At the end of the third week of the Indiana General Assembly, House Speaker Brian Bosma says they may have to make some adjustments to the Governor’s funding request for the Department of Child Services if the agency’s trend of children under its care continues downward.
Governor EricHolcomb has asked lawmakers for nearly $300 million in additional funding in this year’s budget to help the DCS meet its caseloads, however, a review of the agency’s monthly reports shows a nearly 2,000 caseload drop between June and December of 2018. DCS went from 21,588 children in some sort of care to 19,666. And the number of children in residential care, the most expensive, went from 862 to 774 in the same period.
Bosma says while the numbers are encouraging, he will wait until April before making a final judgment call.
You can hear the Speaker in the Leon-Tailored Audio above, as well as Andy Downs of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Ft. Wayne.
They also discussed teacher pay and the Governor’s State of the State address.
