Rep. Terry Goodin reacts to governor’s decision to enhance child protection statewide

INDIANAPOLIS – Rep. Terry Goodin (D-Austin) and the House and Senate Democratic caucuses have been urging Gov. Pence and their Republican colleagues in the Indiana General Assembly, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, to dedicate more money in the state biennial budget for additional caseworkers and supervisors for the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS). Following a study by Deloitte Consulting, the governor has now agreed to request an additional $15 million in funding over two years ($7.5 M each year), which would enable DCS to hire 100 more caseworkers and 17 additional supervisors. House Bill 1001, the biennial budget bill, is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Goodin issued the statement below earlier today in response to this news:

“I am excited the governor has heeded my call to hire more caseworkers for the Department of Child Services. It is long overdue.

“I just hate it that the governor spent a half a million dollars doing a study over the last year trying to figure this out when all along the folks in the Legislature have been telling him it needed to be done.”