossoff's 2023-2024 investigation into the abuse and neglect of children in Georgia's foster care system, where juvenile court judges testified before the U.S. Senate that the state foster care agency in Georgia proposed that the judges consider prolonging detention of foster youth, including children with special needs, due to inadequate foster care placements.

Click here to read Sen. Ossoff and Rep. Kiggans' bipartisan report: Children Incarcerated Due to Lack of Foster Care Placements.

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