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Thursday, December 16, 2004
Indiana Government - Mixed review for new child services agency and agency head
An editorial in the Fort Wayne Jounral Gazette today opines:
Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels’ decision to split up the giant Family and Social Service Administration and create a separate agency responsible for the welfare of children is a sound move that has much promise to increase the state’s responsiveness and responsibility. His choice of the new children’s agency director, however, raises questions and will demand that Daniels closely monitor the executive’s performance. * * *The governor-elect has displayed solid judgment in a number of areas since defeating incumbent Joe Kernan, but his appointment of a Marion County juvenile court judge to head the agency is already raising eyebrows. The skills important for any judge, who has nearly unfettered power and whose word is literally law, aren’t necessarily the same as an administrator of a large bureaucracy, where carrots are more important than sticks in motivating employees. And, as the Indianapolis Star reported Wednesday, “James W. Payne is a maverick judge who has ruled Marion County’s juvenile justice system with an iron fist for 20 years.” * * *
Hoosiers have every reason to be pleased about Daniels’ FSSA restructuring plans even as they are wary of his choice of the new children’s agency leader.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 16, 2004 07:30 AM
Posted to Indiana Government