INDIANAPOLIS— Governor Eric Holcomb is responding to concerns about a perceived lack of transparency at the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Governor Eric Holcomb appointed Eric Miller to DCS director.
Miller took over in May 2023 following the resignation of Terry Stigdon and earns a salary of $195,000/year.
Prior to that, Miller served as DCS Chief of Staff for nearly 6 years.
Miller has declined WRTV Investigates repeated requests to speak on camera about the status of the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Former DCS director Terry Stigdon spoke with the media just days after Governor Holcomb appointed her.
Before that, DCS director Mary Beth Bonaventura sat down with WRTV in 2014 after months on the job.
Foster parents and lawmakers want to hear from Eric Miller on his plans to address issues like transparency, staff turnover, and the amount of time children spend in the child welfare system.
DCS records show 1,700 children in our state have been in foster care for more than three years.
WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney met up with Governor Holcomb at an event November 2.
- WRTV Investigates: You’ve always vowed transparency while in office, yet the DCS director you appointed has not done any media interviews or any news conferences. Yet previous directors did that. Can you speak to that? Because the public would like to hear from him as to the direction this agency is headed.
- Holcomb: Well, we’ve made a lot of progress at the Department of Child Services over the years. I’m pleased with the progress. Our work will never be done. I’ll never be satisfied with where we are today. As society changes so must we to keep up. As to if you want to speak to the head of the DCS, then he can speak for himself.
- WRTV Investigates: Are you satisfied overall with the level of transparency and where things stand now?
- Holcomb: Yes, but I'm always willing to improve. We want to turn the cards face up as you allude to and make sure the public knows everything their elected officials are doing. We’ll continue to operate that way. We are proud of our record.
A new DCS staffing and caseload report shows DCS is short 24 caseworkers across the state, which is an improvement from last year’s report that showed DCS needed more than 200 caseworkers.
WRTV Investigates would like to speak with Director Miller about his hiring, recruiting and retention efforts at DCS.
While Miller won’t meet with us, Miller was ordered to appear in court in September as DCS faced questions about transparency.
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The civil case stems from the death of Judah Morgan, 4, who was murdered by his biological father after DCS closed Judah’s file.
Judah’s foster mother, Jenna Hullett, criticized DCS for how it handled Judah’s case and for not producing records in the civil lawsuit.
Miller denied DCS destroyed any records in Judah Morgan’s case.
- Hullett’s attorney: That's the most important part of your job is to keep children safe, correct?
- Miller: There are many important parts of my job.
- Hullett’s attorney: You think there's anything more important than keeping children safe in the state of Indiana?
- Miller: Our number one priority is the safety of children.
Miller did not stop to speak with WRTV or other media outlets after his court appearance on September 25.
The most recent numbers available show 60 children died from abuse and neglect in Indiana in 2021.
