DCS should release data about the children who previously would have received services but no longer do. Let the public evaluate whether those children should be left with no oversight.

Indiana’s Department of Child Services faces a new round of scrutiny following the death of Zara Arnold, a child with extensive DCS history who was killed by her father. Yet, just last year, DCS celebrated drastic reductions in the foster care system and improvements in child safety.

Once known for having among the highest rates of children in foster care in the country, Indiana reduced placements by 50% between 2018 and 2024. DCS attributed its “success” to the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act, a bipartisan federal law enacted during the first Trump administration.

FFPSA defunded group home and institutional placements and created a funding stream for “prevention services” as an alternative to foster care. Yet, the interventions funded by FFPSA have been slow to roll out, both because of burdensome regulations and because such dramatic shifts in the continuum of services were never supported by data. To date, there is no evidence of improved child safety or impacts on placements.

Indeed, Indiana’s flagship service — the Indiana Family Preservation Services program — is described as having “0 favorable effects” by the federal clearinghouse for evidence-based programs. 

That did not stop DCS from asserting the exact opposite last year. In federal testimony, Deputy Director of Child Welfare Services David Reed confidently pointed to Indiana’s family preservation program as “an intervention that helps keep kids safe and out of foster care.” He further claimed to have reduced racial disparities in foster care entries by two-thirds, relying on a calculation that anyone understanding basic statistics could debunk.

But Indiana did reduce its foster care population by 50% — if not through their prevention program, then how?

It wasn’t because Indiana had fewer concerned residents calling the hotline about suspected child maltreatment. Those numbers have barely budged, aside from a temporary drop during the pandemic, when children were out of the public eye. It also wasn’t because Indiana was providing services to more families when abuse and neglect was reported — the number of families receiving services has been in steep decline since 2017.

In other words, DCS did not provide more support to reduce the use of foster care. It is not intervening differently — just less.

The most likely explanation is that DCS simply raised the threshold for investigating reports of maltreatment and responding to child abuse and neglect, whether through in-home services or foster care.

Perhaps intervening less would be good if Indiana was previously over-investigating and over-intervening. If that’s the case, then DCS should be honest about it instead of claiming that its new prevention supports keeping children safe at home and, thus, drives large-scale foster care reductions.  

DCS should release data about the children who previously would have received services but no longer do. Let the public evaluate whether those children should be left with no oversight.

Like Zara Arnold, we know that other children continue to die of maltreatment. Children like Gwendalyn Cooksey, an 8 year-old girl with cerebral palsy and a history of physical abuse and exposure to parent drug use, who died of fentanyl poisoning in January. Or 5 year-old Kinsleigh Welty, who was starved to death in 2024 by her mother and grandmother only five months after the courts determined it was safe for her to return home from foster care.

New leadership should understand how DCS cut foster care in half without evidence of more, or better, services. The public deserves to know whether the children no longer served by DCS are truly “safe at home.”

Sarah Font is an associate professor of sociology and public policy at Penn State University. Emily Putnam-Hornstein is the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need at UNC Chapel Hill.

The northern lights put on a dazzling show late Sunday into early Monday morning across several U.S. states. If you didn’t see them, not to worry — you’ve got another shot at spotting auroras Monday night. You might have to do some traveling, though, depending on how far south you live from the U.S.-Canadian border.

More geomagnetic storms are predicted to hit the Earth soon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but their level of activity won’t be as strong.

While space weather is notoriously hard to predict, here’s what we know about Central Indiana’s chances of seeing the northern lights.

What are Central Indiana’s odds of seeing the northern lights Monday?

In short, not great. Experts at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center say the Kp index — a measure of Earth’s geomagnetic activity — will be lower Monday night than they were on Sunday, meaning the auroras will be further north.

Where in the U.S. will the northern lights be visible June 2?

Weather permitting, the northern lights could be visible low on the horizon in cities that include Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute website, which tracks the phenomenon.

Where in Indiana can I see the northern lights?

