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Study committee to return spotlight to DCS

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Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com

While the firestorm over the Indiana Department of Child Services has died down, the Indiana General Assembly is preparing to begin its examination of the agency and possibly make recommendations for action during the 2019 legislative session.

The Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 431 of the Statehouse to review a host of issues related to DCS. Those topics include looking at the definitions of “child abuse or neglect” and the laws governing maximum caseloads, as well as exploring the laws that require the agency to respond within 24 hours to every report that a child is in imminent danger and to complete each assessment within 30 days.

Not included on the list is an examination of the in-house legal staff, but Sen. Travis Holdman, vice chair of the interim committee, is planning to push for a change. In particular, the Markle Republican wants DCS to return to contracting its legal work with local law firms instead of keeping a staff of lawyers in-house.

Hiring outside representation, Holdman said, would likely bring in attorneys who have more experience in family law and have practiced before the local judges. Currently, Holdman said, the DCS legal staff is plagued with high turnover, attorneys who do not have enough experience and who do not seem prepared for court.

“I’ve heard more stories of that kind where attorneys do not show up (for court) or show up and ask for a continuance,” Holdman said of DCS attorneys. He added that he could not imagine anything more “disheartening and demoralizing” for a case manager than to arrive at court, have everyone ready to testify and then realize the DCS lawyer is not coming.

Under Holdman’s plan, the agency would transition to contract attorneys rather than making an abrupt switch. Local law firms would be signed on as the in-house lawyers leave DCS.

“I think it just makes sense,” Holdman said.

While the agendas for the Sept. 5 and the Sept. 19 committee hearings include a heavy focus on the Department of Child Services, missing is any assessment of the Indiana Support Enforcement Tracking System. As part of its assignment, the committee was charged with also looking at ISETS, the outdated computer system which the agency uses to log and dispense nearly $1 billion in child support payments each year.

Whether the committee is going to hold an additional hearing to discuss the computer system is unclear.

Overall, Holdman is hoping the legislative study committee does not veer from following the recommendations made by the Alabama-based Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group. He wants the Statehouse to let director Terry Stigdon do her work.

“I think she is the right person for the job,” Holdman said, noting she is getting involved with the field offices and has visited some families.

The Child Welfare group was hired by Gov. Eric Holcomb after former DCS executive director Mary Beth Bonaventura resigned in December 2017. Notably, the outside consultants highlighted that from 2005 to 2017, Indiana had an 89.4 percent increase in the number of children in foster care, while surrounding states all reported decreases ranging from 9.8 percent to 39.4 percent.

Holdman echoed many when he pointed out that children suffer acute trauma when they are removed from their homes. But, he maintained, DCS is not acting alone. The courts have to approve the order for removal.

The lawmaker wondered what role the courts are playing if Indiana is an outlier state. Consequently, he said he has talked to Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush about the need to train state judges on DCS matters.

Even before the Child Welfare report was released, the Legislature advanced several DCS-related bills. At least 14 measures were introduced and eight were put on the governor’s desk in 2018, and Holdman expects the same for the 2019 session regardless of what the interim study committee recommends.

“If nothing comes out of committee,” he said, “I think there are enough concerned people in the Legislature that we’ll see a number of bills flowing out there.”

Princeton Man Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography

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A 58-year-old Princeton man was arrested earlier this afternoon by Indiana State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Unit for possessing child pornography. At approximately 8:30 this morning a search warrant was executed at Robert Eugene Young’s residence located at 500 West Warnock Street, Apartment A4, Princeton. During the search of his residence, over 300 images and more than 65 videos containing child pornography were discovered. Many of the images were of children under the age of 12. Young was arrested and taken to the Gibson County Jail where he is currently being held without bond.  The investigation is continuing.

Arrested and Charge:

  • Robert Eugene Young, 58, Princeton, IN
  1. Possession of Child Pornography, Level 5 Felony

 Investigating Officer: Detective Matt Jacobs, Indiana State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Unit

EPD ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD REPORT

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx

“IS IT TRUE” SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

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We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?

