EDITORIAL: Report drives home urgency of DCS reforms

The recent Indiana Department of Child Services report showing 40 children died of abuse in Indiana — five of them in Northwest Indiana — in a 12-month period should cause anyone reading it to shed a tear for those children.

LaPorte woman charged with beating children over radio volume

LAPORTE | A LaPorte woman is accused of beating her two children while drinking whiskey after they turned down the radio she was playing loudly.

Portage woman charged with neglect after children, mother found ailing

VALPARAISO | A woman was taken into custody Saturday after authorities found her children bloody from diaper rash, her mother faintly breathing and surrounded by "filthy conditions" along with a dead dog decomposing in a kennel at her residence.

A day in CHINS court

A pregnant woman tries to commit suicide in a homeless shelter after leaving her other two children with an acquaintance.

Decision may affect parents, children with mental illness

A recent Indiana Court of Appeals opinion could affect how judges handle cases involving some parents of children with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities.

Parents advised to 'abandon' children in order to secure mental health services

It was the hardest letter John ever had to write.

Officials: Mentally ill children who don't get help can end up in criminal justice system

A developmentally disabled Crown Point teen was handcuffed by police and taken to the juvenile detention center after ramming a broom handle into his parents' bedroom door.

Region parents struggle to get help for children with mental illness, disabilities

No one can hear Jennifer Smith's screams. The South Haven resident keeps them buried — locked behind the facade of a woman who has it all together. Smith's 11-year-old son, Jacob, screams for her.

Child Fatality report for SFY 2010

DCS report: Seven Lake County children died of abuse-related injuries

Lake County was home to seven of Indiana's 25 children who died of abuse or neglect between 2009 and 2010, a state report released Tuesday shows.

DCS: Slain toddler's mother neglected her disabled child in 2000

A region woman who one relative described as a "great mother" has twice been accused of neglecting her children, one of whom died in a high-profile homicide case, state records obtained by The Times show.

Merrillville man charged with hitting 88-year-old relative

MERRILLVILLE | A 56-year-old Merrillville man is accused of striking an elderly relative Dec. 21 at a home in the 1400 block of West 62nd Avenue.

Appeals court adjusts Hobart mom's sentence for role in baby's death

INDIANAPOLIS | For technical reasons, the Indiana Court of Appeals has adjusted the convictions and prison sentence of a Hobart woman whose neglect of her infant son led to his death.

Court upholds man's conviction on horse neglect

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld last year's conviction of a Jackson Township man who was found guilty of neglecting his horses by not providing adequate food and water.

Jada Justice, Austin Seese among local abuse, neglect victims

Eleven region children lost their lives to violence or neglect between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009, a state report released Monday shows.

Family, friends, strangers reach out during funeral service for slain Gary boy

GARY | Christian Choate's memorial service started with a song, and then a prayer. "We are here to grieve. To grieve with the family, and grieve with the community," Pastor John Hoffmaster said. "Because what was done here, was done among us."

Minnesota mom accused of abandoning children

MERRILLVILLE | Police say a Minneapolis woman who told her children they were driving to Northwest Indiana to attend a funeral reportedly abandoned two of the youngsters in a Merrillville hotel and returned to her home state.