History of DCS
The Indiana Department of Child Services was established in January 2005 by executive order of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who sought to create a child welfare agency that could better serve and protect the children and families of Indiana. The agency was charged with overseeing child welfare and child-support enforcement, duties previously performed by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
To help DCS begin carrying out its new mission, the Indiana legislature provided the agency the staff resources to cut caseloads to 12 new cases or 17 ongoing cases per worker, or under half of their previous average. Over the next seven years, Indiana saw declines in child fatalities among children with prior DCS involvement, increases in adoption of children in state care and increases in monthly visits by family case managers.
In 2018, DCS underwent a thorough assessment by the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group. Reforms implemented after CWG’s recommendations include an improved workplace culture and increased pay for employees.
Since 2018, DCS has focused on providing the right families with the right services at the right time. The Family First Prevention Services Act passed in 2018, paving the way for the launch of Family Preservation Services in June 2020.
In 2022, DCS received approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its Title IV-E Prevention Program Five-Year Plan, allowing the state to use federal funding for the first time to deliver prevention services.
Since May 2023, DCS has improved the time to permanency for children exiting foster care, implemented a $300 monthly stipend for each child in the care of an unlicensed kinship caregiver, and increased the base amount for adoption subsidies to 100 percent of the amount a child was entitled to in foster care, eliminating the needs for future adoption subsidy negotiations.
Taking steps to better support staff, DCS also implemented an on-call bonus program for family case managers and their supervisors and launched Worker2Worker Indiana to provide peer support and training for staff members.
The agency continues to work diligently to prioritize keeping children safe and in the right settings. Since its high point in 2017, DCS has seen a 59% decrease in the number of children placed in residential care and a 50% decrease in the number of children placed in non-relative foster homes.
History of DCS Directors:
- James W. Payne, appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels, January 2005-September 2012
- John Ryan, interim director, appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels, September 2012-January 2013
- Mary Beth Bonaventura, appointed by Gov. Mike Pence, January 2013-December 2017
- Terry Stigdon, appointed by Gov. Eric J. Holcomb, January 2018-May 2023
- Eric Miller, appointed by Gov. Eric J. Holcomb, May 2023-January 2025
- Adam J. Krupp, appointed by Gov. Mike Braun, January 2025-present