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Sunday, August 16, 2009
Ind. Decisions - Still more on "Apparently there are all sorts of surprises in the special session budget"
Updating this ILB entry from Aug. 13th, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette today has a feature on Janes Payne. Some quotes:
James Payne, a former juvenile court judge in Marion County, has been director of the Indiana Department of Child Services since 2005. He spoke with editorial writer Karen Francisco about the department’s efforts in its first years as a state agency. * * *
3 Judge Peter Nemeth from St. Joseph County recently complained about a provision in the budget bill that gives you sole authority to approve out-of-state placements. In your former role as a judge, would you have supported such a change?When we talk about out of state, there are actually two counties that account for over 85 percent of the out-of-state placements. … Many of our out-of-state placements are not across the border, as many thought they would be. Many of them are placements in Minnesota, in Iowa, in Nevada, Utah and Arizona, where it virtually precludes communication and working with the family.
On balance, this was the right thing to do. I understand while some would criticize it, I would hope that if I were still a judge I would recognize that there are some things that I may be inclined to do that others have an opinion of and – can we talk about these – and try to resolve them so that only those kids who need to be a great distance away and only these kids who have special treatment needs that another state or another facility outside of our state can provide that we don’t.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 16, 2009 09:51 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Decisions | Indiana Government