Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Lawmakers Unveil “Putting Iowans First” Plan

    IOWA LEGISLATURE NEWS
    Thursday, January 25, 2018

     

    Focus On Improving Lives for Everyday Iowans

    DES MOINES – Democratic lawmakers outlined their new plan today called Putting Iowans First.  The plan was developed by lawmakers to keep the 2018 session focused on improving the lives of everyday Iowans.

    “Iowans don’t ask for much. They just want a decent paying job and the chance to lead a happy, healthy life. But we know today that too many Iowans who are working hard are just struggling to get by. Stagnant wages, rising health care costs, and fewer dollars going to job training and public education are hurting Iowa families,” said House Democratic Leader Mark Smith.

    “Democrats believe it’s time to get back to the basics—to help improve Iowans’ everyday lives and give each of us opportunities to get ahead. Our Putting Iowans First plan focuses on better paying jobs, a great education, and affordable health care. Democrats believe that Iowa values include investing in Iowans. It’s a mistake to believe that the state can cut its way to prosperity,” said Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen.

    The Putting Iowans First plan has four parts:

    1. Better-Paying Jobs
    2. A Revitalization of Small Towns and Rural Areas
    3. The Best Education in the Country
    4. A Quality of Life that Makes Iowa the #1 Best Place to Live

    “It’s time to say goodbye to the back room deals and corporate tax giveaways. Our Putting Iowans First plan will bring the focus of our government back to improving the lives of everyday Iowans,” added Smith. “That means affordable job training and new recreational opportunities in rural areas. It means increasing the use of renewable fuels and investing in our public schools again to produce a highly skilled workforce. It also means expanding access to affordable health care.”

    The full plan can be found at http://iowansfirst.com.

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  • Perpetrators must pay for bad behavior – not Iowa taxpayers

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release: January 24, 2018

     

    DES MOINES — A group of Senators introduced legislation today to ensure that state employees – not all Iowa taxpayers – would be financially responsible for egregious and illegal workplace behavior.

    “Iowans are disgusted by the harassment, discrimination and retaliation against Kirsten Anderson and other legislative staff by some Republican Senators and staff members,” said Senator Tod Bowman of Maquoketa, the legislation’s main sponsor. “Most Iowans can’t believe they’re on the hook for $1.75 million because of the misconduct and mismanagement of some Republican Senators. Especially in a tight budget year, this money should be put towards our kids’ education, job training programs or mental health care. Taxpayers expect more from their leaders.”

    The legislation is proposed in the wake of a jury decision last year to award $2.25 million to former Senate Republican staffer Kirsten Anderson in a sexual harassment lawsuit she brought against Iowa Senate Republicans. Anderson was fired in May 2013, just seven hours after filing a complaint alleging a sexually hostile work environment. Subsequently, Anderson agreed to a reduced award of $1.75 million to avoid a lengthy appeal process.

    Under current law, Iowa taxpayers must pay for such awards, and there’s no recourse for state officials to recoup that money from offending state employees.

    The legislation introduced today – which is sponsored by all 20 Democratic State Senators and independent Senator David Johnson – would allow the plaintiff to receive an award from the state but would require the Iowa Attorney General to recover the amount of the award from offending state employees.

    The legislation applies to state employment cases, which includes hostile work environment cases involving sexual harassment, race, religion, age or disability.

    “This proposed legislation is part of the national conversation about preventing sexual harassment in the workplace,” Bowman said. “We must send a message to legislators and other state employees who harass their co-workers or subordinates that their conduct will not be tolerated and that they will be held responsible for their illegal behavior.”

    “This legislation is another important step in our efforts to improve the workplace culture in the Iowa Senate and our commitment to making sure the Statehouse is a safe and healthy environment.”

    – end –

     

  • Senators introduce bill to end privatized Medicaid

    All 20 Democrats and the one Independent in the Iowa Senate have introduced SF 2058, a bill to end privatized Medicaid and put Iowans back in control of a state-run system that provides affordable health care to more than 560,000 citizens.

