This compiled photo of Alaiyah and Micahyah Crockett was posted on their father's Facebook page last week. The boy's death in the wake of his sister's near-fatality in February — both of which their mother admitted responsibility for after Micahyah died last weekend — raises questions about whether child-protection officials were able to spend the time and attention needed to assess the case. Photo provided
Just two years ago, the Indiana Department of Child Services reported to legislators that it was meeting legal guidelines for how many cases their field workers juggled at any one time.
All of the state's regions, save one — Marion County — fell within those guidelines for family case managers.
After The Tribune and other media exposed quiet but sweeping changes in the state agency in 2012, lawmakers focused their attention on DCS and, among other things, agreed to find money to hire more caseworkers to investigate more reports of child abuse and neglect a centralized hotline had been "screening out."
After then-Director James Payne resigned and former Lake County judge Mary Beth Bonaventura took over in the spring of 2013, DCS officials arrived back at the General Assembly's doorstep, hat in hand, asking for approval to hire 110 more caseworkers, because it turned out the caseloads data was underestimated.
Because so much of what the agency does is governed by federal and state confidentiality laws, even those charged with overseeing the agency rely on facts and figures DCS alone can provide. So, in the wake of several devastating child deaths in Indiana in recent weeks, the question is: Who is able to really oversee the agency tasked with protecting Indiana's children?
Consider this short but brutal list:
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