Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Limiting disruptions in the the classroom

    By State Sen. Zach Wahls, Coralville (Senate District 37)

    The Senate has approved SF 2360, which is a step toward fixing what has become an overwhelming concern for our schools.

    Classroom safety and disruptive classroom behavior received a lot of attention during the interim. There has been a lot of media attention on this topic, including the use of classroom measures like “seclusion rooms” and “classroom clears.” Fundamentally, issues of classroom safety are about resources and staffing levels—classrooms are much more difficult to manage as class sizes grow and we have fewer teachers per student.

    As I worked on this bill in the Education Committee, I asked all of the school districts in my Senate district to weigh in with their feedback. I am grateful they were able to provide input as the Senate considered this proposal.

    Responding to those concerns, the Iowa Senate adopted SF 2360, which will give teachers and schools more tools for addressing disruptive student behavior. This legislation is not perfect, but because of good Democratic work in the Education Committee, on which I serve, it has improved significantly from where it started.

    The legislation does the following:

    • Sets up a competitive grant program that will help schools create therapeutic classrooms to provide intensive help for students who need it. Therapeutic classrooms are designed to be short-term breaks for students to “reset” and develop new coping strategies before returning to their regular classroom. Schools may collaborate or partner with local nonprofits and mental health agencies to establish a regional therapeutic classroom.
    • Provides funding to train educators on how to manage classroom disruptions and address student behavior. 
    • Increases job and whistleblower protections for teachers who report violence and personal attacks to school administrators and the police.

    New information and data will be collected from schools so that we can see how often incidents of disruption and classroom clears occur. This will help us continue to make improvements that ensure safe and productive learning environments for all Iowa students.   

    I still have significant concerns about this legislation, especially how little funding was appropriate to deal with what is rightly recognized as a significant statewide challenge. I supported doubling the funding for the first year of implementation. Republicans in the Senate voted against this proposal even though the bill’s manager agreed that more funding was need. That doesn’t make sense.

    I supported this bill, but I’m disappointed in the decisions the majority party continues to make with the resources people give us to improve this state. We must make sure that this first step is only the beginning and not the end.

  • Child protections cannot wait

    If we want to protect Iowa kids from abuse, neglect and potential death, it’s time to provide adequate funding for the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS). That is the #1 takeaway from a heartbreaking report released by the State Ombudsman this week.

    It’s clear many mistakes were made in how DHS handled child-abuse reports about Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines teen who died in October 2016 following years of abuse and neglect.

    In “A Tragedy of Errors: An Investigation of the Death of Natalie Finn,” the Ombudsman makes several recommendations—some of which DHS has already implemented—including:

    • Thoroughly review DHS’s child-abuse intake operations.
    • Keep records of child-abuse reports and assessments for longer periods so that patterns can be identified.
    • Require intake workers to read their notes back to callers reporting abuse over the phone to ensure accuracy.
    • Train field workers on legal tools available to them when faced with resistance from parents.
    • Provide resources to help child-abuse workers cope with their job-related stresses.

    Increasing funding is a must if we’re going to give these workers the support, resources and numbers they need in the critical task of protecting our most vulnerable children. The number of child-abuse intake workers at DHS has not increased since 2011, but reports of abuse have.

    The death of Natalie and other children in our foster system has prompted many Iowans to be more vigilant. According to the Ombudsman’s report, child-abuse call volumes and accepted intakes have increased significantly. Already over-taxed field workers saw their caseloads go up 36 percent between 2016 and 2018, and the centralized child-abuse intake unit is strained.

    As we begin hammering out the state budget, we will be fighting for these workers and kids. Ensuring protections for vulnerable Iowans will always be a top priority.

  • Report investigates death of Natalie Finn

    Another tragedy like the death of teenager Natalie Finn could happen unless Iowa’s child-protection workers are given the resources and support they need, the State Ombudsman announced today in a report on how the Iowa Department of Human Services handled child-abuse reports.

    The 16-year-old girl was emaciated when emergency responders were called to her adoptive family’s West Des Moines home in October 2016. She died a few hours later at a local hospital.

    Let’s ensure no child suffers like this again!