    Since April 2016, when Iowa Medicaid was turned over to out-of-state companies, constituents have complained about the obstacles they face getting care and services.

    Hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers – especially in Iowa’s small towns and rural areas – agree that the privatized system is not working. They aren’t being properly reimbursed for the care they provide. They face red tape and bureaucratic nightmares. Many are in financial jeopardy, and some have even been forced to close their doors.

    The state keeps giving private, out-of-state companies more of your tax dollars to run Medicaid. In fact, Governor Reynolds just agreed to give them another $130 million. Yet things continue to get worse.

    This is not how health care for sick, injured and disabled Iowans is supposed to work. Privatized Medicaid is not saving taxpayer dollars. Iowans are not getting healthier. The entire system is in shambles.

    For the health and safety of our citizens, let’s put Iowans back in control of Medicaid.

  • McCoy and Forbes file bill for public health care option

    ­Iowa Legislature News Release
    Tuesday, December 19, 2017

     

    Des Moines, Iowa – State Senator Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, and State Representative John Forbes, D-Urbandale, filed a bill today that will make health care more accessible and affordable for Iowans.  Called the Healthy Iowans for a Public Option (HIPO), the new plan would give the 72,000 Iowans on the individual market another health insurance option.

    “Thousands of Iowans are facing a health care crisis right now because of Medicaid privatization and uncertainty in the health insurance market. It’s time for the Legislature to work together and make sure that all Iowans have access to affordable health care.  Our plan will give the 72,000 Iowans in the individual market another option while repealing the GOP’s disastrous Medicaid privatization,” said Sen. McCoy.

    The HIPO plan would first roll back Iowa’s Medicaid privatization and then create a new public health insurance option for Iowans to purchase on the individual marketplace. Iowans who currently receive financial assistance on the marketplace would still be eligible to receive it.

    “Iowans deserve solutions to the health care crisis they face, not excuses and blame from politicians who won’t take action. We know the high cost of health care is draining family incomes and threatening the retirement security of too many Iowans.  Since politicians in DC keep making our health care system worse, it’s time for Gov. Reynolds and Republican lawmakers to work with us and make health care both accessible and affordable,” said Rep. Forbes.

    President Trump is expected to sign a bill later this month that will leave millions of Americans without health insurance and add more uncertainty to Iowa’s health care marketplace. Next year, just one option will be available on Iowa’s health insurance Marketplace.  Medica is proposing raising premiums 57% compared to its current rates, making this option unaffordable for thousands of Iowans.

     

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  • Democrats call on Statehouse Republicans to ‘put Iowans back in control of Medicaid’

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release: December 15, 2017

     

    DES MOINES — Iowa’s Democratic state legislators are asking Governor Kim Reynolds and Republican lawmakers to work together during the 2018 session to end Iowa’s failed Medicaid privatization experiment.

    “We do our best work when we work in a bipartisan fashion” to expand access to affordable health care for many Iowans, Democratic legislators wrote in a letter emailed today to the Governor and every Republican lawmaker.

    “For the past 20 months, constituents of all ages have been bombarding Governor Reynolds and Republican and Democratic legislators with real problems caused by Medicaid privatization,” Democrats wrote. “There is clear evidence that Iowans have died as a result of life-sustaining services being cut off to extremely vulnerable individuals.”

    The letter also stresses the “financial jeopardy” that Medicaid privatization has imposed on hospitals, nursing homes and other Iowa health care providers, especially in Iowa’s small towns and rural areas.

    Democratic lawmakers noted that “privatization is not saving money for Iowa’s taxpayers, and it is not resulting in healthier Iowans. Under Medicaid privatization, the state of Iowa keeps giving the private, out-of-state companies more and more money, while giving Iowa taxpayers less and less.”

