Georgia is cracking down on private foster care agencies and group homes that don’t meet state standards.

The state has already issued 44 sanctions in the first quarter of this fiscal year, compared to the 69 it issued all last year.

Reprimands range from fines to denying and revoking licenses.

Their numbers have been on the rise over the past few years, says Keith Bostick, the director of Residential Child Care, because more people are out there overseeing foster care operations.

Where once there was only nine state workers, now there’s 20.

“With the increase of staff, we have a greater ability to do more monitoring, surveillance, and education for facilities to be in compliance with regulations, says Bostick.

Bostick says most violations have to do with inadequate watch over the kids in care and problems with the facilities themselves, like lack of heating or air conditioning.

He says of the 2,100 agencies his department oversees most exceed the base level requirements they monitor for.

Tags: Department of Human Services, DHS, Keith Bostick, director of Residential Child Care, foster care