Every year, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Emergency Department serves approximately 5,000 patients experiencing a behavioral crisis, and hundreds of these children linger in the ED for days, abandoned and with nowhere to go.
To address this reality for many children in Georgia who are suffering from complex behavioral and psychiatric disorders, state Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, sponsored legislation creating the House Study Committee on Abandoned Child Placement Following Hospital Discharge.
Dempsey is chairing the committee, which includes Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta; Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville; Rep. Omari Crawford, D-Decatur; and Rep. Mike Cameron, R-Rossville…