The further north you travel, the better the odds you’ll have of spotting auroras in Indiana. It also helps to find a spot far away from light pollution. Beverly Shores, around Gary, is an International Dark Sky location and therefore an excellent place for stargazing.

You can also travel to Kemil Beach at Indiana Dunes State Park and Dr. T.K. Lawless County Park in Michigan, which also are designated dark sky locations, according to DarkSky International.

Sunday’s northern lights: What did people on social media see?

People living in Alaska, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Minnesota shared images of Sunday’s auroras across social media. Here’s a little bit of what they saw.

What time can I spot auroras?

Experts say the best auroras are usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time).

These hours expand towards evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases. There may be aurora in the evening and morning, but it is usually not as active and therefore, not as visually appealing, according to NOAA.

Check out this northern lights photo gallery from October 2024.

More amazing things to watch: Return to Hawkins, Indiana, with ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 release this fall.

John Tufts covers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Find him on BlueSky at JohnWritesStuff.

The Indiana Pacers are embracing everything about advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.

Indiana defeated the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference finals, capping it off with a 125-108 win in Game 6 on Saturday night. Indiana will take on NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, which begin Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

The Pacers’ win was one for the books, with seven players scoring in double figures, led by Pascal Siakam, who scored 31 points and was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Tyrese Haliburton had a dominant second half and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Haliburton is the third player to record over 60 assists and 10 or fewer turnovers in a series, joining Chris Paul and Tim Hardaway, according to ESPN Research. He is the first player to achieve the feat in the conference finals.

Indiana’s road to the Finals wasn’t easy — on and off the court.

So once the Pacers had the Eastern Conference title in the bag, their social media team — and Haliburton — didn’t hold back on the Knicks and their shared history, landing a handful of worthy social media jabs.

Pacers packed up New York

The Pacers have a storied history of defeating the Knicks in the playoffs in the 21st century. They accomplished the feat in 2000, 2013, 2024, and now 2025.

To showcase their dominance over New York in the playoffs, the Pacers dropped a graphic highlighting their series wins over the Knicks with the Empire State Building and the 73-story One Vanderbilt tower behind Indiana’s starting five.

so long, New York.

we’ll be taking our duffel bags to the NBA Finals 😏 pic.twitter.com/v76x8kdpJC

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 1, 2025

The ‘Big Apple’

The Pacers also sent a post featuring the sports pages of various newspapers from each game in which they defeated the Knicks, while also taking a shot at New York’s nickname, “the Big Apple.”

start spreading the news 📰 pic.twitter.com/yMcsuun39T

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 1, 2025

Haliburton is the new Miller

In Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals, Pacers guard Reggie Miller made the infamous choking gesture toward director and Knicks fan Spike Lee at Madison Square Garden. Twenty-five years later, Haliburton recreated the gesture in Game 1 after completing a comeback in which the Pacers trailed by more than 14 points with 2:51 remaining in regulation. The Pacers’ social media team was quick to take note.

Haliburton goes at Ben Stiller

Actor Ben Stiller is known for his courtside Knicks appearances and for supporting the Knicks on social media. In Haliburton’s arrival to Game 6, he wore an all-black outfit with a black duffle bag. Stiller responded to the post pregame, saying: “Good thing he brought his duffle for the flight to NY.”

Haliburton’s response after the game?

“Nah, was to pack y’all up,” referring to the Knicks.

Nah, was to pack y’all up https://t.co/hhgo9fp8ib

— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) June 1, 2025

Haliburton vs. New York

Knicks fans were relentless with their antics during the playoffs — even throwing garbage bags at a Pacers fan and heckling him for wearing a Haliburton jersey on the streets of New York in the hours after the Knicks knocked off the Celtics in Game 6 of the East semifinals.

Haliburton actually invited the accosted fan to attend Game 4 in Indianapolis. He also kept the receipts and topped off a reel with his highlights from the series.

‘cers in 6 pic.twitter.com/cCjASm1qNF

— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) June 1, 2025