The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a finding that a Marion County child was a child in need of services, with most of the appellate panel finding insufficient evidence to support the determination. The dissenting judge, however, urged caution in the face of a potentially dangerous situation.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb pledged in his State of the State address Tuesday night to conduct a “transparent” review of the Department of Child Services, but offered little more than platitudes about an agency that his critics say is enveloped in crisis. “I’ll state right now: There’s no one who cares more about Hoosier children than I do, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure the success of our agency and its mission.”
The departure of Mary Beth Bonaventura as director of the Indiana Department of Child Services surprised several family law attorneys and social service providers. Uniformly, they agreed the former Lake County juvenile judge was a strong advocate for children and brought valuable experience to her tenure. Still, the department has struggled against internal and external challenges.
The director of Indiana’s child welfare agency says she’s quitting because Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration has hurt her ability to protect children.
A mother and father can continue on their path toward reunification with their children after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined Thursday the Department of Child Services did not sustain its burden of proof to support termination of their parental rights.
The Indiana Supreme Court has declined to issue a judicial mandate that would require the Department of Child Services to comply with statutory caseload limits, finding the statute in question does not provide specific compliance guidelines that would warrant issuing a mandate.
A divided Indiana Supreme Court has affirmed summary judgment for the Department of Child Services after one of its employees revealed the name of a child abuse reporter, finding there was no statutory or common law basis to impose a duty of confidentiality.
A wrongful termination claim stemming from a 2016 Indianapolis Public Schools teacher sex scandal will move forward after a district court judge determined the IPS school board commissioners violated an employee’s due process rights when they terminated her without proper notice.
Three Miami County children will not be returned to their previous foster parents after the Indiana Court of Appeals found Friday the trial court correctly determined the foster mother had become obsessed with the notion that the children were molested, making continued placement with her not in the children’s best interests.
Indiana officials expect to settle a federal damages lawsuit in a second case where a court has found a Department of Child Services case manager violated the constitutional rights of a parent.
A doctor who reported medical child abuse to the Department of Child Services was not protected by the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday in a case of first impression.
A federal judge ruled against a Department of Child Services case manager who illegally searched an Indianapolis veterinarian’s apartment after receiving a report of suspected child abuse or neglect. The case manager now must face a damages trial in the vet’s civil suit against her.
The Indiana Department of Child Services failed to present any evidence that a newborn’s mother did not have stable housing or that her actions seriously endangered her child, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in reversing a child in need of services adjudication.
The Indiana attorney general and Department of Child Services’ decision to settle a lawsuit brought by a wrongly prosecuted family yielded the largest payment of its type in state history.
Opposing counsel and the justices of the Indiana Supreme Court were agreed on one issue during oral arguments Thursday in a case involving the Department of Child Services – family case managers are the “backbone” of the work DCS does for Hoosier children.
The Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments this week to determine whether an employee of the Indiana Department of Child Services can bring a class-action complaint against her employer for an alleged violation of statutory caseload limits under the public standing doctrine.
Indiana will pay $25 million to conclude a northern Indiana family’s decade-long legal fight to clear their names after the Department of Child Services falsely prosecuted them for their daughter’s death.
The Indiana Department of Child Services did not discriminate against a former employee seeking to come out of retirement when it declined to move him through the interview process, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided Friday.
A divided Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a CHINS determination after finding the Department of Child Services failed to meet its burden of proof, though one judge believed the trial court was acting in the child’s best interests.
A troubled teenager found to be a child in need of services was properly adjudicated even though the juvenile court ruled the state did not meet its burden in proving the basis of its CHINS petition.