Children going into the state’s child welfare system end up more broken, attorneys suing the Department of Child Services say, because they are not being provided with therapy and treatment to help them heal. Rather, the lawyers contend, DCS is just finding beds to stick the kids in and forgetting about their other needs.
Advocates say alternatives to detention are benefiting kids, and Indiana is in line with statistics showing that across the country, youth incarceration and juvenile crime are declining.
Claiming outside advocates were relying on “an inflammatory and outdated account,” Indiana Department of Child Services director Terry Stigdon released a video statement Monday in response to the lawsuit filed last week charging the state agency with inflicting further harm on children entering the foster care system.
Not every bill introduced gains the traction needed to get to the governor’s desk. Many times, a proposed new law fails to get a committee hearing, or it stalls once it reaches the floor. Other times, as a measure progresses through the Statehouse, it ignites disagreements that are ultimately too much to overcome.
A young man who was a key witness in the case against a Gary teenager accused of stabbing her mother more than 60 times has been sentenced to time served.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a child in need of services adjudication after concluding the dismissal sanction for failure to timely conduct a CHINS factfinding hearing is not a mechanism to collaterally attack a CHINS adjudication.
The mother and stepfather of an Elwood child who died three days before his second birthday now are facing murder charges.
Hoosier families celebrating adoption later this year will have the chance to commemorate the experience with cameras in the courtroom.
Holding her infant foster daughter, attorney Kiamesha Colom explained in simple terms a 13-page bill that revamps parts of Indiana’s foster care system. Come July 1, she and her husband, like other long-term foster parents around the state, will be able to have more of a say in the care and protection of their baby.
Study committees for the 2019 interim period have been approved by Indiana’s Legislative Council and will address dozens of issues for review in the coming months, including several legal-focused topics.
Indiana Supreme Court justices heard arguments in two consolidated and procedurally identical cases Thursday, questioning whether two juveniles who appeared at disposition modification hearings via Skype were denied their rights to be present.
A just-released FBI report says a 13-year-old boy who opened fire in a suburban Indianapolis classroom was the youngest suspect in 27 active shooter incidents in the U.S. last year.
The Indiana Court of Appeals declined to reverse a trial court’s decision not to waive a juvenile murder case to adult court after it concluded there was sufficient evidence to support the decision.
A proposal that would send children as young as 12 to adult court on attempted murder charges sailed through one house of the Indiana General Assembly before meeting resistance — including from a bill sponsor.
A bill that would lower to 12 the age a juvenile charged with attempted murder could be tried as an adult has stalled in a House committee and does not have strong support from the chair, who is also a sponsor of the measure.
The Indiana Supreme Court chose to grant transfer to three cases during the past week, including commitments to the Indiana Department of Corrections. The court also granted transfer and decided a case granting relief to a deported “Dreamer.”
Investigators say an 11-year-old northern Indiana boy shot and wounded his state-trooper father because he was upset that his parents took away his video games.
A 17-year-old Indiana youth faces murder charges for allegedly killing two other teens in what police say an informant told them was a drug deal gone bad. Porter County prosecutors say Connor R. Kerner of Valparaiso is charged as an adult in the deaths of 18-year-old Thomas Grill and 19-year-old Molley Lanham.
Authorities say an 11-year-old Indiana boy who shot and wounded his state-trooper father has been charged as a juvenile with attempted murder. St. Joseph County prosecutors have filed a petition alleging delinquency for attempted murder, the juvenile equivalent of a criminal charge.
A prosecutor says a teenage boy will be charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of two northwestern Indiana teenagers. Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann said Sunday the 17-year-old boy is expected to be charged Monday with two counts of murder related to the disappearance of eighteen-year-old Thomas M. Grill, Jr. and 19-year-old Molley R. Lanham.