Committee to Study DCS Recommendations

House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-88)

The state legislature’s review of an assessment of the Indiana Department of Child Services is continuing. The Legislative Council has assigned several DCS-related topics to be studied by the Interim Committee on the Courts and the Judiciary.

The assignments follow the evaluation released last week by the Alabama-based Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group. The nonprofit detailed 20 recommendations to improve the DCS, including improving coordination among state agencies that support Indiana families and children and revising internal DCS policies to serve families and children better and more efficiently.

"Several of the recommendations made by the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group regarding the Department of Child Services may require substantive changes to state law," said House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-88), who chairs the Legislative Council. "That’s why we assigned a number of these topics to the Interim Committee on the Courts and the Judiciary, where they can be fully vetted and lawmakers can bring sound policy recommendations to the table next session. Improving the state’s child welfare system requires a comprehensive approach, and we remain fully committed to improving outcomes for these vulnerable children."

You can view the list of topics that will be discussed within the committee by clicking here.