    Read the news release from the Ombudsman’s Office.

    Read the Ombudsman’s report, “A Tragedy of Errors: An Investigation of the Death of Natalie Finn“

  • Fix Iowa’s “worst in the nation” child sex abuse laws

    Professor Marci Hamilton, CEO of CHILD USA, spoke at the Iowa Statehouse on January 27, 2020.  In her presentation, she described why Iowa ranks among the worst states in the nation when it comes to laws that protect children from child abuse.  

    She described how Iowa’s comparatively very narrow statute of limitations for criminal and civil child sexual abuse protects the criminals rather than the victims.  The end result is that Iowa child sexual abusers and Iowa institutions that look the other way are LESS LIKELY to be exposed and stopped.

    More information about CHILD USA can be found at childusa.org

  • Child abuse expert to speak with legislators

    Monday, January 27
    11:30 AM – Room 116, Iowa Statehouse

    Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen has arranged a briefing for Iowa Legislators and Legislative staff by Marci Hamilton, the CEO of CHILD USA, the country’s leading think tank working to end child abuse and neglect.  Iowa can do more to protect Iowa children from abuse and exploitation.  Professor Hamilton will outline how Iowa can dramatically improve protections for children.

    CHILD USA engages in high-level legal, social science, and medical research and analysis to derive the best public policies to end child abuse and neglect. CHILD USA produces evidence-based solutions and information needed by policymakers, organizations, media, and society as a whole to increase child protection and the common good. 

    Prof. Marci Hamilton, CEO of CHILD USA

    MARCI A. HAMILTON is the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program Professor of Practice, and Fox Family Pavilion Resident Senior Fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the founder, CEO, and Academic Director of CHILD USA, www.childusa.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit academic think tank at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to interdisciplinary, evidence-based research to prevent child abuse and neglect. Before moving to the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Hamilton was the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.

    Hamilton is the leading expert on child sex abuse statutes of limitations and has submitted testimony and advised legislators in every state where significant reform has occurred. She is the author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children(Cambridge University Press), which advocates for the elimination of child sex abuse statutes of limitations. She has filed countless pro bono amicus briefs for the protection of children at the United States Supreme Court and the state supreme courts. Her textbook, Children and the Law, co-authored with Martin Gardner, will be published Fall 2017 by Carolina Academic Press, formerly Lexis/Nexis.

    Hamilton has been a vocal and influential critic of extreme religious liberty, advocating for the vulnerable about overreaching.  Hamilton successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) at the Supreme Court in Boerne v. Flores(1997), and defeated the RFRA claim brought by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee against hundreds of child sex abuse survivors in Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. Listecki(7thCir. 2015).  She has represented numerous cities dealing with church-state issues as well as claims brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA). The author of God vs. the Gavel: The Perils of Extreme Religious Liberty(Cambridge University Press), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, she is also a columnist for Verdict on Justia.com.  

    Hamilton has been honored with the 2018 Pennsylvania State University Department of Philosophy Distinguished Alumni Award, the 2017 University of Pennsylvania Law School Louis H. Pollak Public Service Award, the 2016 Voice Today, Voice of Gratitude Award; the 2015 Religious Liberty Award, American Humanist Association; the 2014 Freethought Heroine Award; the National Crime Victim Bar Association’s Frank Carrington Champion of Civil Justice Award, 2012; the E. Nathaniel Gates Award for outstanding public advocacy and scholarship, 2008; and selected as a Pennsylvania Woman of the Year Award, 2012, among others. She is also frequently quoted in the national media on child abuse and neglect, statute of limitations, constitutional, RFRA, RLUIPA, and First Amendment issues.

    Hamilton clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Professor Hamilton is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, B.A., summa cum laude; Pennsylvania State University, M.A. (English, fiction writing, High Honors); M.A. (Philosophy); and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of PennsylvaniaLaw Review. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif. 

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  • Spread the word about abuse hotline

    The Iowa Attorney General’s office recently established a new toll-free hotline for adult survivors to report child sexual abuse.

    This is an important step to ensure that survivors of child sex abuse get the justice they deserve.  Iowans will be safer when we know the truth about sex offenders among us and better understand how to prevent child sex abuse.

