O.C.G.A. § 49-5-226 (2019)

(a) Effective July 1, 1993, no children or adolescents with a serious emotional disturbance shall be placed out of state for treatment except after all community resources have been exhausted, all administrative procedures and remedies have been exhausted, or the court has ordered placement or services other than in Georgia.

(b) The cases of all children and adolescents currently placed out of state for treatment of serious emotional problems shall be reviewed to determine the appropriateness of their placement, their readiness to return to their home community, and needed services. All children currently in out-of-state placement shall be brought home no later than July 1, 1995, but only after each child has been given an individual reintegration plan specifying in detail the services, both in terms of human services and in fiscal resources, that shall be available and provided for that child and family. The services for each such child shall be provided from the funds appropriated, including funds now used for out-of-state placement of such child, and all such services shall be provided in the least restrictive environment.

(c) Fiscal incentives, such as flexible funding or decentralized funding, shall be developed for keeping children with their families and developing community based services.

(d) Nothing in this article shall prohibit or prevent a nonprofit agency from contracting with the state to provide any part of the continuum of services, provided that such services shall be provided in the least restrictive environment.

PROGRAMS & PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN