143-year-old Indiana school to close

I would like to comment on this article, it is wrong to close the Knightstown Childrens Home. The Home benefited Knightstown as well as the children who live at the Home. The truth is it is a wonderful place for at risk children. Some of them are there because the foster care system failed them. The children grew into responsible adults, the milatary began the home for injured soldiers, then it became for children and widows. Many of the children graduating this year are joining the service. Governor Daniels and Judith Monroe don't have any idea what they are doing concerning this Home. The repairs would be much less, as many people were willing to do the work pro bono,the state would have spent far less. I am so dissapointed in this decision. The Home was not given a chance at all by Governor Daniels of DOH.

Your right Mitch and Judith have no idea and really don't care. Mitch always get what he wants no matter who it hurt. But this time is was the kids. Just wait Mitch wants this property for some other reason.

This is the worst thing they can do. ISSCH has helped so many children and they feel safe there.I was there back in the eighties and i felt safe. They can not close the school those kids need it and it is probably the only real place the can call HOME.

It is very sad, but Mitch had no intention of keeping this open to those who needed it most. He has no idea, nor does he care about the needs of the children of this state he has demonstrated that fact repeatedly. He treats juveniles in the Dept. of Corrections as miniature adults, due to his demand that all teachers be required to hold a Special Education license, most Vocational Teachers were forced to resign. Therefore juveniles in the DOC are no longer able to obtain vocational training to help them enter the job force. Schools at all juvenile facilities are to offer Core 40 classes, but they do not. Students instead are offered GED classes and are pushed out the door as soon as parole can be obtained. Mitch Daniels has one goal, put them back in their community as soon as possible and have their community deal with them. He does not believe the state should have to handle the cost. Therefore he has broken the system.
The youth of Indiana now go into the Dept. of Corrections and come out in worse conditions then they were when they entered. Why, because if they don’t learn fast how to survive, they become the victim. Our juvenile DOC does not have the programs or the education which it should to help our youth. And we can only thank one person, our governor.
Mitch has no empathy, he is stone cold, and cares only about the money. That is a fact, and now that he has proved himself to people who are listening by his action to close the Indiana Soldier and Sailors Children’s Home, I hope you start to look at what he has done to the juvenile facilities in this state since he has taken office in 2005. He has totally destroyed them beginning with the closing of Boys School. The jewel of the DOC use to be Indiana Girls School, it is now the WORSE of all due to Daniels forcing all teachers to obtain a Special Ed degree. Why, because they have skirted the issue and student DO NOT get special education services at all. It is all smoke and mirrors! Daniels administration is full of smoke and mirrors.
The ruling that all teachers obtain a Sp. Ed. License was a) to get rid of the older teachers and b) a way to get around giving Sp. Ed. services to students. Those goals were met. Now in closing the Children’s Home Daniels will get rid of more teachers and the costly up keep of the facility.
Mitch Daniels doesn’t care about the kids; they are expendable and will probable end up in the DOC. I strongly suggest you tell you legislatures when they return in June to take a STRONG message to Mitch and tell him you are not please about his bullish behavior. These kids are our future and the future of Indiana.

Yes the Department of Correction's juvenile facilities were the canary-in-the-coal mine for all state services to youth. first he came for the juveniles. Who will be next?

Hey, support the governor will ya, he's the only one we got. He's the only one who is going for the new school standard, that's to insure that the only ones who get an education in this state are those who can afford it, public education is a farse and we can't afford it anymore. It's time that the people who are the leaches on hoosier society learn that they won't get a free ride anymore, if they don't like it, move out of state, that's the message from the governor. This state won't support you anymore, so get out! No free ride, no funding for you anymore, maybe your problems will go away in another state, but not indiana.

Tobacco Joe wrote:

Hey, support the governor will ya, he's the only one we got. He's the only one who is going for the new school standard, that's to insure that the only ones who get an education in this state are those who can afford it, public education is a farse and we can't afford it anymore. It's time that the people who are the leaches on hoosier society learn that they won't get a free ride anymore, if they don't like it, move out of state, that's the message from the governor. This state won't support you anymore, so get out! No free ride, no funding for you anymore, maybe your problems will go away in another state, but not indiana.

In reply to tobacco Joe, You don't realize that the state isn't the only ones supporting this school or your comments wouldn't be as they are. The American Legion,Sons of the Civil War, Daughters of the Civil War,Ice Cream Parlors, Pizza Parlors and the Alumni of the Home. There are many more that help support the Children's Home,too many to list here. Get some history on the subject, you will be surprised as to how many support this "free ride" as you call it. The Governor isn't good to kids in this state. Some of the kids came from a failed foster care system. Governor Daniels has left many children behind, and will do so with many more before it is over.Gov ernor Daniels and DOH don't back up their claim of 65M to 200M in the three year report that costs 67.50 by the way. I don't think that you care much for children,many of us love them, want something good for them.