    You can help by promoting this hotline so that more survivors know that they can seek justice.

    I encourage you to distribute information about the hotline — 855-620-7000 – to your employees, stakeholders and clients/customers, and any other Iowans that you connect with. Spread the word via:

    • Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media
    • Websites
    • Bulletin boards
    • Staff meetings
    • Any public meetings
    • Public service announcements

    Feel free to download and use this flyer and social media graphic!

    It’s going to take a team effort by religious organizations, nonprofits, governmental agencies, businesses and news media to get the word out. I appreciate anything you can do to ensure more adult survivors of child sexual abuse know there is help and hope.

  • Statement on AG’s decision regarding clergy sex abuse

    IA SEN NEWS
    June 3, 2019

    On May 22, Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen joined survivors of childhood sexual abuse in calling for extending Iowa’s criminal and civil statutes of limitations. Iowa should be the safest place in the country to raise a child. Instead, Iowa is tied with Ohio for having the worst civil and criminal statute of limitations laws in the country for child sexual abuse, according to ChildUSA. We must work in a bipartisan way to create a pathway to justice for survivors, ensure accountability for predators, and make our communities safer.

    Statement by Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen on Iowa Attorney General’s decision by regarding clergy sexual abuse in Iowa

    “Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has taken two steps in the right direction today by requesting records on clergy abuse from Catholic dioceses in Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque and Sioux City; and by establishing a hotline — 855-620-7000 — for survivors to call and report abuse.

    “I am grateful for the many survivors of child sex abuse who have stepped forward to tell their stories and to advocate for justice. 

    “It’s important that we continue to listen to survivors to fix Iowa’s laws.  Survivors of child sex abuse deserve a pathway to justice.  Iowans, and our children especially, will be safer when we know the truth about sex offenders among us and have a better understanding of how to prevent child sex abuse.

    “While the Attorney General’s request of the Catholic dioceses was limited only to clergy, I am hopeful he will expand the scope of the investigation to include any sex abuse reported in their dioceses.  I am also hopeful additional investigations will ensue based on information uncovered through the hotline.

    “The Legislature must work next session to pass meaningful legislation to remove Iowa’s criminal and civil statute of limitations and give adult survivors a five-year period to seek justice. I will also support legislation to give the Attorney General expanded powers to go after sexual predators and organizations that cover up the crime.”

    – end –

    NOTE: For more information about the newly established hotline — 855-620-7000 — for survivors to report abuse, please visit this website: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/IACIO/bulletins/248ef66

    Trained advocates will be available to gather information from survivors.

    An investigator will review the reports and may seek additional information. The identities of survivors will remain confidential.

  • Legislators offer next steps to improve child welfare

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release: July 6, 2017


    Postponing Oversight until the next tragedy is NOT ACCEPTABLE

    Legislators fear more children under state care will suffer due to inaction by Republican leaders of the Legislature’s oversight committees.

    On June 5, the Iowa House and Senate Government Oversight Committees officially met to consider failures to protect children in state care. That meeting came in response to the horrific deaths of Natalie Finn and Sabrina Ray, and after months of public pressure and unofficial meetings organized by Senate Democrats.

    Following the June 5 meeting, State Senators Matt McCoy and Janet Petersen, members of the Senate Government Oversight Committee, sent the committee’s Republican co-chairs a letter outlining steps needed to better protect at-risk children.

    The following month, there has been no response.

    “Do the Iowa Legislature’s Republican leaders really plan to wait until another child dies before they take this issue seriously?” asked Senator McCoy. “The Oversight Committee’s job is to prepare fundamental, effective recommendations and reforms for passage during the next legislative session. So far, Republican legislators have only made things worse with deep cuts to human services.”

    The Iowa Department of Human Services recently announced that it had hired an out-of-state consultant to help review its child protective system. Senate Democrats believe Iowans deserve an independent review from the Government Oversight Committee.

    “The Department of Human Services shouldn’t be in charge of overseeing its own review,” said Senator Petersen. “It is clear the state of Iowa is not protecting our children when we have two unrelated situations where a child was adopted out of state foster care, isolated in an unregulated homeschool setting and starved to death. If that doesn’t warrant a Government Oversight investigation, I’m at a loss for what does.”

