Abuse cases could lead to DCS overhaul

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Russell foster family abuse case from earlier in the week has drawn some major questions about child abuse and what can be done to prevent it in our own backyard. In the next legislative session lawmakers plan to overhaul the Department of Child Services.

You heard the horrific details of two foster parents who police say were abusing their foster kids at this residence in Terre Haute.
   
Some Indiana lawmakers say that over the past two years cases like this have become more prevalent.

"There was no follow up to look into those cases and tragically some kids were abused. Some kids even died as a result of that,” Clyde Kersey, Indiana House Representative said.
    
In November, a legislative study committee determined that Indiana's Department of Child Services needed an overhaul.
    
We sat down with Representative Clyde Kersey to find out what went wrong.

He explained that budget cuts re-structured an important part of DCS, their abuse hotline call centers.

"They (the call centers) went to a central location in Indianapolis. So we lost the local control of that,” he said.
    
The study committee found that without local control of the call centers, follow ups for abuse cases were less than acceptable. That's where the 2013 General assembly comes in to play.

"There’s going to be a lot of legislation coming down to change that back from a central location back to a local one,” Kersey said.
    
Lawmakers who are hoping they can stop cases like the Russell one before they turn fatal.