Georgia officials are debating whether to route callers reporting child abuse to a centralized center rather than through a Columbus office where two child protection workers were accused of tampering with reports.

The director of the Division of Family and Children Services, Ron Scroggy, said Tuesday that officials have long felt that a centralized call center would be better than having each county office handle calls.

He said the agency may launch a trial call center handling business-hour calls for Columbus and other nearby offices. Investigators arrested two supervisors in the Columbus office, Deborah Cobb and Phyllis Mitchell, earlier this month. They are accused of destroying, delaying or otherwise falsifying reports about suspected child abuse.

Staffers from the agency's central office are now overseeing those reports in Columbus.

Tags: Columbus, Division of Family and Children Services, arrests, Ron Scroggy, child protection workers, call center to report child abuse, Deborah Cobb, Phyllis Mitchell