Governor Terry Branstad says he’s “disappointed” with Wednesday’s decision from a district court judge who ruled Branstad overstepped his authority in closing the Iowa Juvenile Home.
The judge ruled that the home should be reopened.
A key Democrat in the legislature is suggesting that rather than continue the court battle, the governor and his staff should work with legislators to come up with a new plan for caring for teenage girls in the juvenile court system who would have been sent to the Juvenile Home.
Even though the Juvenile Home was operated by the Iowa Department of Human Services, it was not subjected to regular, formal licensing inspections.
In 1983 the facility started housing two different types of girls: the most troubled teens in Iowa who would have been sent on to adult court if not for placement in the Iowa Juvenile Home as well as children who a court had declared were in need of assistance because of abuse or neglect from their biological or foster parents.