    Medicaid is a health care safety net that is administered by the states and funded through a federal-state partnership. Roughly 70 percent of Medicaid expenses are for the care of our very poor elderly and severely disabled Iowans. In 2015, the Branstad/Reynolds Administration announced that the state employees running the program would be replaced by for-profit Medicaid managers.

    Despite widespread opposition and repeated delays, large, out-of-state companies took over care of the majority of Iowans receiving Medicaid services on April 1, 2016. As of today, three of the four companies initially hired to manage the program have abandoned the project. When AmeriHealth Caritas quit the state last month, the health care of 215,000 Iowans was disrupted.

    Governor Reynolds has promised that more managed care organizations are being recruited to replace those that left.

    In today’s letter, Democratic lawmakers propose a different approach: “When Connecticut realized its privatized Medicaid was not working, state leaders made the decision to go back to a publicly managed Medicaid system. Connecticut is now seeing much better results with their new model. They are saving money and improving care.”

    The letter concludes with this plea:

    “More than ever before, we all know that privatized Medicaid is not working for Iowa. For the health and safety of so many, will you work with us to put Iowans back in control of Medicaid? We can and should do better for Iowans. Watching our health care system collapse is not an option.”

     

    -end-

  • 2018 session poses threat to Iowa retirees

    (Des Moines) Today, two Iowa Statehouse leaders expressed concern that the 2018 legislative session could bring sudden, unnecessary changes to Iowa’s pension system. The two said the changes would harm Iowa public employees and the communities where they live.

    “IPERS and Iowa’s other public pension plans are secure, strong, and sustainable. Some current legislative proposals to change IPERS could break the promise we have made to hard working Iowans since 1953,” said Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald. “The retirement contributions Iowa workers have made to these funds have been invested well and the benefits are reasonable. There is no need to make the type of changes Governor Reynolds and Senate Republicans are talking about.”

    “Last year, Iowa made national news when state Republicans tore up long established collective bargaining laws in a little over a week,” said Senator Matt McCoy of Des Moines, a member of the Iowa Legislature’s Public Retirement Systems Committee and a nonvoting member of the IPERS Investment Board. “Legislation to blow up IPERS, Senate File 45, was introduced last year. It could be voted on during the 2018 session. Just last July, the Senate’s second ranking Republican, Senator Charles Schneider, brought in a right-wing think tank to tell Iowans to replace our successful, stable retirement systems like IPERS with more risky Wall Street-based schemes.”

    Senate File 45 would begin to dismantle IPERS and other Iowa public retirement programs by preventing new Iowa workers from joining the programs on or after July 1, 2019. The existing retirement programs would be replaced by more risky defined contribution plans run by Wall Street traders instead of Iowa’s current non-profit managers.

    In 2017, Governor Reynolds said several times that she supported a task force to propose changes to IPERS. She later dropped that idea but continued to express support for privatizing IPERS, including supporting the July meeting sponsored by Senator Schneider and the Reason Foundation

    “Families, neighbors, and communities see the impact when money from IPERS is reinvested all throughout Iowa. These proposed changes, from the same legislators who earlier this year gutted collective bargaining rights for hardworking Iowans, could destabilize IPERS and negatively impact every community in Iowa,” said Treasurer Fitzgerald.

    “Given how Republicans have been governing, every Iowan affected directly or indirectly by IPERS will be holding their breath until the 2018 session adjourns,” McCoy said.

    On December 18, the Iowa Legislature’s “Public Retirement Systems Committee” will evaluates Iowa’s public retirement systems, including Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS), the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System of Iowa (Iowa Code chapter 411), the Department of Public Safety Peace Officers’ Retirement System (PORS), and the Judicial Retirement System.

    -end-

    Links to news reports on Governor Reynolds’ support for changing Iowa’s public retirement systems

    Reynolds: Iowa task force will study IPERS changes
    Mason City Globe Gazette 1/26/17
    globegazette.com/news/iowa/reynolds-iowa-task-force-will-study-ipers-changes/article_211d1ad4-4030-580a-ba5b-3414f63826e9.html
    Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds told a group in Scott County on Thursday a task force will be formed to study the possibility of long-term changes to IPERS, the retirement system for public employees in the state.

