DCS Still Unsure on Recommendation to Narrow Legal Standard for Neglect
(INDIANAPOLIS) – Indiana’s Department of Child Services says it’s still assessing whether Indiana’s child neglect laws need to be changed.
An independent review of DCS, commissioned after a blistering resignation letter from director Mary Beth Bonaventura, found one reason the agency’s caseloads are so overwhelming is that many states don’t define neglect as broadly as Indiana does. The Alabama-based Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group recommended limiting neglect charges to adults with consistent responsibility for caregiving, such as parents and day-care providers. And it urged excluding neglect charges based solely on poverty or one-time errors in parental judgment.
The change requires legislative action, and associate director Todd J. Meyer told a legislative study committee that DCS legal staff is studying case law from states with narrower statutes.
Governor Holcomb pledged when the report was released in June to implement all 20 recommendations. Meyer says the agency is making progress already on several of them. DCS has added 44 supervisors and 30 attorneys, and Meyer says a Holcomb-ordered pay raise should reduce turnover.
Meyer says a waiting list of 500 kids in need of foster parents has been eliminated. And he says the agency has been reaching out to outside providers to mend fences and discuss how best to serve children and families together.
Department of Child Services director Terry Stigdon with Child Welfare Group consultant Sue Steib (Photo: Eric Berman/WIBC)
