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Indiana Department of Child Services undergoes 'transformational' reorganization

A sign on an Indiana government building in downtown Indianapolis reads In Indiana. The word In is within a red arrow pointing at the word Indiana. The cutout in the letter D in Indiana is shaped like the outline of the state.
Abigail Ruhman
/
IPB News
The Indiana Department of Child Services' Project Awaken is meant to devote more resources to frontline services.

The Indiana Department of Child Services is undergoing what it calls a “transformational” reorganization of its agency.

Up to 40 middle and upper management positions could be eliminated as the agency said it aims to devote more resources to frontline services.

DCS previously had 18 regions, each with a bureaucratic structure. Project Awaken, as the agency has dubbed its redesign, will condense those down to five regions.

Multiple layers of middle and upper management will also be eliminated. The agency said that will allow regional directors and child welfare attorneys to have more direct access to both executive leadership and frontline family case managers.

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At least some management staff being eliminated are being offered reassignment to lower-level positions.

DCS said the reorganization will redirect $4 million to 8 million dollars to frontline services.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.