Fix Iowa’s outdated government blacklist

By The Des Moines Register

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Charlie Krogmeier, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, has some ideas about improving the state child abuse registry. Last week, he suggested lawmakers might reduce the length of time someone is on the registry - now 10 years. They could change the way employers check job applicants against it. He recognizes there are some problems with the list his agency maintains.

But Krogmeier is on his way out. Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has named Chuck Palmer as his replacement.

Palmer needs to pick up where his predecessor is leaving off - and go further. He should encourage lawmakers to rethink the very existence of the abuse registry. And if the state is going to continue to maintain such a blacklist, the way it is compiled and made available to the public must be reformed.

The registry is out of control.

It contains the names of 50,000 people - more than other states with similar populations. Social workers, not judges, place people on the list and most of these Iowans were not charged with crimes. They are not given adequate opportunities to defend themselves. Earlier this year, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state wrongly placed a mother on the list. Numerous Iowans have come forward with similar complaints.

The Register's editorial page staff has interviewed several of them.

One woman told of her difficulty getting a job in a nursing home because she had been accused of abusing her granddaughter years earlier. She didn't even know she was on the registry until she applied for a new job. An Iowa man lost his job working in human services and had to declare bankruptcy - before an administrative law judge cleared his name. A teacher told us she was afraid to apply for a new job because she was on the registry for a fight she'd gotten into with her teenage daughter several years ago.

It will take political courage to address problems with the registry. No one wants to be seen as “soft” on child abuse. Palmer must find that courage - and help lawmakers find it as well. .

And if a child abuse registry continues to exist, lawmakers must ensure it's not too easy for Iowans to have their names placed on it and not too difficult to get them removed. That will best protect Iowans' rights.

The child abuse registry also is a drain on state resources because the list is so long.

Some employers must receive approval from DHS to hire an applicant, so state workers spend a lot of time checking criminal records for businesses. “The DHS currently is asked to make these hiring decisions about 7,600 times a year. ... Criminal histories are already available to employers and to the public in general,” Krogmeier said. .

Palmer said he's going to focus on ways to keep costs down and improve efficiencies at DHS. A good first step: Ask lawmakers to right the wrongs of an outdated government blacklist.