§ 19-14-20.Creation; funding; use of funds; reporting

Chapter 14. Trust Fund · Article 2. Children's Trust Fund · Last amended 2022 · Last verified October 9, 2026

In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 19-14-20 creates Georgia’s State Children’s Trust Fund in the state treasury, dedicates certain court-collected money to it from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2032, limits that money to fifteen listed purposes, and requires a yearly accounting.

Full Text of § 19-14-20

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

(a)

(1) The State Children's Trust Fund is created as a separate fund in the state treasury. The director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services shall be the trustee of the fund.

(2) The state treasurer shall invest the money held in the State Children's Trust Fund in the same manner in which state funds are invested as authorized by the State Depository Board pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 17 of Title 50. Interest earned by the money held in the trust fund shall be accounted for separately and shall be credited to the trust fund to be disbursed as other moneys in the trust fund.

(b) Under the authority granted and subject to the conditions imposed by Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(r) of the Constitution of Georgia, for the period beginning on July 1, 2022, and ending on June 30, 2032, all of the money collected pursuant to Code Sections 15-6-77.4 and 15-9-60 shall be annually appropriated to the State Children's Trust Fund established by subsection (a) of this Code section and such funds shall not lapse as otherwise required by Article III, Section IX, Paragraph IV(c) of the Constitution of Georgia. Each annual appropriation shall be made through the General Appropriations Act and shall include all of the money collected from such sources during the most recently completed fiscal year.

(c) The State Children's Trust Fund may accept federal funds granted by Congress or executive order for the purposes of the fund as well as gifts and donations from individuals, private organizations, or foundations. The acceptance and use of federal funds does not commit state funds and does not place an obligation upon the General Assembly to continue the purposes for which the federal funds are made available. All funds received in the manner described in this subsection shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the fund to be disbursed as other moneys in such fund.

(d) All of the money appropriated to the State Children's Trust Fund pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section shall be dedicated for use and expended by the director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services only for the following purposes:

(1) To carry out the prevention and community based service programs as provided for in Part 2 of Article 6 of Chapter 5 of Title 49;

(2) To carry out the duties relating to mentoring as provided for in Part 3 of Article 6 of Chapter 5 of Title 49;

(3) To cooperate with and secure cooperation of every department, agency, or instrumentality in the state government or its political subdivisions in the furtherance of the purposes of this article;

(4) To prepare, publish in print or electronically, and disseminate fundamental child related information of a descriptive and analytical nature to all components of the children's service system of this state, including, but not limited to, the juvenile justice system;

(5) To serve as a state-wide clearing-house for child related information and research;

(6) In coordination and cooperation with all components of the children's service systems of this state, to develop legislative proposals and executive policy proposals reflective of the priorities of the entire child related systems of this state, including, but not limited to, child abuse injury prevention, treatment, and juvenile justice systems;

(7) To serve in an advisory capacity to the Governor on issues impacting the children's service systems of this state;

(8) To coordinate high visibility child related research projects and studies with a state-wide impact when those studies and projects cross traditional system component lines;

(9) To provide for the interaction, communication, and coordination of all components of the children's service systems of this state and to provide assistance in establishing state-wide goals and standards in the system;

(10) To provide for the effective coordination and communication between providers of children and youth services, including pediatrics, health, mental health, business and industry, and all components of social services, education, and educational services;

(11) To encourage and facilitate the establishment of local commissions or coalitions on children and youth and to facilitate the involvement of communities in providing services for children and youth;

(12) To review and develop an integrated state plan for services provided to children and youth in this state through state programs;

(13) To provide technical assistance and consultation to local governments, particularly those involved in providing services to children and youth;

(14) To facilitate elimination of unnecessary or duplicative efforts, programs, and services; and

(15) To do any and all things necessary and proper to enable it to perform wholly and adequately its duties and to exercise the authority granted to it.

(e) The director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services shall prepare an accounting of the funds expended pursuant to this Code section during the most recently completed fiscal year to be provided to the Office of Planning and Budget, the House Budget and Research Office, and the Senate Budget and Evaluation Office by January 1 of each year.

