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INDIANAPOLIS – State officials celebrated two important milestones in child protection Monday – the addition of more than 800 caseworkers since 2005 and a new report showing a dramatic decrease in Indiana child fatalities.
“The work will never be done,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said at a special Statehouse swearing-in ceremony. “But the work is being done better today by a long shot.”
The event was twofold – first to mark the latest crop of new caseworkers to be hired by the Department of Child Services.
When Daniels took office in 2005, caseloads were three to four times higher than recommended by the Child Welfare League of America.
As of Monday, Child Services had increased the number of caseworkers from 708 in 2005 to 1,590 in 2008.
Overall, the department has hired more than 1,400 employees, but some of those positions were supervisory and many were just to keep pace with turnover and attrition.
“We have hired enough to fill vacancies and arrive at the position to do our work well,” said James Payne, director of Child Services.
The legislature set a goal of reducing caseloads to a measure called 12 and 17 by June 30. That means each caseworker would be assigned to 12 new investigations and 17 ongoing cases each month.
Payne said the state is not there yet – more like 20 cases for each caseworker – but noted that 350 of the most recent hires are in a three-month training program.
Child Services also unveiled the latest data on child abuse and neglect fatalities covering July 2006 through June 2007.
Statewide, 36 children died of abuse or neglect during that time – down from 53 in 2006 and a high of 69 in 2002.
Of the 36 this year, nine had previous contact with the department.
There were two neglect deaths in Allen County, including that of 4-month-old Trinity Eaton who died in September 2006 of asphyxiation because of a rollover.
According to the Child Services report, the child’s father smoked marijuana before sharing a bed with the infant. He also smoked methamphetamine the day before, and the infant tested positive for marijuana. The father, Patrick H. Main, has been charged with felony neglect of a dependent.
The second Allen County case could not immediately be verified.
The only other case out of northeast Indiana involved the May 25, 2007, death of 2-year-old Samantha Muchowicz, who died of blunt-force trauma. A jury has convicted baby sitter Ian Clark, 35, of murder in the case and has recommended life in prison.
He will be sentenced Thursday.
nkelly@jg.net
