Jeers to the Indiana Senate for proposing to cut $10 million in funds that would be used to help the Department of Child Services better investigate allegations of abuse and neglect.

The funds would help the department enact a bipartisan plan to improve a child-abuse reporting hotline, according to this Indianapolis Star article.

Sen. Luke Kenley, a Republican who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he removed the funding to prompt a discussion of whether the money is really needed.

However Mark Fairchild, MSW, LSW, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers Indiana Chapter, said the funding cuts put the recommendations of the bipartisan plan in jeopardy. These recommendations include training hotline staff to better and more quickly handle calls from the public.

“We need to make sure that those reports are taken seriously,” he said.

Social workers protect children from abuse and neglect. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids and Families website.