The short version
Georgia's placement-change policy lives in DFCS policy manual (PAMMS) §10.3, "Changes in Placement." The parts we could verify against the source come down to two timelines:
| The situation | The timeline | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| You (the placement resource) request that a placement end | The change proceeds 14 calendar days after DFCS receives your placement change request | Jul 2, 2026 |
| Any placement change | DFCS gives the court and the parties written notice at least 5 days before the change | Jul 2, 2026 |
Both rows come from PAMMS 10.3, which also states that foster parents may request a child's removal "upon reasonable notice." The 14 calendar days is how DFCS policy operationalizes that notice.
What the 14-day notice is — and isn't
The 14-day clock, as written in the source we verified, runs in one direction: from you to DFCS. When you submit a placement change request — telling the Division a placement in your home needs to end — the move proceeds 14 calendar days after DFCS receives that request. Jul 2, 2026
Think of it as a runway, not a punishment. Two weeks gives the case manager time to find the right next placement instead of the first available bed, gives the child time to hear the news from adults who love them, and gives you time to close the chapter with some care instead of a scramble.
What we could NOT verify — don't assume the reverse
We could not verify any rule guaranteeing that you get 14 days' notice when DFCS decides to move a child from your home — for reunification, a relative placement, a court order, or any other reason the Division initiates. The 14-day language we confirmed applies to moves the placement resource requests, and DFCS's separate 5-day written notice runs to the court and the parties, not specifically to you. If advance notice to foster parents for DFCS-initiated moves exists somewhere in policy, we haven't sourced it yet — it's on our ask-the-state list. Ask your case manager what notice you can expect, and don't plan around 14 days you may not get.
If you're the one asking for the move
Policy says the clock starts when DFCS receives your placement change request — but it doesn't script how to send one. What follows is practice guidance from families who've been through it, not policy:
- Put it in writing. An email to your case manager counts and stamps its own date. A phone call followed by "confirming our conversation" in writing is even better.
- Send it to your case manager, and copy their supervisor — and your agency worker if you foster through a private agency (CPA). You want no doubt about when the Division received it.
- Say what you can and can't do. If you can keep the child safe and cared for through the full 14 days, say so — it buys the child a better next placement. If you can't, say that plainly too (see the emergency section below).
- Ask about respite in the same message. If exhaustion is driving the request, a paid respite break during the 14 days — or instead of the move — may change the math. It's a real, confirmed benefit: up to 10 days a fiscal year at the child's per diem rate, approved in advance. Jul 2, 2026
- Keep a copy of everything. The request, the reply, the dates. If the timeline slips, a paper trail is what an advocate works with.
When 14 days isn't possible
Emergency moves: we can't give you a sourced timeline
Placements sometimes end abruptly — a safety crisis in the home, an allegation, a hospitalization, a disruption that can't wait two weeks. We could not verify published policy language setting the timeline or process for emergency placement changes, so we won't invent one. What we can say: if a child or anyone in your home is unsafe, call your case manager (and the after-hours line your agency gave you) immediately — safety comes before any notice period. If it's a mental health crisis, GCAL at 988 is 24/7. Then ask, in writing, what the process and timeline will be for the move itself. This gap is on our ask-the-state list.
The 14 days themselves: what to do for the child
Policy is silent on almost all of this. What follows is practice, not policy — the accumulated advice of foster parents who've handed a child to the next home well, and wished someone had told them sooner:
- Everything the child owns goes with them — clothes, toys, gifts, school projects, the life book, photos of their time with you. Pack it in real luggage or duffel bags, never trash bags. If you don't have luggage, ask your case manager or a local foster care closet.
- Medications travel in their original labeled bottles, with a written list of doses, prescribers, and refill dates.
- Ask about transition visits. If the next caregiver is known, even one visit or phone call before moving day makes the move less like a fall. Your case manager coordinates this — ask early in the window, not on day 13.
- Don't withdraw the child from school on your own. How and whether school changes is the case manager's call to coordinate — ask what the plan is, and send current schoolwork, the teacher's name, and any IEP/504 paperwork you hold copies of with the child.
- Write a one-page care sheet for the next caregiver: routines, foods they love and refuse, what soothes them, what scares them, the pediatrician, the therapist, the words their bio family uses for things. It's the most valuable document that will travel that day.
- Say a real goodbye. Tell the child, in words that fit their age, that the move is not their fault and that they were wanted in your home. Children in care often carry the opposite story unless an adult says this out loud.
