I lead DCS. No one takes tragedy more personally than our staff.

It is a sad reality that not all parents cultivate a safe and loving environment for their children to live and grow. Those who work in child welfare face this reality daily. Yet this is the reason the Department of Child Services exists. We lead the state’s response to allegations of child abuse or neglect. We answer the call when struggling children and families need help. We do all that we can to keep families intact and, if it is not safe for a child to remain in their home, we answer that call, too.

Recent stories have highlighted the complex circumstances and sometimes heartbreaking events that can occur in child welfare. There are also hundreds of wonderful outcomes each day that you will never read about. Because our work deals with the intimate details of a child’s life, confidentiality requirements make it difficult for us to share the success stories and the nuances of challenging cases, too.

DCS staff work endlessly serving Hoosier children and their families in every county. Many of our staff have dedicated their lives to this work for more than 20 years; some experienced the child welfare system as children and were called to make a difference as adults. Most importantly, we are also members of the communities we serve. We are parents. We are your neighbors. We are Hoosiers, just like you.

This is often heavy work. When we knock on the door, it usually is at a family’s darkest time. We generally are not welcome because of fear or embarrassment. Individuals may provide conflicting or untruthful information. Through it all, our purpose is to do what is in the best interests of the children we serve.

Every case involves multiple parties, such as DCS, prosecutors, judges, law enforcement and biological and foster parents. DCS’ role is to peel back the layers and thoroughly investigate while respecting the balance between parents’ rights and the state’s interest in keeping children safe. We look at what is failing the child and consider what tools should be put into place to make things better. Importantly, DCS must make its recommendations to the court and obtain its approval.

When tragedy strikes, nobody takes it more personally than the DCS staff who invest so much into the wellbeing and success of that child. We follow a national protocol that involves a thorough review of every critical incident to learn what systems failed and what improvements should be made.

DCS’ vision is that children will live in safe, healthy and supportive families and communities. We have made tremendous progress in recent years. Children are finding permanent homes faster. We are recruiting more family case managers and providing financial support to unlicensed kinship caregivers such as grandparents to better equip them to take in and care for a family member. We also infused millions more dollars into the Healthy Families Indiana prevention program that proactively helps reduce the number of families entering the child welfare system. Each of these efforts plays a vital role in keeping children safe.

Children are our greatest asset and our brightest future, and as a state, we must work together to protect them. I am proud of the work DCS does to help ensure every Hoosier child has a safe place to call home. 

Eric Miller is the director of the Indiana Department of Child Services.