IS IT TRUE we would like to commend the group of protesters that attended the Trump and Braun political rally held at the Ford Center for being very respectful to those they disagree with? …it was reported that only a couple of people misbehaved during this event?…we give five (5) cheers to the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party, Indivisible Evansville, Tri-State Alliance, the Sierra Club and Midwest Activism and Advocacy for expressing their social and political views in an organized and respectful way?  …we also give another five (5) cheers to those who attended the Trump political rally at the Ford Center for being respectful to the protesters?…we also would like to give extra cheers to Democratic party Chairman, Scott Danks for publicly asking the protesters to be respectful and orderly?  …this was the finest hour for those who believe in the right of free speech and orderly protests?

IS IT TRUE although Steve Hammer lost his bid to become the Republican nominee for Vanderburgh County Commission it turned out that he was really a winner? …that Mr. Hammer and Republican United States Senatorial candidate Mike Braun forged a real friendship during the recent Republican primary election? …we were told that Mr. Braun allotted Mr. Hammer 70 VIP tickets to give away to people who wanted to attend the “Trump and Braun” political rally at the Ford Center?

IS IT TRUE we hear that several loyal Republicans are upset with Mayor Winnecke because he didn’t attend President Trump political rally for Mike Braun at the Ford Center?  …that it was reported by the Courier and Press that Mayor Lloyd Winnecke was on a previously scheduled economic development related trip in Northern Kentucky? … that Mayor Winnecke was traveling with Department of Metropolitan Development Director Kelley Course and Old National Bank CEO Bob Jones?

IS IT TRUE we are also hearing that several Republicans feel that in Mayor Winnecke absent his Deputy Mayor Steve Schaefer should have been allowed to publically welcome President Trump and Mike Braun to the Ford Center and Evansville?  …this is the kind of thing that a Deputy Mayor is expected to do in the absence of a Mayor?

IS IT TRUE during a recent Evansville City Council meeting Deputy Mayor Steve Schaefer made an insulting remark to City Council Finance Chairmen Jonathon Weaver that didn’t sit well with many City Council members?  …right after Mr. Schaefer made his demeaning remark to Mr. Weaver Councilwomen Missy Mosby publically dressed him down?  …we are  hearing that there may be a casual conversation going on about drafting a city ordinance that would revoke the position of “Deputy Mayor” back to “Chief Of Staff?”  …our elected officials should spend more time talking about balancing the budget and less time about unimportant issues?

IS IT TRUE last week Brent Jackson President of United Neighborhoods of Evansville sent us the following post that we feel compelled to re-post?  …Mr. Jackson said: “The Jacobsville Neighborhood Association has never owned or leased an office or building on Main Street. They never promoted the $18 million dollars Main Street project as you are suggesting here. You are talking about the “Jacobsville Join In” association. I understand your confusion. Jacobsville Join In was a group organized under the ECHO Housing Corporation back when Stephanie Tenbarge was the Executive Director. If you remember, she resigned this year after it was discovered that she used ECHO Corp. monies to pay her personal tax bill. You can read more about the Jacobsville Join In group (now defunct) and their projects here: http://jacobsvillejoinin.com/   The Jacobsville Neighborhood Association meets at the Dream Center at 16 W. Morgan Avenue. You can read about them here: http://www.unoevansville.org/jacobsville/

IS IT TRUE that “Jacobsville Join In” association leased a building on North Main Street?  …that they were organized by ECHO Housing Corporation to help promote the new $18 million dollars North Main street renovation project? …to everyone’s surprise “Jacobsville Join In” without warning abruptly closed down their offices located on North Main street?

