Republican leaders in the Iowa House are launching an investigation into the Department of Human Services, “inspired by” the case of a central Iowa teen who died last October of starvation. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer says they do not plan to ask direct questions that might jeopardize the criminal case against Natalie Finn’s adoptive mother and the woman’s ex-husband.
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The House Government Oversight Committee will conduct the investigation. Committee chairman Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says the panel will look at how the Department handles child abuse and neglect allegations and how the agency follows up after placing a child in foster homes or with adoptive parents.
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The committee may meet into the summer and fall and Kaufmann says could make recommendations for some sort of legislative action.