ATLANTA — Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the information about the children reported missing came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It also been updated to say that DFCS previously said the number lacks context.
A bipartisan investigation into Georgia's foster care system continued with yet another hearing Monday morning. 11Alive listened to the data regarding the foster care system as it relates to human trafficking, including testimony from those who lived through it.
Tiffani McLean-Camp, 19, testified about abuse, medical neglect, sexual assault, and trafficking she experienced while under the care of the Department of Family and Child Services.
"It just made me feel like, an animal that's locked up in a cage," she said.
According to a study from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, from 2018 to 2022, there was a total of 624 incidents reported involving missing foster care children likely being sex trafficked in Georgia.
11Alive reached out to DFCS about the latest hearing. A Department of Human Services spokesperson provided a statement saying that data wasn't shared by the subcommittee with them before Monday's hearing.
"We still have not gotten these numbers from when they were originally reported, and we have no insight into the numbers shared today for ‘likely’ victims of trafficking," the statement said in part. "We would love the opportunity to review their numbers and compare them to ours."
The statement added that NCMEC is a valued partner.
U.S. Senator Ossoff and Marsha Blackburn opened the investigation in February after several local reports of alleged abuse in the foster care system.
Last week, Georgia's DHS shared a letter with 11Alive from attorneys that was addressed to Ossoff and Blackburn, alleging that "goals of this investigation are political." The letter, concisely constructed with five bullet point statements, pushed back against Ossoff's probe as he continued his series of subcommittee hearings with witness testimony. The letter came after several Georgia juvenile court judges testified against the system. One of the judges said that the state agency asked them to close cases "prematurely to boost statistics."
Between the years 2018 and 2022, at least 1,790 children were reported missing while being in DFCS care, according to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. DFCS claimed that the number lacks context. (Read the letter Georgia's Department of Human Services shared last week.)
Re-watch the hearing below.
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