INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans who dominate the Indiana Legislature do not plan on taking substantive action during the 2018 session to address the state’s troubled Department of Child Services.
The 10-week legislative session kicked off Wednesday. But GOP Senate leader David Long says he doesn’t want to hold public hearings examining the widely publicized problems. House Speaker Brian Bosma made a similar call.
The agency’s problems erupted publicly when former director Mary Beth Bonaventura resigned last month. She accused Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb of making management changes and service cuts that “all but ensure children will die.”
Holcomb’s administration is working with a nonprofit group to conduct a review of the agency.
Democrats are calling for public hearings, but Republican leaders want to wait for the group to conclude its work sometime in the spring.
