Local legislators are preparing to push for measures that would create more accountability and more money for what they consider Indiana’s most important agency: the Indiana Department of Child Services.
State Sen. John Broden, D-South Bend, has initiated a bill that would broaden the restrictive DCS definition of “near-fatality” and better define what legislators intended when they originally created the law that says records should be made public in the case of a child’s fatality or near-fatality.
The Tribune has raised the issue in the recent past. Because state law does not define what criteria should be in place to determine when a child has nearly died, DCS wrote its own definition of near-fatality to include such requirements as a child being placed on a ventilator and being “certified” as being in critical or serious condition. A local magistrate recently ruled that records were not disclosable in the case of 2-year-old Alaiyah Crockett, who has been in a vegetative state since February.
“We think the state drew too difficult and too hard a line on near-fatalities,” Broden said of legislators’ intent. “I’m still wondering if we can’t go even further on releasing certain information while redacting other things. There could be a lot of information DCS has that could be significant, without compromising confidentiality. ...These are things that if they get out, they can prevent similar situations.”
State Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, and state Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, say they, too, will support the opening up of records. Yoder, the chairman of the newly created DCS Oversight Committee, agreed “there’s some confusion” on the near-fatality issue.
He’s just as concerned, however, about DCS’ openness on its needs for more case managers to stay within mandated caseload limits. In a report to the budget committee a few weeks ago, DCS presented a budget that acknowledged its significant turnover rate, which means a certain number of jobs are routinely open, and the fact it would need to hire 77 additional family case managers to meet the caseload limits.
“I’ve told them they’ve absolutely got to get on top of this issue,” said Yoder, who noted his committee’s next meeting is Jan. 5, and “I’ve asked them to have a clear and transparent plan to share with us. I hope we have some answers.”
DCS announced at the budget hearing that rather than ask for more case managers, as it has done in recent years, it would commission a study to determine how best to use its staff. Spokesman James Wide said last week that DCS did not actually say the agency would not come back and ask to hire more workers.
But that was the message the legislators took from the presentation.
“The 12/17 caseload ... is good for kids and good for families and the state has embraced it,” Broden said. “Frankly, I was aghast. We don’t want to backtrack on 12/17.”
Niezgodski said he and state Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, met with DCS Director Mary Beth Bonaventura last week. “Maybe we helped her see there are some instances where you have to ask for more,” he said of the no-spending culture in recent years. “She left us with the impression they were going to re-evaluate.”
Niezgodski and Lanane are also examining ways to reduce turnover, he said, such as a possible tax credit for recent social work graduates who go to work for DCS.
Broden has been talking with legislators about state law he says allows the governor to go back at the end of a fiscal year and demand that departments return to state coffers a certain percentage of the approved budget, a move he says both Democratic and Republican governors have consistently made over the years. He notes a growing bipartisan frustration on the topic — legislators carefully draft a specific budget, which the governor can veto, Broden points out — and has been discussing a bill that would forbid a governor from taking back money for DCS caseworkers.
Much was made in news reports two years ago, for instance, of the fact DCS officials were drastically cutting services to families and partner agencies while returning millions to the state.
Niezgodski said he’d support a move that would prevent the governor from asking DCS to return any of its budgeted money, pointing out the state’s more than $2 billion surplus. But Yoder is reluctant.
“I tend to be really leery on restraining the governor on these kinds of things,” Yoder said. “Instead let’s just look at the problem and make sure they’re funded adequately and solve the problem.”
Meanwhile, while DCS began shifting its focus — and its money — toward services to keep more children at home, rather than in foster care or in residential placement, it cut some rates so deeply several years ago that some agencies closed their doors, and others are still struggling, says a group that represents about 100 such agencies.
Cathy Graham, executive director of Indiana Association of Resources and Child Advocacy, points out in a news release that while DCS has been able to find more money for case managers and added to its administration, those who work in related agencies are earning in some cases less than they would in manufacturing jobs, leading to unsustainable turnover.
In addition, Graham said, Indiana now spends half of what it did in 2008 per child, while spending two-thirds more for case management and administration.
“Children and families are harmed when they do not receive the right services at the right time for the right length of time,” she said. Graham asks legislators to add $30 million per year to the Family and Children Fund for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, while also exempting DCS from the annual State Budget Agency deduction.
Yoder, who used to work for Bashor Children’s Home in Goshen as a teacher and with its substance abuse program, said he agrees for the need to boost funding for those agencies.
“We absolutely need to do that,” he said. “These are our most vulnerable children, and they’re tasked with taking care of them.”