Ossoff asks FBI chief to help kids missing from foster system

WASHINGTON (WRDW/WAGT) - U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is asking the FBI director to address threats to children who go missing from the foster care system.

It comes as Ossoff, D-Ga., leads an investigation of the foster care system in Georgia.

In a U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing about threats to the homeland, Sen. Ossoff asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to address threats to children who go missing from care.

HELPING FOSTER KIDS IN CSRA:

“It is well understood by the Department of Health and Human Services and by law enforcement that foster youth who go missing are at acute risk of trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation,” Ossoff said to Wray. “Will you commit to working with me to enhance the FBI’s ability to locate and free children who may be trapped by criminals?”

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recently found that between 2018 and 2022, 1,790 children in the care of Georgia’s foster care system were reported missing.

In a Human Rights Subcommittee hearing Monday, a center representative testified that anytime a child goes missing, no matter how long, they are vulnerable to experiencing a number of endangerments, including child sex trafficking.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, children who go missing from care are left more vulnerable to human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and other threats to their health and safety.

At the hearing, Wray committed to reviewing the center’s analysis and noted the close coordination between the FBI and NCMEC to keep children safe.

OSSOFF PROBES FOSTER SYSTEM:

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