IS IT TRUE in recent years “Jacobsville Join In”awarded nine projects of more than $6,000 to implement programs and neighborhood block parties in the Jacobsville neighborhood? …$6,5000 has been awarded to nine different projects which help to improve the quality of life and build on neighborhood safety? …the nine projects awards are: Evansville Police Department received a $1,000 towards a soda blaster for graffiti removal, Vanderburgh Humane Society $400 – for its Trap Neuter and Release program in Jacobsville Leadership Evansville received a $1,000.00 to facilitate leadership development for Jacobsville residents and stakeholders, Dream Center received $400 to implement a sensory room for students with disabilities, Hickory Pit Stop & Ellison Family received $250 to create a community beautification and garden project along North Main Street, Daily’s Bakery received $650 to support a baking-business class for Jacobsville youth, Delaware Elementary School received $300 to support 2016-2017 family engagement for students, and Engage received a $1,000 for materials to complete renovation for a neighborhood meeting space?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that local taxpayers should be responsible to pay for costs related to staging President Trump (R) and Mike Braun (R) campaign rally held at the Ford Center?

Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, Channel 44 News, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, Hot Jobs” and “LOCAL SPORTS”.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us City-CountyObserver@live.com

Footnote: City-County Observer Comment Policy.  Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will not be tolerated and shall be removed from our site.

We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated.  The use of offensive language, insults against commenters will not be tolerated and will be removed from our site.

Agenda of Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners

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AGENDA of Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners

September 4, 2018, at 3:00 pm, Room 301

  1. Call to Order
  2. Attendance
  3. Pledge of Allegiance
  4. Action Items 
    1. Torian Insurance Update
    2. Arc of Evansville Presentation 
  5. Department Head Reports
  6. New Business
  7. Old Business
    1. Warrick County Commissioners Resolution No. 2018-16 in Opposition to Current Lloyd Expressway Corridor Management Plan
  8. Consent Items
    1. Contracts, Agreements and Leases
      1. County Commissioners: 
        1. Professional Services Agreements
        2. Termination of Agreement with the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana, Inc. 
      2. County Prosecutor: Adult Protective Services: Professional Services Contract with the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration Division of Aging
      3. County Health Department: 
        1. Business Associates Agreement with Evansville Christian Health Clinic
        2. Contract with the Evansville Christian Life Center for Nurse Practitioner Services
    2. Approval of August 21, 2018 Meeting Minutes
    3. Employment Changes 
    4. County Auditor: 8/20/18-8/24/18 & 8/27/18-8/31/18 Claims Voucher Reports
    5. Superior Court: Letter Requesting CASA Funding 
    6. County Engineering: 
      1. Department Report
      2. Pay Request #44 U.S. 41 Expansion T.I.F. for the sum of $6,846.27
      3. Claims
    7. The Arc of Evansville:
      1. June & July 2018 Monthly Reports
      2. June & July 2018 Meeting Minutes 
    8. Old Courthouse Event Rental Fee Reduction Request for the Preserving Historic Places Conference 
  9. Public Comment
  10. Adjournment

Four Generations of Reitz Graduates Celebrate 100 Years

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Four Generations of Reitz Graduates Celebrate 100 Years

September 3RD, 2018 Amanda PORTER EVANSVILLE, Indiana

Thousands of students have attended Reitz High School but only one family has walked the hallways for generations. Built in 1918, this proud old building has withstood the test of time.

It’s on Evansville’s west side, where F.J. Reitz High School stands proud and today it is celebrating its 100th birthday.

For the Schuass/Schmitt/Horner families life at F.J. Reitz started in the 1920’s before the Great Depression. Shirley Schauss’s parents Gaylord and Marie Cato started it all. The school is a cornerstone in Evansville history, in fact, off in a distance, a USS LST was under construction.

“We’d all go out and watch them build. And then one time we got to see one of them being launched on Reitz Hill,” says Reitz second generation graduate Shirley Schauss.

Shirley’s husband Raymond Schauss also went to F.J. Reitz so building a home on the west side and passing the tradition on to her four children and 10 grandchildren wasn’t just the right thing, it was the only thing for this family.

“The Schauss name is still remembered because my children were in the band all four of them, and my great-grandchildren were in the band,” says Shirley Schauss.

“Some of the teachers had gone to school with my parents so there was that kind of closeness,” says third-generation graduate Mark Schauss.

“Still to this day I love hearing those stories whether it is in the Nut Club about my grandfather or out on the golf course, or up at Reitz Bowl,” says fourth-generation graduate Alex Schmitt.

