---
type: "Bill"
title: "Courts; parental rights; prioritize placement of a child with an adult or fictive kin qualified to care for such child"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Articles 3 and 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to dependency proceedings and termination of parental rights, respectively, so as to prioritize the placement of a child with a relative who is an adult or fictive kin when such individual is qualified to care for such child and it is in the best interests of the child; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "HB 887"
citation: "Georgia HB 887 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chuck Efstration", "Johnnie Caldwell, Jr.", "Mandi Ballinger", "Regina Quick", "Stacey Abrams", "Stacey Evans"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 17
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2016-02-02"
last_action: "2016-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/342e8186-c1ab-4019-84ac-96313139525f"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "6d1df13fd9b99d04b74709b42f1dc8055774f48738e73cb7dc40a0c8fa9e607b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 887 (2015_16) — Courts; parental rights; prioritize placement of a child with an adult or fictive kin qualified to care for such child

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Articles 3 and 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to dependency proceedings and termination of parental rights, respectively, so as to prioritize the placement of a child with a relative who is an adult or fictive kin when such individual is qualified to care for such child and it is in the best interests of the child; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Floor Amendment AM 29 2545ER** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161078.pdf)
2. **HB 887/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162400.pdf)
3. **LC 29 6848ER/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/156160.pdf)
4. **LC 29 6986ERS/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/158976.pdf)
5. **LC 29 6986ERS/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/158392.pdf)
6. **Sen ctee sub LC 37 2191ERS** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/159606.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **160–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chuck Efstration — primary (person)
- Johnnie Caldwell, Jr. — primary (person)
- Mandi Ballinger — primary (person)
- Regina Quick — primary (person)
- Stacey Abrams — primary (person)
- Stacey Evans — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-02** House Hopper
- **2016-02-03** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2016-02-04** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2016-02-23** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-02-26** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2016-02-26** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-02-29** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-08** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-03-10** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2016-03-14** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2016-03-14** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-03-22** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended
- **2016-03-24** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2016-04-05** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2016-04-26** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2016-04-26** Act 337 `executive-signature`
- **2016-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/342e8186-c1ab-4019-84ac-96313139525f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).