OK, that's fine, with all the support coming in for the home, then why is the governor the one who is closing it down? If there was so much financial support from other sources, then why is it being closed down. Yes our governor has no love for the children of this state, or the residents for this state either. Our governor is a get rich quick guy and is running the state using the same ideology. He makes a buck here, hoards it, and allows everything else to shut down because he won't help fund it, he knows it's not necessary and we are all better off without it. As was said many years ago by a great republican president and echoed by many of his brethren since, let the charities support the poor, not the government. That's what charities are for. Our great governor is just following that rule, he knows that public education is a failure and not worthy of public funding anymore, only private schools deserve funds and the parents sending their kids there can afford it. The rest just need to leave the state and take their problems with them. At the most under our governors rule, a student should only get funds till the sixth grade, then they should go learn a trade and get a job, on their own, at their own risk. If they can't figure that out, get out of our state.

Governor Daniels DOES NOT care about the children of our state. No way no how. The Childrens Home and DOC Juvenile is a classic example of what Mitch thinks of kids. Especially kids in need. He feels the State of Indiana should bear no responsibilioty toward our youth. Most youth in DOC are victims. Crack babies, Fetal Alchohol Syndrome, sexual abuse, incest, extreme poverty, physical and emotional abuse, no role models, one or both parents in prison, gang member parents and or plain neglect. They have poor self images, feel out of place in school,have no sense of belonging, suffer from depression as well as a paltehra of serious mental serious health disorders. Including psychosis, suicidal thoughts. These kids did not choose their life circumstance. Yes they have made some bad and at times very bad choices. But to say they are of no value and should not be given a chance through reach out, accountability, and treatment is wrong. The DOC Juvenile is horrid as is. Destroyed by Donahue. Experts in the field of Junvenile Corrections were removed or left of their own will. Most found it painful to watch the down turn of facilites and neglect of those placed in their care. Some good ones remain in DOC but not near enough to fill the field. Lack of staff experience and know how is debilitating. Daniels disregard for youth exascerbates an already out of control problem in DOC.
Childrens Home did many good things for our youth. No more. Thrown out the window because they are too expensive. If their is a will there is a way. Many things could have been done to modify Childrens Home and minimize cost. To throw away the children as if they have no value ......WRONG.
Some children need the structure of an instituional setting. They need the focus and removal of outside threats that have haunted them most of thier lives. Being in a structured environment is not bad for all. Wake up. let's create diverse opportunities and stop trying to find a one stop fit for all. We need structured facilites, group homes, foster homes, mental health beds. Not one venue but many with people in place who can address individual needs.

yes the DOC has been turned back to the dark ages, like the governor wanted, and the broken families that produced these broken kids are being thrown away, like the governor wanted. BUT they aren't leaving, like the governor wants, they are staying here. So conditions have to be made worse and worse to get the exodus moving, to make it so bad these people want to move out of Indiana. Indiana can't prosper the way our governor wants, until the scum is removed. He's turned back the clock, he's shut down the education system, made it the worst in the country, he's shut down the welfare and disability system so that those people have to move out. He's made it easy to eliminate thousands of jobs that were holding the scum in place, but the scum didn't leave. The charities haven't stepped up to take over for the gap left by the governor and the state. And the scum is still here festering and dragging the quality people of this state down. The governor just needs more time to figure out what needs to be done to force the exodus to start and get the scum to move to other states, once he's done that, Indiana will be great again. Since the governor is trying so hard to turn back the clock, maybe it's time he grew a toothbrush mustache and started wearing a white sheet, that would scare a few out of the state.

Someone has closed Knuckle-Knock! Watch out Mitch is NOT happy he is getting people to pull the plug on things that displease him!!!

Usually there's some GOP misdirection on the part of Mitch and his cronies before the censors hit, what's he using to misdirect us from the facts this time?

