Articles

Guidance offered on incarcerated parents’ attendance at termination hearings

Scolding the Indiana Department of Child Services for how it handled a parental termination case, the Indiana Supreme Court has found an incarcerated mother’s due process rights were not violated when she did not receive adequate notice about pending proceedings that would affect her rights as a parent or when she was not allowed to attend the hearings.

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Foster families get in free to Marengo Cave

Thanks to a partnership between Marengo Cave and the Indiana Department of Child Services, foster parents and their foster, biological and stepchildren will be able to get in to Marengo Cave’s guided walking tours for free.

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Court: CHINS fact-finding hearing required by due process

The Indiana Court of Appeals disagrees with the state Department of Child Services that fact-finding and dispositional hearings in a child in need of services case are interchangeable. The appellate panel has ruled a Marion County father’s due process rights were denied because he didn’t receive the opportunity for a fact-finding hearing.

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Meth use linked to increase in CHINS

Leslie Dunn, Indiana state director for GAL/CASA, said the number of Child in Need of Services cases over time remains stable, but she’s seen some remarkable variations in cases per-county from year to year. In Vanderburgh County, for example, new CHINS cases jumped from 448 in 2008 to 818 in 2010. People who are watching these numbers with concern cite several possible reasons for these variations.

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DCS announces new foster care reimbursement rates

Following a lawsuit filed by foster parents after the Indiana Department of Child Services announced in 2009 that it was going to decrease the foster care per diem by 10 percent, the department announced Friday that it has come up with new reimbursement rates beginning Jan. 1, 2012.

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Foster Family day July 20 at museum

The Indiana Department of Child Services is teaming up with the Indianapolis Colts and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for an event for Indiana foster families July 20. Licensed foster families will receive free admission and will be able to visit with the Colts’ mascot and get autographs from Colts cheerleaders.

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Justices: Child placement statutes are constitutional

In a much-anticipated ruling, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled three statutes relating to juvenile judges’ authority on out-of-state placement cases are constitutional and that the Department of Child Services has statutory power to consider costs when considering those placements.

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Encouraging diversity in CASA programs

Having volunteers and staff who can relate to families that interact with Court Appointed Special Advocates programs has proven invaluable to a number of county-level CASA programs in Indiana. Indianapolis-based Child Advocates Inc. received the National CASA Inclusion Award for its inclusion and diversity plan March 20 at the National CASA conference in Chicago.

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DCS to impose 5 percent reduction for reimbursement in 2011

The Indiana Department of Child Services and IARCCA, an Association of Children and Family Services, announced their agreement today in a dispute regarding reimbursement rate cuts. The dispute led to a lawsuit filed in late 2009 between the two organizations.

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Settlement reached on foster care rates

The Indiana Department of Child Services has agreed not to cut subsidies for foster and adoptive parents and other caregivers as part of a class-action settlement in federal court.

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Programs target older foster youth

For foster youth who are about to age out of the system or have already done so, there often is no support system. That decreases one’s chance of getting a good education and increases the likelihood that the former foster youth will end up homeless or become involved in illegal activity and be arrested after aging out.

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Justices dismiss DCS transfer petition

The Indiana Supreme Court has dismissed a transfer petition filed by the Indiana Department of Child Services because the
Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the DCS.

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