02/10/2009 - Governor named defendant in children’s home case (Anderson Herald Bulletin)

Governor named defendant in children's home case
State museum asked to stop removing mementos from school

By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

KNIGHTSTOWN - Officials fighting to keep the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home open want state officials to stop archiving items from the facility before its doors are closed.

A petition was filed in Rush County, where the home is located, for a preliminary injunction against the governor and state health department to keep them from removing property from the home.

In a news release issued by the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home Alumni Association, the group claimed that the Indiana State Museum recently visited the home and said it was planning to remove various historical artifacts including photographs and paintings.

The home is scheduled to close in May but lawmakers are still fighting to keep it open.

The Indiana State Museum recently removed four historical artifacts from the home, which currently boards and educates 115 at-risk children and teens.

On Monday, the American Legion Department of Indiana, which is also fighting to keep the home open, issued a statement indicating that the governor had ordered the state department of health to stop removing items from the home.

Jane Jankowski of Gov. Mitch Daniel's office said this is incorrect. "The state department of health has had nothing to do with this except to ask the state museum to hold off on any further visits to the facility for the time being."

Jankowski confirmed that the state museum had removed three aerial shots of the home's campus along with a portrait of a former superintendent during a visit.

State Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, is trying to save the home and will hold a committee hearing Feb. 18 to discuss his proposal to keep the home open.

Reske said the state underestimated the effect it would have on children at the facility to see the home being pulled apart with its closure date looming. "It was sort of symbolic of how much they have been ignoring the psychological impact on these kids. For a lot of kids, it means going back to an environment where they're going to be abused."

Jankowski said that while the governor's office did not order the museum to stop removing materials, it does believe it was the right thing to do. "We agree with that, that it's just not the appropriate time to archive materials at the facility."

The temporary slowdown of archiving materials does not mean the closure is any less imminent, she said. The facility will still close in May.

"We believe more children can be helped with state dollars than the current $91,000 being spent annually per child at this facility," she said.

Reske believes that reorganizing the way the facility is run may save the home. He wants to turn the facility into a public school that charges parents room and board fees. Certain children, like the orphans of U.S. soldiers, would receive free room and board.

As it now stands, Reske believes the facility is underutilized. Without any renovations, the home could serve 250 children at its current staff level, he said. At one time, the home housed 900 students.