DCS sees more cases, less money

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The bad economy is taking its toll on more than jobs and education. It's tearing parents and their children apart and restricting services that help those children stay safe.

The Department of Child Services is overloaded with cases. In the last 3 months alone, 618 children were evaluated. That's just out of 5 counties the department serves.

Some turn into false cases, but around half of those cases are drug-related.

Officer Director for Clay County Hiedi Wheeler more parents are turning towards meth because of the bad economy. Parents not finding jobs and relapsing into addiction.

"We have a lot of repeat families come in and how do we handle those situations with those relapses and it's costing the Department of Child Service quite a bit financially to serve those families," Wheeler said.

It's a financial fight the DCS is already battling.The economy forced the department to cut millions of dollars. During this same time, the DCS elimnated 4 jobs from the Terre Haute office as part of a centralize financial restructuring.