INDIANAPOLIS — Abused and neglected children can spend years lingering in our state’s child welfare system.
An Indiana House Judiciary Committee heard more than two hours of testimony on how to address the problem.
Rep. Julie McGuire filed House Bill 1605, a massive bill that aims to reduce the amount of time children linger in foster care by creating stricter timelines for biological parents who aren’t complying with court orders.
The legislation would allow foster parents to file for Termination of Parental Rights (TPR), an action the Indiana Department of Child Services can take.
McGuire said Indiana ranks 9th worst in the country when it comes to adoptions from foster care, many taking more than four years to complete.
Charlie Rice, an attorney representing foster parents like Jenna Hullett, testified in support of the bill.
“If DCS isn’t going to do their jobs, at least get them out of the way and let someone else come in and take the action necessary or at least have a voice in the hearing to say what are we doing?” asked Rice. “We can’t have situations where kids are kept in limbo.”
Jenna Hullett was the foster mother of Judah Morgan.
Morgan, 4, was brutally beaten, tortured and murdered on October 11, 2021 by his biological father Alan Morgan at the family home in LaPorte County.
Judah lived with his foster parents for four years before Hullet said Judah was forced to return to his birth parents.
Hullett testified in support of House Bill 1605, saying it could have saved Judah’s life by allowing her to intervene in the case.
“I could have had a right to be a party to this case,” said Hullett. “Maybe I could have saved him. DCS treated me poorly and lied to me. When I tried to voice my concerns to the judge I was hushed, cut off, and told that was enough.”
Current Indiana Department of Child Services data shows the average time to permanency is 543 days or 1.5 years.
Adoptions take the longest.
The average time to adoption is 1,045 days, or nearly three years.
PREVIOUS | Foster children sue DCS alleging many are ‘languishing in state custody’
Children typically get into the system because their parents are accused of abusing or neglecting them, and they often need help with drug addiction or mental health issues.
Getting kids out of the system and into a permanent home can mean:
- Reunification with the birth/biological parents
- Legal guardianship
- Adoption
No one from the Indiana Department of Child Services testified at the hearing Monday morning.
WRTV Investigates reached out to the agency to find out why and what their stance is on HB1605.
Multiple people testified against HB1605, including Michael Moore from the Indiana Public Defender Council and Courtney Allen, an attorney in Morgan County.
“The bill is not the answer,” said Allen. “Adding another party to file a termination is unnecessary and quite honestly concerning when that party may not necessarily have reunification in mind. If we have concerns that DCS is not acting in the best interest of a child, if DCS isn’t going to do their jobs, then we need to address the entire DCS system as a whole.”
Opponents to the legislation raised concerns about protecting the rights of biological parents as well as the potential impact to federal funding for DCS.
The House Judiciary Committee did not vote on the bill Monday morning.
Lawmakers said they wanted to work on updating the bill to address concerns raised about protecting the rights of birth parents.
Throughout the 2022 calendar year, DCS investigated 308 child deaths. Of those deaths, 61 were found to be a result of abuse or neglect.
In Calendar Year 2023, the Indiana Department of Child Services investigated 261 child deaths.
56 (21 percent) of those deaths were determined to be a direct result of caregiver maltreatment, according to the 2023 Child Abuse and Neglect Fatality Report.
20 deaths were due to abuse, and 36 fatalities were due to neglect, according to the report.
