(The Center Square) – A joint legislative committee on Thursday discussing rising costs in Georgia’s foster care system did not address the Department of Human Services’ $955,000 purchase of a vehicle equipped with a cellphone surveillance tool.
The Center Square first reported on Oct. 12 that Human Services, which oversees child protective services, bought a 2026 Chevrolet Traverse at a cost of $38,700, but paid nearly $916,000 extra to have a cell-site simulator installed. A cell-site simulator is a highly advanced targeting surveillance device that impersonates cellphone towers to trick phones into connecting, allowing an operator to potentially intercept calls and texts.
Some lawmakers, in interviews with The Center Square, have expressed Fourth Amendment concerns, since that level of surveillance may require obtaining warrants. Human Services is a social services agency, not law enforcement.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation told The Center Square it now has the vehicle, which purchasing records show was bought by Human Services in April. Human Services has not responded to questions about whether the surveillance tool was ever used by the department for its special victims unit, which tracks down missing foster children in danger of being trafficked for sex.
In emailed statements Wednesday, a spokesman for Gov. Brian Kemp, Carter Chapman, suggested the state never took possession of the Traverse. But when asked about contrary information from a Carfax report run on the vehicle’s VIN number by The Center Square, which showed a May 21 purchase by the Georgia “Motor Vehicle Dept.” and a title issued May 26, Chapman said he would “refer back to the statement I shared.”
Rep. Beth Camp, R-Concord, said in an interview with The Center Square that it’s concerning to have conflicting explanations.
“I understand it could have been parked in one parking lot or another parking lot, but if the state has custody of the vehicle, it should be a pretty easy ‘yes’ or ‘no,"” Camp said. “And the fact that different responses were given is somewhat concerning. It’s a $1 million vehicle. We probably should know where it is without a doubt.”
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, cochairwoman of the Joint Study Committee on Evaluating Escalating Costs in Georgia’s Foster Care System, did not mention the vehicle in her opening statement.
“There’s been a lot of media and public attention about the Department of Human Services’ authority for SVU, the special victims unit,” Kirkpatrick said. “That’s outside of the scope of this committee and we’ll discuss it in a separate venue.”
Kirkpatrick told The Center Square in a text message that she thinks that separate venue will be on the “House side.”
Camp, cochairwoman of the committee with Kirkpatrick and chairwoman of the House Judiciary Juvenile Committee, confirmed to The Center Square in an interview that her committee will ask questions about the surveillance tool and a software system, called ARGO, which state auditors blamed for a $71 million cost overrun for the department over three years.
“I don’t know what day we’re going to be doing this yet, but we will have another meeting, because we need to do some things legislatively to provide more transparency with how taxpayer money is used,” Camp said.
ARGO questions
The committee did question department officials about ARGO, blamed for running up costs through unnecessary service authorizations. The cost of the service authorizations was $63.3 million in fiscal year 2022, then went up 112.3% to $134.4 million in fiscal year 2025 – a $71.1 million increase, according to the audit.
Auditors said in the report that the department discontinued using the service in November, and service authorizations declined afterward. Total spending on service authorizations declined by 21% ($28.7 million) in fiscal year 2026.
But the department hopes to restore its functionality soon, Human Services spokeswoman Kylie Winton told The Center Square last month.
“We are closely monitoring budget projections and carefully expanding access to services,” she said.
Melody DeBussey, Human Services’ chief policy officer, told the committee that service requests may have been added to the software that were not “immediately needed.”
“But if someone just has an appointment, either they’re going to go to that appointment and they’ll need transportation, or they won’t have an appointment, and the provider shouldn’t be billed, correct?” asked Camp.
“Correct, and I think the difference – maybe if I can put the nuance on it – is if I knew a child may need to go to ABA therapy with Dr. Zena, I’m going to wait and go ahead and request so many units of transportation to get to the clinic and do the therapy that might not, to go ahead and put in, make sure I have a provider available so then I can go make appointments, so then I can go have the service rendered, right?” DeBussey said. “So they might say, ‘Hey, I need 10 units of transportation at one hour is a unit, like, go ahead and put in that authorization so that when the appointment gets scheduled, they can say, ‘Yes, we will be there and the child will receive the clinical therapy that is needed."”
Camp said the explanation “baffles” her.
“There seems to be a challenge with the presenter saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ whether a service was provided or not,” Camp said. “It’s not a nuanced situation by any means. Either a service was provided or it was not, so it’s clear the person did not want to answer the question.”
The Center Square was unsuccessful prior to publication getting the department to clarify DeBussey’s response and whether anticipated requests were billed.
Earlier this year, Human Services had a massive budget shortfall that prompted Commissioner Candice Broce to cancel or suspend millions of dollars in contracted services for foster families, children and parents ensnared in the system. The General Assembly plugged the shortfall with an $81 million cash infusion.
Lawmakers allocated $1.12 billion for the department’s fiscal year 2027 budget.
Camp said lawmakers will take actions to ensure more transparency.
“We have a responsibility as members of the General Assembly to make sure that every single dollar the state spends is spent in a responsible way, in the way it is intended to be spent for the public good,” Camp said.