Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senator urges oversight of HHS after $10 million settlement and child deaths
Summary
Senator Bisignano pressed for renewed legislative oversight of HHS after a $10,000,000 settlement tied to the deaths of two children, saying a court-ordered task force met twice and then did not convene for two years and that HHS has not answered media inquiries.
Senator Bisignano used a point of personal privilege to urge the Iowa Senate to reconvene oversight of the state’s child welfare system after a $10,000,000 settlement and the deaths of two children. Bisignano said the settlement included a court-ordered task force to work with DHS, “now HHS,” and that the panel met only twice before not meeting again for two years.
“We were contacted by the media in regards to the deaths of Natalie Finn and Sabrina Ray, who died as adopted foster care kids who were starved to death and abused along with their siblings,” Senator Bisignano said, recounting media queries and the department’s lack of response. “With the $10,000,000, it was ordered to form a task force… they met twice, and they haven't met for 2 years.”
Bisignano said he sent a letter on Dec. 4 asking the oversight committee to call HHS to explain steps taken to protect children and that he received no reply from Senator Gruenhagen, the oversight chair. “I sent a letter of request that we convene, that we call in HHS, explain to us what they've done to correct and to protect, and I never heard back,” he said.
He cited reporting that paramedics, law enforcement and others had witnessed severely neglected children and said schools had filed multiple complaints in one case but that home visits did not include entering the home. “The school had made 11 complaints in that year, and they made home visits, but they never went inside the house. Never went in the house,” Bisignano said.
Bisignano pressed the chamber to set aside partisanship and “carry the message to Senator Gruenhagen” so the oversight committee will meet. He said media outlets including KCCI had been unable to get answers from HHS and described a sense that officials have been unresponsive. He urged the Senate to use oversight powers provided through budgets and hearings to hold the executive branch accountable.
The remarks were a call for action rather than a formal motion; Bisignano asked colleagues to push for a meeting of the oversight committee and for HHS to explain what it has done since the court-ordered settlement. The Senate did not take a related procedural vote during the session; the chamber adjourned later without scheduling the oversight hearing.
