DFCS

While Georgia state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver’s efforts to make sure the state’s relative caregivers get paid closer to what licensed foster parents get is important, and necessary, it is even more important for these relatives to at least begin getting the current relative caregiver payments they are already due.

Georgia State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D) plans to push for increased payments to relatives who care for foster children during a budget hearing Monday. Oliver will ask her colleagues on the House appropriations subcommittee for human services to commit roughly $2.68 million annually for unlicensed relative caregivers who receive significantly less from the state than licensed foster parents.