Indiana’s juvenile justice bill, which will implement key reforms and enable the state to retain federal funding, is headed to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk after the Senate unanimously concurred on the amended legislation earlier this week.
Two Indianapolis nonprofits that serve youngsters in the child welfare system, Child Advocates and Kids’ Voice of Indiana, have been at the center of an argument that many families have had: Who can better care for the youngest members?
Described as a “model of the nation,” an Indiana juvenile justice reform bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives with Democrats and Republicans all voting in support of the measure.
Calls to Indiana’s child abuse and neglect hotline fell by more than 10% last year compared to the previous two years, and an expert said that may reflect the isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With just three weeks before its contract with the city of Indianapolis ends, Child Advocates is trying to negotiate a subcontract with Kids’ Voice so it can continue providing volunteers and staff to advocate for youngsters in Indiana’s child welfare system. Meanwhile, a report questioned longtime contractor Child Advocates’ cost overruns.
Child Advocates is asking the city of Indianapolis to delay plans to switch CASA providers until the end of year, citing questions about the transition, the ability of Kids’ Voice to handle the work and concerns over the risk to children.
Tipton County parents who alleged their children were unconstitutionally treated by doctors while in a grandmother’s care failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that summary judgment for the doctors was inappropriate.
Kids’ Voice of Indiana, a nonprofit serving children and families, will take over the training and operation of the court-appointed special advocate program in Marion County courts May 1 after the city of Indianapolis switched the contract for the services from Child Advocates.
When juvenile defendants are tried in adult court, parents who are also witnesses may be excluded from witness-separation orders if their children establish them as “essential” to the presentation of evidence, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled. However, applying that holding to the facts of the case before them, justices concluded an Elkhart County teen failed to establish his mom was “essential” to his attempted murder defense.
A 14-year-old boy was charged with murder and child molestation Monday in the asphyxiation death of a 6-year-old girl in northern Indiana, prosecutors said.
A juvenile adjudication of dangerous possession of a firearm has been vacated by the Indiana Supreme Court in light of its opinion last year that juvenile courts lack jurisdiction to adjudicate the offense.
The Indiana Senate passed a bill Wednesday that could save the state nearly $1 million in federal funding by prohibiting juveniles charged with crimes from being held in adult jails.
A man convicted as a teen of murdering his 10-year-old brother will get a new sentencing hearing after the Indiana Court of Appeals found his representation “wholly deficient” at his first sentencing hearing that led to his sentence to life without parole.
A coalition of state and national organizations are putting their support behind a juvenile justice bill in the Indiana Legislature that they say will bring much-needed reform and prevent the state from losing federal money. The measure advanced to the full Senate on Tuesday.
A 17-year-old Indianapolis boy accused of fatally shooting his father, stepmother, two teenage relatives and a heavily pregnant 19-year-old woman was charged with six counts of murder Thursday, according to a prosecutor and court documents.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed a delinquency adjudication after determining there was insufficient evidence to prove that a teenager illegally possessed a handgun.
Indianapolis police arrested a 17-year-old boy Monday in the killings of five people, including a pregnant woman, who were shot to death inside a home in what the city’s mayor called a “devastating act of violence.”
A 1990s Indiana law that raised penalties for juveniles who possess guns has backfired, limiting the charging options for law enforcement when children have firearms.
Amendments have been made to Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure regarding child paternity cases, as well as e-filing processes and procedures for filing probate and guardianship cases, according to an order from the Indiana Supreme Court.
A split Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed the denial of a teenager’s petition for post-conviction relief of his murder conviction, finding his attorneys performed deficiently in a 2017 trial related to the fatal shooting of a South Bend toddler.