Civil rights lawsuit looks to get rid of child support fees for kids in foster care

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A new civil rights lawsuit wants to end child support fees for Georgia parents whose kids are placed in foster care. (FOX 5)

A new civil rights lawsuit aims to end child support fees for low-income parents after their kids are placed into foster care in Georgia.

The lawsuit, filed last week, argues that state agencies knew that hundreds of families were impoverished and couldn’t afford to pay the foster care fees but charged them anyway.

What they're saying:

Between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, Georgia removed children from 700 families because of "inadequate housing" — likely meaning they were either homeless or didn’t have stable housing much of the time — the class action lawsuit argues.

"Georgia’s system is one of the most onerous and punitive that we’ve seen," said Phil Telfeyan, executive director of Equal Justice Under Law, which is representing the mother, Annalinda Martinez, who lives north of Atlanta.

The Division of Family and Children Services has said the agency’s goal is reunification, but Telfeyan said charging low-income families child support is a "perverse" practice that "delays the outcome that everyone wants."

Dig deeper:

Martinez sought help from Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services in 2018 after she and her six daughters became homeless. Her ex-boyfriend was arrested after she learned he was sexually abusing one of them. Despite working three jobs, Martinez couldn’t afford rent, so they were evicted.

The agency placed her children in foster care instead of offering housing help, the lawsuit says. Martinez paid $100 per month until fall 2019, when she was ordered to pay $472 per month despite living below the federal poverty line.

She eventually gave up parental rights for all six daughters at the agency’s urging, the lawsuit says, "shattering any hope of eventual reunification and causing irreparable trauma for her children and herself."

Two of Martinez’ daughters have been adopted, three have aged out of foster care and one is expecting adoption soon, the lawsuit says. Yet the state still seeks $472 per month.

Martinez eventually learned she could ask for smaller child support payments, but was told this year she would need to show her daughters’ adoption certificates, the lawsuit says, but wasn’t able to get those without parental rights.

Martinez now stays home to care for the two children she has custody of. Her partners’ income can’t cover child care, but much of it goes to child support. Last year, Martinez received letters from the Division of Child Support Services saying she owed over $13,000 and threatening jail time. A nonprofit raised money to cover that, but Martinez still lives in "constant fear" that her two kids will be removed.

The other side:

The lawsuit primarily targets the Division of Family and Children Services, which is under the state’s Department of Human Services. A spokesperson for the department said the state has not been served with the lawsuit, but "it is not our practice to comment on pending or active litigation."

What's next:

The lawsuit asks the state to stop seeking child support for most children who have aged out of the system or have been adopted, saying those fees — which Martinez has been asked to pay — violate state law.

The lawsuit also asks for compensation for child support payments that didn’t account for Martinez’ and others’ circumstances.