DHS cuts will most hurt the very vulnerable

I have to say I was pretty happy to see how much the budget for the Iowa Department of Human Services is being cut. The unfortunate part is that it will most likely just be the people at the bottom of the totem pole who will be let go.

The people who have learned to use the children of families as a steady paycheck without actually doing anything helpful will most likely remain. Frauds such as in the Family Independence Program go unprosecuted and unless some guy can be coerced by Child Support Recovery into paying for it, they are ignored and the fraud left to do it over and over again.

Citizens of this state have no idea what is being done to families and the kids in Iowa to keep these workers in clients and on the payroll. For example, a single family kept in the system for eight years, with four different court-appointed attorneys, two social workers, contracted service providers like Tanager Place and Four Oaks, and psychiatrists are let at the feeding trough, too. Multiply that times thousands of families and you have a lot of waste, fraud and abuse.

I say good riddance to bad rubbish if the negligent and unethical are let go. To the other ones, I say write your state representative the moment you get your pink slip and let them know what you now know about this corrupt agency.

Edward Owens

Cedar Rapids