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COA reverses CHINS adjudications

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Olivia

Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

Two Marion County children will no longer be considered children in need of services after the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed their CHINS adjudication, finding insufficient evidence to support the finding that their North Carolina-based father could not care for them.

Two of J.R.’s five children, A.R. and H.R., were adjudicated as CHINS in Indiana after being similarly adjudicated in North Carolina in 2014. All five children were removed from their parents’ North Carolina home in September 2014 after findings of unstable housing, substance abuse and domestic violence.

Two years later, a North Carolina judge restored custody of the children to their mother and granted J.R., the father, supervised visitation. Then in April 2017, the mother moved to Indiana with A.R. and H.R., the two children at issue in the instant appeal, In the Matter of A.R. and H.R., Children in Need of Services, J.R., Father v. Indiana Department of Child Services, 18A-JC-475.

The next month, the Indiana Department of Child Services began an investigation into reports of housing instability and allegations that the mother, M.R., did not return from bars in the evenings, causing the children to miss school. DCS also investigated reports of inappropriate sexual and drug conduct in the home and in front of the children.

DCS eventually filed a CHINS petition for A.R. and H.R., making allegations against M.R. and claiming J.R. had not “successfully demonstrated an ability and willingness to appropriately parent the children… .” But J.R. was present during the subsequent hearings, and a North Carolina social worker said there were no concerns about placing A.R. and H.R. in his care.

Various social workers and family case managers subsequently testified that J.R.’s home was appropriate for the children and that placing them in his care was in their best interests, noting A.R. and H.R. were always very excited for visitation with their father. But J.R. was unexpectedly arrested during the proceedings after the juvenile court discovered open warrants from other courts, raising some concern about his potentially becoming an absentee parent.

DCS then filed a request for the North Carolina and Indiana judges to communicate pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody and Jurisdiction Act, claiming temporary emergency jurisdiction was provided under Section 204, but the communication never took place. J.R. later became available to testify and told the court he was attending drug treatment and fatherhood classes.

The juvenile court ultimately adjudicated A.R. and H.R. as CHINS, finding J.R. had failed to complete his domestic violence and drug abuse programs in a timely manner and that neither parent was “stable, sober and able to provide a healthy environment.” The Court of Appeals reversed that adjudication Friday, though it did reject one of J.R.’s appellate arguments.

That argument was that Indiana did not have jurisdiction to enter a CHINS adjudication or disposition under the UCCJA. But noting there were no CHINS cases related to A.R. and H.R. open in North Carolina at the time of the CHINS proceeding, the appellate panel found the Hoosier court had jurisdiction to oversee the CHINS proceedings.

However, the judges did agree with J.R. that the CHINS finding was not supported by sufficient evidence and, thus, reversed on those grounds.

“Although Father has some history of making poor choices involving substance abuse and domestic violence with Mother, the record reflects that he ‘has made every effort to remedy the situation and become a suitable caregiver(,)’ and at the time of the fact-finding hearings, Father was actively participating in all services, his home was approved by NCDSS, and there were no specific concerns for his ability to care for the children,” Judge James Kirsch wrote. “Accordingly, we reverse the juvenile court’s CHINS determination.”

LABOR DAY

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UE Offers Review Course for Fundamentals of Engineering Exam 

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The University of Evansville College of Engineering and Computer Science has announced dates for the annual review and preparation course for those planning to take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.

All classes will be held Thursday evenings beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Koch Center for Engineering and Science on the UE campus. Classes are divided into relevance per discipline. Fees are adjusted accordingly.

  • Candidates for civil engineering will attend from September 27-January 24.  
  • Candidates for mechanical engineering and other disciplines will attend from September 27-November 15.  
  • Electrical and computer engineering candidates will attend October 25-November 15. 

Registration forms and payment must be returned by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 26. Contact Kimberly Higgins at kh209@evansville.edu or at 812-488-2651 for more information on registration. Early registration is encouraged as space is limited.  

High School Students Gaining Skills, Earning Credentials on Campus At Tell City Career & Technology Center

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Ivy Tech Tell City Career & Technology Center

1034 31st St., Tell City

Wednesday, Sept. 5; 8-9:30 a.m

Students from Tell City High School, Perry Central High School and Heritage Hills High School are participating in Ivy Spark, a program with the goal of educating high school juniors and seniors in Industrial Technology skills, culminating by high school graduation with an earned technical certificate and MSSC certification – workplace manufacturing skills and credentials needed in the Tell City area. This semester seniors are enrolled in Basic Electricity and Fluid Power Dynamics. In subsequent semesters they will learn about Motors, Motor Controls and Hydraulics. Because these students began as seniors, they will take courses this summer to earn their technical certificate. Future classes starting as juniors will complete by high school graduation. The current classes are taught by retired high school industrial arts educator Gary Hannan. Interviews will be available with program leaders, Hannon, and students.

 

Contacts at the event:  Kyla Krieg, Director of Outreach & Engagement/Interim Workforce Development Consultant, Gary Hannon, adjunct professor; Students Zane Shane, Blake Bryant, from Heritage Hills; Marcus Fortwendel, Tell City

 

AG Curtis Hill writes Labor Day op-ed on value of work

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Attorney General Curtis Hill wrote an op-ed this week extolling the value of work both to society at large and as a fulfillment of “the individual worker’s inborn desire to provide a useful product or service to his or her fellow humans.”

In the op-ed, Attorney General Hill also offers support for work requirements as components of public-assistance programs.

“Putting reasonable demands on able-bodied people provides them benefits both tangible and intangible,” Attorney General Hill writes. “By either working, going to school or participating in training programs while receiving assistance, welfare recipients become more likely to develop the skills and work ethic necessary to obtain more permanent jobs and ultimately transition full-fledged into the workforce.”

