State To Shut Down Child Abuse Agency

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana plans to shut down an agency that has worked directly with case workers on child abuse cases for the last 11 years.

The work that Youth Emergency Services and its employees did in Marion County will shift to the case workers themselves, 6News' Rick Hightower reported.

YES workers were on the front lines of child abuse cases, looking for immediate placement for children, providing transportation and handling criminal background checks on those awarded temporary custody of children who had been taken from their homes.

The Department of Child Services said it is scrapping the agency because there is no need for it.

"We have the case loads down," said James Payne, DCS director. "Ninety-one other counties are doing the full work that is traditionally done by case managers, not just in Indiana, but around the country."

Forty YES workers, who often bring children directly to their offices after they are removed from homes, will lose their jobs at the end of the year.

"Annually, (we serve) about 4,000 kids -- half under the age of 6 -- and we work in unison with Child Protective Services and law enforcement," said Courtney Kasinger, YES spokeswoman.

DCS contends that children will not be placed in jeopardy by the move to end YES because the work can be handled by case workers.

"This shouldn't affect in any way the safety or support of children," Payne said.

Payne said DCS will save about $1 million by cutting YES, but added that the decision did not stem from economics.

A YES worker who didn't want to be identified told 6News that case workers will not be able to handle the workload.