End

Plain-English Summary

This section sets up and governs the State Children’s Trust Fund, a separate fund in the state treasury. The director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services serves as trustee. The state treasurer invests the money the same way other state funds are invested under the State Depository Board’s authority, and interest is tracked separately and credited back to the fund.

Subsection (b) supplies the money. Relying on a provision of the Georgia Constitution that the section cites, it directs that all money collected under Code Sections 15-6-77.4 and 15-9-60 be appropriated each year to the fund for the period beginning July 1, 2022, and ending June 30, 2032. Each year’s appropriation goes through the General Appropriations Act and covers everything collected from those sources in the most recently completed fiscal year, and the section says these funds shall not lapse as the Constitution would otherwise require. The fund may also accept federal grants and gifts and donations from individuals, private organizations or foundations; all of it goes to the state treasurer for deposit. Taking federal money doesn’t commit state funds or bind the General Assembly to keep paying for the same purposes.

Subsection (d) limits how the dedicated money is spent. The director may use it only for the fifteen purposes listed. They include running the prevention and community-based service programs and the mentoring duties described in Title 49; publishing and sharing child-related information and serving as a statewide clearinghouse for research; advising the Governor and developing legislative and policy proposals; coordinating the agencies and providers that serve children and youth; encouraging local commissions or coalitions on children and youth; building an integrated state plan; giving technical help to local governments; and helping eliminate unnecessary or duplicative programs.

Subsection (e) adds accountability. By January 1 each year, the director must give an accounting of what the fund spent in the most recently completed fiscal year to the Office of Planning and Budget, the House Budget and Research Office and the Senate Budget and Evaluation Office. The section was last amended in 2021, effective July 1, 2022.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the Georgia Children’s Trust Fund get its money?

Its dedicated source is money collected under Code Sections 15-6-77.4 and 15-9-60. From July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2032, all of that money shall be appropriated each year to the fund through the General Appropriations Act, covering what was collected in the most recently completed fiscal year. The fund may also accept federal funds and gifts and donations from individuals, private organizations or foundations. Interest earned on the fund’s money is credited back to it.

Can I donate to the Georgia Children’s Trust Fund?

The section allows it. The State Children’s Trust Fund may accept gifts and donations from individuals, private organizations or foundations, and all such money goes to the state treasurer for deposit in the fund. It is then disbursed like the fund’s other money. The section doesn’t describe how to make a gift, so the Division of Family and Children Services, whose director is the fund’s trustee, is the place to ask.

Who controls the Children’s Trust Fund in Georgia?

The director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services is the trustee and spends the dedicated money. The state treasurer invests it in the same manner as other state funds under the State Depository Board’s authority. Each year, by January 1, the director must account for the previous fiscal year’s spending to the Office of Planning and Budget, the House Budget and Research Office and the Senate Budget and Evaluation Office.

What can Children’s Trust Fund money be used for?

The money appropriated to the fund under subsection (b) may be used only for the fifteen purposes listed in subsection (d). They include prevention and community-based service programs and mentoring under Title 49, publishing child-related information, acting as a statewide clearinghouse for child research, advising the Governor, coordinating agencies and providers that serve children and youth, encouraging local commissions or coalitions, building an integrated state plan, giving technical help to local governments, and helping eliminate unnecessary or duplicative programs.

Does the Children’s Trust Fund funding ever end?

The dedication in subsection (b) runs for a set period, from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2032. For those years, all money collected under Code Sections 15-6-77.4 and 15-9-60 shall be appropriated annually to the fund. The section doesn’t say what happens after June 30, 2032. The fund itself, created in subsection (a), has no stated end date, and it may still accept federal money and private gifts.

Amendment History

Laws 1987, p. 1133, § 1; Laws 2008, Act 562, § 6, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2021, Act 290, § 8, eff. July 1, 2022.

Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, enacted by the Georgia General Assembly, and checked word for word against the Georgia Code Revision Commission’s public-domain edition and the acts that later amended it. Section headings are the Code’s official catchlines. Last verified October 9, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: georgia childrens trust fundstate childrens trust fundchildrens trust fund dfcschild abuse prevention funding georgiadonate to childrens trust fund georgia