The letter “R” on Reitz was gifted to the school by Shirley’s fathers’ class–it’s a gift that keeps on giving.

“A lot of pride in that big concrete ‘R’ that is up on the side of the hill with my granddad’s name on it. It gives me a lot of pride too,” says third-generation Lori Schmitt.

“Just being up on a hill, I think always lent it a kind of let’s call it prestige. I call it prestige. It looked out over the river, over the city. I still think that there is no better place to be on a Friday night than at a Reitz High football game,” says Mark Schauss.

‘Panther pride’ is two words that express the family’s feelings for the school where many know their names. It was activities such as the band and many more that made the family standout year after year.

“That was the highlight. I could have stayed in Reitz High School a few more years if they would have let me,” says Shirley Schauss.

Family support was always close to home for these students and their activities.

“I knew they were there and they were watching and supporting me. And that is with my brothers as well. And my sister when she was in the band as well,” says Julie Horner.

So being part of the Reitz tradition created a family tradition and legacy.

“It taught me how to become my better version of myself. I had a lot of teachers that I thought were so strict and I was thinking I want to get out of this class as soon as I can but I stuck with it and it really made me into the person I am today,” says Megan Horner.

For the offspring of the Schauss/Schmitt/Horner families, attending Reitz is a tradition one they say they promise to continue.

“I think this is great that we get to celebrate the 100 years. I’m just sorry that my grandparents were not able to be here to go through this because to us they are our trailblazers,” says Julie Horner.

Family members say if their great-grandfather Gaylord Cato was still alive today he would have been 112.

Commentary: Joe and Mike’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure

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Commentary: Joe and Mike’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure

August 31, 2018

By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS – Mike Braun and Joe Donnelly just played a fun little game of tit for tat.

Braun, the Republican challenger for Indiana’s U.S. Senate seat, kicked things off. His campaign argued that Donnelly, the Democratic incumbent, had violated campaign laws. Donnelly’s staff had posted a short video of him meeting with President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Braun’s campaign said the video could be used for political purposes and therefore was a no-no.

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

A few days passed. Then Donnelly’s camp responded in kind. Braun had recorded a six-figure personal loan from the candidate to his campaign in an improper fashion, the Donnelly team asserted. It was a violation of campaign finance laws and should be punished, they said.

In both cases, denials were issued.

Staffers and surrogates for both candidates took turns calling the other guy names.

A grand time was had by all.

What did any of this have to do with the lives of hard-working Hoosiers, otherwise known as the folks Donnelly and Braun are supposed to serve?

Zip.

Nada.

Nothing.

I have as much tolerance for campaign tomfoolery as anyone. There’s a long American tradition of gamesmanship and jockeying that makes our political contests lively.

But I also believe public servants ought to devote at least some of their time and energy when they run for office to thinking about what the people they’re supposed to serve might need.

What we’re hearing from Braun and Donnelly, though, is a lot of noise about which one of them outsourced more jobs in his business career and which is the most committed to building an expensive, unnecessary and non-productive wall along this nation’s southern border.

Meanwhile, we in Indiana are seeing something not seen before.

Employment figures in the state are robust – we’re close if not at the percentage that economists consider full employment – but the number of Hoosiers who have fallen into poverty also has increased. Just as bad, the bottom of the Indiana middle-class seems to be disappearing.

By some measures, nearly half the people in this state are in or are only one relatively mild misstep or problem away from sliding toward financial disaster and seeing the lives and lifestyles they’ve worked hard to build vanish like smoke in a stiff breeze.

History and conventional wisdom always have dictated that jobs are the antidote to poverty.

But the old rules don’t seem to apply now.

And the old bromides – skill up, get more training, pull yourself up by your bootstraps – seem emptier than ever.

Telling a Hoosier working mother or father who’s already laboring 60 or 70 hours a week at two or three different jobs just to keep the family housed and fed that she or he needs to find still more time to get additional training or schooling is to engage in duplicitous fantasy.