    Below are the steps McCoy and Petersen have suggested to ensure the safety of Iowa’s most vulnerable kids. They include:

    • Monthly Government Oversight meetings during the interim
    • Making sure all child protective workers can discuss concerns without retaliation
    • Addressing the problems that lead to thousands of reports of abuse going unchecked
    • Preventing further budget cuts to DHS child protective services
    • Requiring all foster care children to attend public or private schools
    • Requiring all homeschooled children to register yearly with the Department of Education and have an annual physical exam.

    A copy of the letter sent to the co-chairs of the Legislature’s State Government Oversight Committee is available at http://wp.me/a8aBRy-66c .

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    Senator Matt McCoy and Senator Janet Petersen – Necessary Next Steps for Protecting Iowa Children

    At the first Joint Government Oversight Committee meeting held by the Republican legislative majorities, we learned the Iowa Department of Human Services is planning to hire an out-of-state consultant to help them review their own department after the horrific deaths of two Iowa girls who were adopted out of our state’s foster care system and starved to death in completely unregulated “homeschool” settings.

    It has been four weeks since the Government Oversight Committee adjourned.  We have yet to hear from the committee’s co-chairs Senator Breitbach and Rep. Kaufmann about plans for additional hearings.

    The Government Oversight Committee should continue to explore innovative solutions to prevent children from falling through the cracks in our system.

    Iowa children deserve the chance to grow up in safe and loving homes.  We can make that happen.

     

    Senator Matt McCoy and Senator Janet Petersen propose the following:

    • Monthly Government Oversight meetings during the interim to review the progress of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and to hear from the DHS review team, parent groups, frontline DHS workers, Department of Education, home schooling coordinators, patrol officers, Child Welfare Advisory Committee, Iowa Child Death Review Team and current and future vendors who hold contracts with DHS.
    • The Department’s review with an external partner they are hiring is not an autonomous process and should not replace the legislature’s need to review as well.

     

    We call on the newly appointed Department of Human Services Director, Jerry Foxhoven, to do the following:

    • Fix the system: Child protective workers do not have the ability to speak up about problems impacting the safety of our children, foster parents, and even themselves, without the risk of getting fired.  Ensure all child protective workers are protected to speak out and discuss problems openly without retaliation.  Employees shouldn’t have to worry about getting fired for speaking the truth about budget cuts, policies or problems.
    • Fix the system: Thousands of reports of abuse go unchecked because they are rejected at Iowa’s centralized intake center.  The centralized intake system takes away local relationships and knowledge that may be helpful on reported cases.
    • Fix the system: DHS is denying a larger numbers of abuse calls.  If a caregiver is not involved, the case is not accepted even though it may clearly be a case of abuse.  If not enough information is provided, it is denied.  It is unclear if criminal cases are referred to law enforcement.  Proper checks and balances – including tracking these rejected cases – are not in place.

     

    We call on Governor Reynolds to do the following immediately:

    • Protect our children: A thorough review of case plans to ensure we know where these kids are and get safety nets reestablished.
    • Protect our children: Child protective workers are overworked and carry unmanageable caseloads.  The department is dangerously understaffed.  Several Iowa counties don’t even have one caseworker.  Some case workers must cover multiple counties.  Governor Reynolds should transfer funds to ensure DHS child protective services do not suffer another funding blow.
    • Protect our children: Iowa’s law that removed any regulation on homeschooling has given bad parents the power to isolate abuse and starve children.  The department has no idea how many Iowa foster children are in these types of settings.  Immediately direct the Department of Human Services to require all foster care children to attend public or private school. IOWA KIDS MUST NOT FALL OFF THE RADAR.
    • Protect our children: All homeschool children should be registered annually with the Department of Education and get a physical exam turned in before school year begins.
    • Protect our children: Make sure Iowa’s foster care children are getting the same educational opportunities as other Iowa kids.  As Governor Reynolds stated back in 2016 in a letter to the editor, “In a knowledge-based, global economy, the careers of today and tomorrow demand stronger skills, including science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.  All students need to finish high school ready for college or career training. This begins with regular attendance in school.”