The governor never wavered, he wanted it closed, he also wants the juvenile girls out of Indianapolis Juvenile Correction Facility so he can put adult prisoner there, more money can be made from adult prisoners. Teachers and staff for juveniles cost too much money, especially if you follow the rules which are currently NOT being followed at IJCF.
Currently the facility is short staffed, they have plenty teachers, just not the right teachers, meaning no Principal, no Science, Music, and soon no Art teacher just to mention a few. To have a core 40 a school must meet certain requirements, also if you have Junior High Students there MUST be certain classes, Science, Music and Art are REQUIRED! Having a Principal is mandatory, but somehow Mitch has gotten around this rule. In fact IJCF went without a school guidance counselor for YEARS! The fact of the matter is there was a period of time when a secretary was placing students in classes and doing the job of the guidance counselor. Now that is HOW the governor runs a school and SAVES MONEY!
I can’t wait to see how Mitch wrote the new budget. I’m betting it is a real scam! And the CIB, just another way to dig into our pockets to make HIM LOOK GOOD! You do realize he is trying to run for president and using Indiana to get in the limelight!
Yep, that is our man Mitch, what a scum bag!

This will be a truly great country once we have placed Mitch in charge. He'll close all the schools like he wants, and start deporting all those who we don't need, send them back where they came from and leave them there. Then he can redivide the country among the deserving few and create a new nobility to run things. Once we have the right in power, the world will fall before us as only it can.

Mitch is not too pleased I bet, some legislatures put money in the budget for the Solders and Sailors Home, then stated it be open next year even though Mitch has announced that it is closed. Sounds like there is going to be a pissing contest, it is about time! Mitch has lead people around by a ring in their nose long enough; if that building is good enough for the National Guard it is good enough for students and can be reopened next year. If he pushes on this issue he is going to have a hard row to hoe the next three years. Better he show he can be the better man and bow to the will of the people, and show EMPATHY. A word to the wise, give in Mitch..
And don’t come up with anymore hair brain ideas for a wile, especially when it comes to taking away from the under privilege of Indiana.

Legislatures are not happy with Mitch and are beginning to see what lots of others in this state have seen for a long time. I hope by the end of this session they send him a mission that they are no longer going to stand still and allow him to rule as if he were king. He has been privatizing, closing, firing, freezing and basically running Indiana as if it were his own private kingdom, but it is not, it is a state of the union! His campaign for re-election was based on lies and false information which his buddies happily placed on the airways. Indiana is a mess and when he is done he is going to leave the coffers dry, people without jobs, social services a mess, not to mention the Dept. of Correction 20 years in the rears due to his mismanagement!
Thus, thus if I were old Mitch I would eat a bite of humble pie.

Mitch will never ever eat humble pie. He would chew off his leg first.

The legislature put money in the budget; they are MAD at Mitch for closing the home. Mitch would like to NOT pass a budget, instead pass the 'just in case' bill so he could run the state as he see's fit until November. I hope Bauer has the BALLS to call his bluff on this. It would be great if the Democrats would push out a bill to impeach the Governor if he REFUSES to sign the budget.
Mitch is playing hard ball with stimulus money which the state needs and he needs to stop acting like a fool! He has milked every penny out of the people of this state he can it is time to give back. He has taken jobs and benefits, by privatizing and outsourcings services to other states. He has destroyed the Dept. of Correction, the Dept. of Family & Social Services, the Dept of Child Protective Services, Unemployment, and Education, just to name a few by all his cuts and flat lining. People in these departments have been cut to the bone, job load tripled and then some! Many have little if any training because those who were older and well trained were FORCED OUT when Mitch came into office. Thus the Dept of Correction and Dept of Child Protective Services does not stand a chance unless older well trained people are brought back into the fold to TRAIN and MANAGE all those newer field people Mitch hired. You just can’t hire people and stick them out in the field without direction.
Mitch is a pencil pusher, he is NOT a leader! The sooner that point is made clear to everyone and he is sent on his merry way out of this state the faster Indiana will make a recovery!

Worked for the state, got privatized out, now work for Illinois, not much better, but they know how to get rid of a bad governor. Since the standard of living in Indiana is so low, I can afford to stay here and drive to work in Illinois, so thanks to privatization, I'm better off, can't say the same for the "Stat of India" (I got that off my new bosses letter, and use it each time I want to remember the quality of those who replaced us).

We have a guy who is governor which is trying to use Indiana as a stepping stone back to Washington DC, he thinks he is real slick, but he is NOT! The real truth of the matter is he has made one mistake after another and closing the Soldier and Sailor Home may have finally been the straw which breaks the Camels back (or his).
Stubbing his nose at people from both parties on this issue was NOT a wise idea for old King Mitch; he probable should have just chalked this up for a bad idea and walked away. But King Mitch feels he has to WIN every battle, thus after everyone left Indy he closed the Soldier and Sailor Home. Not too bright because now he has the legislature back in town and they are NOT going to meet him anywhere, not in half way or a dark ally for that matter.
I would LOVE it if they had the BALLS to counter with a bill to IMPEACH King Mitch after all the good stuff he has pulled on Indiana.