    Branstad calls IPERS’ changes ‘prudent’ to shore up statewide pension fund
    Des Moines Register, 3/27/17
    www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/27/branstad-calls-ipers-changes-prudent-shore-up-statewide-pension-fund/99686464/
    Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who are both Republicans, have said that commitments already made to state and local government workers will be honored, but a state task force will review possible long-term changes to Iowa public employees’ pension programs. Among key changes that will be studied will be whether to offer a 401(k)-style plan.

    Reynolds backs IPERS study, but task force is dropped
    Des Moines Register, July 18, 2017
    www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/07/18/reynolds-backs-ipers-study-but-task-force-dropped/487913001/
    Reynolds noted that Sen. Charles Schneider, R-West Des Moines, is currently heading an interim committee’s study of Iowa’s public employees’ pension funds. The work is being conducted in cooperation with the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based libertarian think tank.
    “I support his efforts in doing that,” Reynolds said.

    PDF of Senate File 45: wwww.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/87/SF45.pdf

  • July 25 Senate informational meeting on Public Retirement Systems

    TUESDAY, JULY 25

    9:30 AM, Room 22, Iowa Capitol

    This meeting is open to the public and will be LIVESTREAMED at www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats

     

    Here is the agenda prepared by Sen. Charles Schneider
    (a West Des Moines Republican):

     

    PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEMS SENATE INFORMATION MEETING

    Tuesday, July 25, 2017

    9:30 a.m. Room 22

    State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa

     

    MEMBERS

    Charles Schneider, Chair                     Michael Breitbach

    Jeff Danielson                                        Mark S. Lofgren

    Matt McCoy

     

     

    9:30 a.m.         Introductions

     

    9:45 a.m.         Donna Mueller, CEO IPERS

    • Update on IPERS experience study
    • Unfunded liability issues

     

    10:45 a.m.       Len Gilroy and Anthony Randazzo, Pension Integrity Project at the Reason Foundation

    • Analysis of IPERS’ economic assumptions
    • Overview of the IPERS portfolio

     

    11:30   a.m.     Participant Discussion

    • Future Meetings and topics

     

    12:00   p.m.     Adjourn

     

  • 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 .

    ************************************

    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.”

    end

     

  • Wednesday: Legislators host discussion about “Medicaid for All” proposal for Iowa

    For Immediate Release: June 20, 2017

     

    Legislators host discussion about “Medicaid for All” proposal for Iowa health insurance mess Wednesday at 6 PM

    (Des Moines)  State Senator  Matt McCoy and State Representative John Forbes invite the public to a public discussion of their “Medicaid for All” solution to Iowa’s health insurance mess.  The goal is to ensure that every Iowan has access to more affordable and reliable health insurance.

    The event will be held at Des Moines Central Library, 1000 Grand Avenue, from 6 PM to 8 PM on Wednesday, June 21.  The event will be livestreamed on Senator McCoy’s Faceboook page, https://www.facebook.com/senatormccoy/.

    The collapse of Iowa’s individual health-insurance market has drawn national attention.  Medica, the last insurer willing to provide individual health insurance policies in Iowa, has announced that a rate increase of an average of 43.5 percent is required for it to continue doing business in Iowa.

    The two legislators seek to allow Iowans on the individual market to purchase health insurance coverage through Medicaid.

    “Given the uncertainty in the individual insurance market, it’s absolutely necessary for Iowa to forge it’s own path to provide access to insurance to all Iowans. It is to critical economic development that self-employed individuals and small businesses have access to more affordable and reliable health insurance. This plan will do that,” said McCoy.

    “The gridlock in Washington, DC makes it imperative for states like Iowa to act independently in providing health insurance coverage. Iowans are practical and self-reliant, and we have the ability to implement this solution,” said Forbes.

    -end-

  • 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.