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  • McCoy statement to Oversight Committee on DHS and failure to protect abused children

    Iowa Senate News Release
    State Senator Matt McCoy: (515) 681-9327
    For Immediate Release: June 5, 2017

     

    Senator Matt McCoy: Opening Statement
    at Joint Government Oversight Meeting – June 5, 2017

     

    Thank you. Chairmen.

    On behalf of children who have fallen through the cracks at the Iowa Department of Human Services, I am grateful that you have decided to convene a Government Oversight Committee meeting to look into the staffing, general welfare practices, internal policies at DHS.

    I am also pleased that you are willing to exam elements of the Iowa homeschool options and the negative impact that they had on all three of the latest high profile cases.

    The horrific deaths of Natalie Finn and Sabrina Ray, and the beatings and abuse Malayia Knapp escaped, are only the most horrific examples. I have many more cases that need review.

    Last week, we learned of another case involving a brother and sister that were badly abused and mistreated. Justin and Crystal Winterthine suffered years of abuse at the hands of Mike and Laurie Winterthine. The children report living in a barn and only getting cow’s raw warm milk to drink with no other food, other than slices of bread once in a while.

    When Justin finally ran away at age 18, he weighed 85 pounds. An older sibling filed a complaint with DHS about Crystal, and the family was told to not do that (type of feeding, only milk), and she was allowed to stay in the home of her abusers.

    We have seen cases where babysitters dropped a child from three feet in the air into his crib and violently turned over the infant baby by his torso, legs and arms. DHS told mother Ellen Kirkpatrick that they would investigate this case and review it. They never followed up until I was able to get WHO-TV to do a story on the case. DHS opened an investigation the following day.

    How many more Iowa children are living in a hellish nightmare of abuse right now?

    Iowans are outraged. They can’t believe this is happening in our state, and they want it stopped.

    I’m as glad as I can be today that the Legislature’s Joint Government Oversight Committee is finally addressing this issue. I believe the Government Oversight Committee’s job is the following:

    • Examine why Iowa children under state care are suffering and dying.
    • Examine the impact of the $16 million cut to DHS field services by Governor Reynolds and House and Senate Republicans this spring.
    • Fix the problems and prevent future tragedies.
    • Examine Iowa’s homeschool loopholes that allow girls like Maylayia, Natalie, Sabrina, Justin and Crystal to be homeschooled without a single bit of accountability or oversight from adults. This isolates the victim and threatens our entire welfare system for children by removing an important safety net. That safety net is a school mandatory reporter and a hot lunch program for kids.

     

    Here are some numbers that show why the Iowa’s current system to prevent child abuse is stressed beyond its capacity:

    • 1,135 fewer people work for DHS today than when Governor Branstad\Reynolds assumed office in 2010.
    • Last year, 37,840 children and adults were assessed for abuse.
    • 36 percent of all assessments yielded a finding of abuse, indicating a need for child welfare case management.
    • Just 182 Iowa social workers do on-site assessments for abuse.
    • 56 Iowa counties have no assigned child investigators who actually live in that county.
    • As many as 20 to 70 cases are being assigned to single investigators. Some child protection workers work 60 hour weeks to handle their excessive caseloads.

     

    Those numbers tell the story of a system in crisis. Those numbers tell us there will be more tragedies if things don’t change.

    This spring, $8 million was cut from DHS field operations in legislation passed by Republicans and signed by the Governor. That legislation resulted in an additional $8 million cut in federal matching funds to DHS field services.

    According to DHS in memo released to me June 1, after review of available funds, it is estimated that field operations can afford an average of 64 fewer staff in FY18 than the level of staff employed on May 4, 2017. On May 4, field operations had 1,535 filled FTEs. The anticipated average level for FY18 is currently estimated at 1,471 FTEs.

    DHS will move approximately half of the overtime into salaries. DHS will allow attrition to reduce staffing. No Social Worker IIIs will be laid off. The memo does not address non- Social Worker IIIs and support staff that Social Worker IIIs rely on, including abuse hotline staff, clerical staff and more.