Money & Medicaid at the move
Your last per diem payment arrives after the child has left — that's normal, not a mistake. Georgia pays per diem in arrears on a roughly 30-day cycle: you invoice for the days the child was in your home, and the direct deposit for that month typically lands around the 15th of the following month. Jul 2, 2026 Submit your final invoice as usual; details in our per diem guide.
The clothing allowance does not re-issue when a child moves. The initial clothing allowance is authorized once, when the child enters care — it is not re-authorized when a child moves between foster homes. Jul 2, 2026 Which is one more reason every piece of clothing bought with it belongs in the suitcase, not in your closet for the next placement. See the clothing allowance guide.
Medicaid: send the child's Georgia Families 360° card, plan paperwork, and a note about any upcoming or pending appointments with them, and flag open authorizations to the case manager — practical handoff advice, not a policy requirement. Coverage questions during a move go to the GF360 member intake line, 1-855-661-2021 (24/7 — an Amerigroup-era number that will change when the plan changes hands; if it fails, call your case manager). More in the GF360 survival guide. Jul 2, 2026
The GF360 plan is changing hands — slowly
Georgia Families 360° is still administered by Amerigroup today, but the state has awarded the next contract to UnitedHealthcare and the switch has been delayed repeatedly — latest reporting extends the current insurers into 2027. Phone numbers and plan details may change when it finally flips; check the state's GF360 page before relying on them. Checked Jul 2, 2026
A disruption is not a failure
Let's say the quiet part: asking for a placement to end feels like breaking a promise. It usually isn't. Sometimes a child needs a level of care your home can't provide. Sometimes the fit is wrong in ways nobody could have known from a placement call. Sometimes your family is at its limit and pretending otherwise would make things worse for everyone — including the child. Recognizing that, and asking for the move before things break, is a hard and responsible act, not a broken one.
And the better move is often the one you make before you're writing that email: Georgia will pay for up to 10 days of respite a year, and it works far better as prevention than as a last resort. If you're closer to burnout than break, start there.
Grieve it, too. You attached — that was the job, and you did it. Nobody should carry a disruption alone: the Georgia Center for Resources & Support (run by Families First under state contract) connects foster parents to support at 1-866-A-PARENT (1-866-272-7368), and the AFPAG advocacy line below exists for exactly these seasons. Jul 2, 2026
Afterward
Updates about the child after they leave: nothing we can promise you
Many former foster parents want to know how the child is doing after a move. We could not verify any policy entitling you to updates or continued contact once a child leaves your home — decisions about ongoing contact sit with DFCS, the court, and the child's current caregivers. If staying in the child's life matters to you, raise it with the case manager before moving day, and know that the answer is theirs to give.
What is confirmed: if you believe the move itself was handled in a way that violated your rights as a foster parent, Georgia's Foster Parent Bill of Rights (O.C.G.A. §49-5-281) includes a grievance procedure, implemented in DFCS policy as PAMMS 14.17 — a three-level ladder (Form 80 to the County Director, Form 82 to the State Division Director, Form 84 to the State Mediation Committee, each with its own clock) with anti-retaliation protection. The grievance ladder guide walks every level and deadline. Jul 2, 2026
Sources & verification
- DFCS policy manual (PAMMS) §10.3 — Changes in Placement (14-calendar-day request timeline; 5-day written notice to court and parties)pamms.dhs.ga.gov Jul 2, 2026
- Foster Georgia — Per Diem (30-day reimbursement cycle, paid in arrears)fostergeorgia.com Jul 2, 2026
- PAMMS §9.1 — Foster Care Maintenance Payments (clothing allowance not re-authorized on moves)pamms.dhs.ga.gov Jul 2, 2026
- O.C.G.A. §49-5-281 — Foster Parent Bill of Rights & grievanceslaw.justia.com Jul 2, 2026
- PAMMS §14.17 — Foster Parent Bill of Rights and Grievance Procedurepamms.dhs.ga.gov Jul 2, 2026
- Georgia Families 360° — member intake linemedicaid.georgia.gov Jul 2, 2026
This page summarizes policy in plain language and is not legal advice. Sections labeled "practice, not policy" are community guidance, not requirements. Rules change; if today is past our verified date — or your situation involves an emergency or a DFCS-initiated move — confirm the current process with your case manager before you rely on any timeline here.