WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced yesterday his plans to review and reform the state’s Department of Child Services.
The Department of Child Services is struggling to cope with a dramatic increase in the number of children in need of services such as foster care and counseling. That’s due in large part to the opioid crisis, which is causing the agency’s ability to provide services to children to strain under caseloads.
Holcomb’s announcement comes after a review of the state DCS found systemic dysfunction and a “culture of fear” that contributed to widespread issues at the department.
The review, which was commissioned last December, found numerous issues within DCS, many of which had already been well documented. The independent review was conducted by the Child Welfare Policy Group. It found that nearly half of DCS workers had case-loads which exceeded the legal limit. The group also found that the agency had a high rate of turnover driven by low pay and a toxic working environment.
The review comes on the heels of the very public departure of former DCS director, Mary Beth Bonaventura. In her resignation letter, Bonaventura leveled harsh criticisms at Holcomb and his office, alleging the Governor’s appointee to the agency, Eric Miller interfered with agency functions. Miller was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff at the agency after Holcomb took office. According to Bonaventura’s resignation letter, the policies Holcomb and Miller enacted at the agency would, “all but ensure that children will die.”
In a press release from the Governor’s office, Holcomb highlights a few of the review groups’ 20 recommendations. Among the proposed measures are: calls to treat and support families struggling with addiction, improve coordination among DCS’ different branches, and a revision of internal DCS policies. The review also called for increased support for foster care families.
The governor also announced his plans to dedicate 25 million dollars from the state’s budget surplus towards pay increases for DCS caseworkers. The governor did not comment on the department’s current operating budget, which is currently 200 million dollars over it’s 600 million dollar two-year budget.
Despite declining to take up any legislation to reform the DCS during it’s 2018 legislative session, the Indiana General Assembly approved its own task force to examine DCS and make recommendations for reformation last month.
UPDATE;
Governor Holcomb’s office returned WFHB’s request for comment shortly after the deadline for this piece. Holcomb’s office provided a complete transcript of the governor’s comments to the press after his announcement yesterday.
During the meeting, Holcomb said that one of the primary goals of the reform efforts was providing aid and support to caseworkers and eliminate the “centralized” process of decision-making at DCS.
“We want to make sure that what was exposed, this culture of fear, this centralized decision making process, we want to make sure that our staff at the ground level are equipped with the tools and have the support to make many of those decision not in that centralized fashion.” Holcomb said in the meeting.