    During debate on the DHS budget, I asked Sen. Mark Costello, the floor manager, to explain how Iowa’s at-risk children would be impacted by this $16 million cut.

    He had no answer. Based on what I’ve learned from talking with DHS employees and reading the DHS budget, here are a few things that WILL happen:

    • Iowans who are worried a child may be in danger and who call the abuse hotline will wait longer to speak to someone.
    • The person they speak to will be under more pressure to end that call quickly in order to answer the next one.
    • In some cases, crucial information will fail to be communicated.
    • It will be less likely DHS will send a staffer out to contact that family.
    • If a staffer is sent out to investigate, that state worker’s time and attention will be stretched among an even heavier caseload.
    • It will be more likely that the overworked investigator will miss clues that indicate abuse is occurring.
    • If the investigator finds there is evidence of abuse, it will take longer for DHS to follow up.
    • If a child is adopted out of foster care, the number and thoroughness of DHS follow-up visits will be less than it is now.

     

    In short, the child protection system in our state is on track to becoming WORSE, not better. Children are falling through the cracks, and unfortunately, that euphemism means children are literally being killed by abuse, neglect and starvation.

    The social workers struggling to deal with this crisis are also victims. This system is desperately underfunded and in need of managers who will not allow the safety of Iowa children to be compromised.

    Yes, of course there should be an outside review of Iowa’s Department of Human Services, but we have seen this administration and its appointees make excuses for inexcusable results time and time again. That’s why there must also be in-depth, long-term and transparent legislative oversight as well.

    I want to work with my colleagues here today—Republicans, Democrats and Independents—to do whatever we must to reform and reinvest in Iowa’s child protection systems. It is our duty to help protect Iowa’s most vulnerable children.

  • Updates regarding efforts to protect children at risk of abuse

    This page will be continually updated with Iowa Senate Democratic information on protecting children at risk of abuse.

     

    July 6th:

    Democratic legislators offer next steps to improve child welfare

     

    June 5th meeting:

    Video of hearing: Part 1 (morning)  |  Part 2 (afternoon)

    Meeting agenda with speakers and topics to be covered

    Opening statement by State Senator Matt McCoy, ranking member on the Government Oversight Committee.

    Radio Iowa coverage of meeting: After two tragic teen deaths, legislators hold hearing on Iowa’s child welfare system

    Coalition for Responsible Home Education calls into question the only homeshcool expert witness to testify at the hearing: Iowa Legislature Hears from Homeschool Organization with a History of Opposing Child Welfare Measures

    Iowa DHS decides to to have Alabama organization review of their child welfare efforts after pressure from outraged Iowans over failure to protect children from abuse: DHS Engages National Expert for Child Welfare Review

     

    May 2017

    Three-point plan to end string of Iowa child deaths

    Senators respond to DHS Director Palmer retirement

    March 20th meeting: https://www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/10154381540801778/

    Senator McCoy and other legislators on efforts to investigate if the Iowa Department of Human Services is able to protect Iowa children at risk of abuse.

     

    March 13th meeting:

    Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/10154364013276778/

    Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/10154364075661778/

    Wendy Rickman, Division Administrator, Policy, Department of Human Services will answer questions from legislators. Wendy Rickman has been employed with DHS since 1987. Since beginning her employment with DHS, Wendy has served as an Abuse Assessor, ongoing Case Manager, Service Administrator for Scott County, and a Service Area Manager for the Davenport and the Des Moines Service Areas. Wendy is currently serving as the Division Administrator for the Division of Adult Children and Family Services.

     

    March 6th meeting: https://www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/10154341078836778/

    Iowa children are falling through the cracks and government policies may be part of the problem. Rachel Coleman, Executive Director of the Coalition For Responsible Home Education, is the speaker.

     

    February 27th meeting: https://www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/videos/10154323020581778/

    Malayia Knapp, who was beaten, starved, and imprisoned by her adoptive parents, speaks to Senator Matt McCoy and Representative Abby Finkenauer, members of the Senate and House Oversight Committees, and other legislators. McCoy and Finkenauer are holding a series of meetings on what Iowa can do to help children who are falling through the cracks and the government policies that may be part of the problem.