A Department of Child Services case manager say she’s handling way too many cases, putting children’s lives at risk, because the agency won’t hire enough people.
The ACLU is taking the state to court over the issue.
Indiana law mandates that DCS must have enough caseworkers so that one employee doesn’t supervise more than 17 children at a time.
Case manager Mary Price says her caseload is 43 children — too many, she says, to effectively handle.
On behalf of Price and other DCS workers, the ACLU of Indiana is suing the state, seeking to force DCS to hire more case managers.
ACLU legal director Ken Falk says he understands that DCS alone can’t fix the problem.
“I am not sure if DCS has the ability to achieve these standards without more support from the legislature; I suspect the legislature must step in,” Falk says. “But it’s the legislature’s standard and the state of Indiana is on the line here to protect children.”
The General Assembly, at DCS’ request, appropriated $7.5 million dollars a year in the new state budget to hire 100 more case managers and 17 supervisors.
Falk says that’s not enough to get the job done.
In a statement, DCS says it cannot comment on pending litigation.