Both Joe Donnelly and Mike Braun like to tout their regular-guy, blue-collar credentials. They want us to believe that they understand the problems facing all those Hoosiers who tiptoe along the edge of the cliff overlooking economic and human disaster.

Or who already have taken the fall – and keep falling.

Maybe Braun and Donnelly do understand that.

The best way to demonstrate that they do is to start talking more about the challenges Hoosiers face and less about the gotcha games they seem determined to play with each other.

I know we’re trapped in an era in which the rules, such as they are, of reality television shows dominate our political discussions.

But reality TV shows are designed to entertain and distract.

What’s happening to too many Hoosiers is real and cannot be ignored.

For those Hoosiers, life isn’t a game.

It’s deadly serious business.

It would be nice if they had a senator in Washington who understands that.

Footnote: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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Medicaid Director Proposes “Gateway To Work” In Place Of Traditional Work Requirement

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Medicaid Director Proposes “Gateway To Work” In Place Of Traditional Work Requirement

September 1, 2018  

By Erica Irish
TheStatehouseFile.com     

INDIANAPOLIS — State health officials are developing a plan to require Medicaid and Healthy Indiana Plan recipients to work, go to school or volunteer in their communities if they want to continue to receive coverage.

An interim committee on public health tasked with studying eligibility for Indiana’s various benefits programs met to review the proposal Thursday at the Statehouse.

Allison Taylor, who serves as the state’s interim Medicaid director in partnership with the Family and Social Services Administration, introduced the committee to a rough outline of her agency’s proposed “Gateway to Work” program.

If enacted, the initiative would require Medicaid and HIP recipients to devote 20 hours per week across eight months each year to certain activities, including traditional employment, education, job skill training or community service. This could take effect as soon as July 2020, Taylor said.

“For the first time in modern history we’ve got more jobs than people to fill them,” Taylor said in her testimony. “We’ve got individuals who could really benefit from that connection between employment and health.”

As of 2015, Indiana law has required all able-bodied recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to work a minimum of 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month.

There are few exceptions to this rule, as explained by Adrienne Shields, director of the FSSA’s Division of Family Resources.

“We currently do have the opportunity to submit a waiver if there was an economic downturn for some reason at the city level, the county level, the regional level or at a statewide level,” Shields said.

Shields went on to explain that prior to the law taking effect in July 2015, her administration served around 50,000 able-bodied SNAP recipients. As of this July, just over 11,000 able-bodied Hoosiers receive SNAP benefits.

For the Gateway to Work program, Taylor estimated that around 70 percent of those covered by HIP would be exempt. Those who, for example, are medically frail, primary caregivers or have been recently incarcerated would not be a part of the initiative.

“We’re going to make sure there is every opportunity for an individual to stay in the program and take advantage of those employment and training connections,” Taylor said, a process that includes fostering healthy partnerships with sponsors through statewide tours by the agency and using more flexible means of reporting, like online and mobile platforms.

However, some parties at the hearing were blunt in voicing their opposition to the proposal.

Fran Quigley, director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic of Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law, was adamant that the program is not different enough from traditional work requirements and claimed it would prevent many low-income citizens from gaining access to healthcare.

“Thousands of Hoosiers are going to be hurt by this,” said Quigley. “Under this planned work requirement, the most vulnerable Hoosiers among us will lose healthcare. This requirement is going to create a red tape barrier between those in need and the medicines that they need, often desperately so.”

FOOTNOTE: Erica Irish is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

cMoe’s 12th Birthday Bash

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Make plans to celebrate cMoe’s 12th birthday on Saturday, September 29 during the Birthday Bash with a full day of fun planned, including appearances from Adzooks Puppets, birthday cake, crafts, and games.
In addition to Birthday Bash activities, cMoe will open a new traveling exhibit from the Omaha Children’s Museum: Dinosaurs!
Activities are included with museum admission: $8 per person/Free for cMoe Member Families
Adzooks Puppets performance and workshops are part of the Spotlight Performance Series made possible, in part, with support from the Indiana Arts Commission, Vanderburgh Community Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
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