The op-ed – attached below – is available to any outlet interested in publishing it. As a courtesy, please email Deputy Communications Director Bill McCleery at bill.mccleery@atg.in.gov if you intend to publish this piece. Thank you.

LABOR DAY IS NO CELEBRATION FOR STRUGGLING AMERICANS

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by Joe Guzzardi

Trying to figure out how many employment-based visas the State Department issues is a dizzying task.

The major categories include the H, temporary workers; the TN, NAFTA professionals; the P, athletes, artists and entertainers; the L, intercompany transfer; the O, extraordinary ability, and on and on. In most cases, spouses and minor children can enter with the primary visa holder, and most spouses are work authorized.

State Department statistics show that the total number of temporary employment-based visas issued generally has increased since fiscal year 2000. A dip followed the 2008 Lehman Brothers failure and related financial shocks, but there’s been a steep trend up since. About 800,000 work-related visas are issued annually.

Add to the 800,000 the more than one million legal, permanent, employment-authorized immigrants that arrive every year, and the result is a constantly expanding, foreign national workforce whose presence makes it more challenging for American citizens to find good jobs or keep the ones they have. In 2016, 1.5 million foreign-born came to the U.S., up from 2015’s 1.38 million.

Although the annual totals are staggering, the challenge comes not so much in a single year, but in immigration’s autopilot nature, and the near impossibility to move Congress from its donor-dependent, expansionist mindset to put American workers and their families first. Especially vulnerable are lower-skilled, underemployed Americans with only a high school education.

Since 1965, Congress has quadrupled immigration. Yet, just before Congress recessed, House Republicans Dan Newhouse of Washington and Andy Harris of Maryland introduced amendments that would expand the numbers of H-2A temporary agricultural visas and H-2–non-ag visas used in landscaping and the hospitality industry.

Despite employers’ insistence that they’re fully dependent on foreign labor and that their businesses will fail without imported workers, another less savory reason motivates many to use visa workers – cheap labor.

Three Democrat-led commissions warned against allowing more H visa workers who could be exploited. First, Congress’ 1979 Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy, chaired by University of Notre Dame president Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, concluded after an 18-month review that, among other negatives, more H visas would establish “a second class of aliens… in our country who are not fully protected by the law and its entitlements and who could not participate effectively in mainstream institutions.” Rev. Hesburgh’s study also correctly predicted that temporary visa increases would “stimulate more migratory pressures… .”

Second, President Jimmy Carter’s 1979 National Commission on Manpower Policyadvised that it was “strongly against” H visa expansion.

Third, Texas Democrat and U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan, who studied immigration policy for six years under President Bill Clinton and chaired the 1990 Commission on Immigration Reform, found that “guest worker programs depress wages, especially for unskilled American workers, including recent immigrants who may have originally entered to perform needed labor but who can be displaced by newly entering guest workers.” Further, the commission found the programs don’t slow illegal immigration. In summary, Rep. Jordan stated unequivocally that guest worker programs are “a grievous mistake.”

Bottom line: looser labor markets every year, one million or more legal, employed-authorized immigrants plus Congress’ decades-long, steadfast refusal to take expert advice to cut employment visas make for an unhappy Labor Day for struggling Americans.

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 Vanderburgh County Redevelopment Commission Meeting

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The Vanderburgh County Redevelopment Commission will hold a meeting on Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 307 of the Civic Center Complex at 1 N.W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Evansville, Indiana.

ADOPT A PET

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Marge is a female medium-haired orange tabby. She’s about 2 years old. She was surrendered as the mom of the “Simpsons” kittens, who are all adopted already. Now she’s ready for a home of her own! Her adoption fee is $40 and includes her spay, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for adoption details!

Heritage Federal Announces New VP of Lending

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Richard Starley has joined the Credit Union as the new Vice President of Lending.  Mr. Starley has over 20 years of executive level consumer, mortgage, and commercial lending experience in the credit union and banking industry.  Richard attended the University of Utah, is a graduate of the Western CUNA Management School in Claremont, California, and is a graduate of the Northwest Business Lending School in Seattle, Washington.

David Milligan, CIA, CUERME, President and CEO of Heritage Federal Credit Union said, “I am very pleased to announce Richard as our Vice President of Lending.  Richard’s more than 20 years of previous lending experience will bring valuable insight and experience to our Lending department which will benefit our employees and our more than 59,000 member-owners.”

AG Curtis Hill announces drug takeback effort poised to surpass 3,000-pound mark in Lebanon

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Attorney General Curtis Hill announced today that his drug takeback initiative has helped collect 2,991 pounds of unused and unwanted medication thus far in 2018.

The initiative is likely to cross the 3,000-pound mark at the next takeback event — the Opioid Overdose Awareness Event, a collaboration with the Lebanon-based Youth Family Health Network. This event is planned for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.

So far, the largest amount collected at a single event in 2018 occurred on July 17 in Johnson County, where approximately 1,200 pounds of drugs were collected for proper disposal.

Keeping old medication puts families at risk, which is why it’s important to dispose of unused or leftover medication. Drug takeback events help Hoosiers properly dispose of prescriptions – preventing accidental poisoning, overdose, illegal use, identity theft and contamination of water resources.

“Abuse of prescription medicine is a big part of our overall drug crisis,” Attorney General Hill said. “Across the United States, more than 6 million people abuse controlled prescription drugs. Here in Indiana, nearly 1 in 20 Hoosiers report having used opioid pain relievers for non-medical uses, and a majority of abused medication comes from family and friends of users. We’re doing good work whenever we get these drugs out of people’s medicine cabinets and properly discarded.”

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