Indiana Department of Child Services, Due Process, and the Data Game

Stories from the Inside

God knows that I tried
Seeing the bright side
But I'm not blind anymore
(I'm wide awake)

~Wide Awake, Katy Perry (suggested soundtrack)

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State: Indiana

Presiding Agency: Indiana Department of Child Services

Agency Mission: “The Indiana Department of Child Services leads the state’s response to allegations of child abuse and neglect and facilitates child support payments. We consider the needs and values of all we serve in our efforts to protect children while keeping families together whenever possible.”

Dead Babies Rate: -18 since Covid-19 (incomplete data from 2020 only)

Director Terry Stigdon

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One of my eternal frustrations with Indiana Department of Child Services was this ethos they had where they would just run roughshod over people. It permeated the whole agency. This treatment was especially true of poor people. I was once required to include in a court report as evidence of her neglect that the mother of a newborn had gotten power into her apartment via a proper extension cord for the correct load. That wasn’t neglect! That was invention and resilience. She lost her children forever over it. In addition to just callous treatment, I saw so many blatant violations of Due Process it frightened me. Then I went to law school. Ha!