Indiana DCS Controversy: Adam Krupp Lands $210K Adviser Role After Disappearance, Raising Transparency Concerns

Adam Krupp, former director of Child Services, disappeared from his job for three months, from January until just a little bit ago, and all he would disclose is he had a medical condition. Wouldn’t tell you what it was, wouldn’t tell you when he was coming back, nothing. And look, I’m all for people having their privacy. I’m all for people having private lives. I wish Adam Krupp, whatever his medical ailment is, the best of luck. I hope he gets a speedy recovery. However, when you’re making $210,000 of my money and you are able to make decisions on how my money is spent, I get to know about you, especially if you can’t do your job if you’re not showing up to work.

Why Taxpayers Are Questioning Adam Krupp’s $210K Adviser Role

I get the right to know about you and why you’re not at your job. I’m not talking like, hey, the guy had an appendectomy or he had his gallbladder out, he’ll be back in three days. I don’t need to know any of that. When you’re gone for three months, I need to know. And we didn’t get the right to know. And then all of a sudden, we get this announcement from the governor’s office that Krupp is out as head of DCS, and he’s now in a special advisor role. What is that role? We don’t know. But we do know it’s still going to keep paying him $210,000 a year plus benefits. Oh, and by the way, the new DCS director got about, I think we did the math, a $42,500 raise. So a lot of money, a lot of our money going out the window at a time where just last year Braun, the governor, told us we were so broke we couldn’t pay our bills without raising taxes by $1 billion. Well, I just found $210,000 to a role they won’t tell you what it is for a guy that was gone for three months.

Unanswered Questions From State Officials Raise Transparency Concerns

So WRTV 6, Kara Kenney, WRTV 6 Investigates, asked the governor’s office and state personnel department several questions. Here’s the questions they asked, then I’ll read you their response. Is there a job description for the special adviser to the governor? Was the job posted? Are there set hours for the position? Is it salaried? Will the position be funded out of the DCS 2026 budget? What is the time range for this position? Is it temporary? Does the position come with benefits? I don’t see any gotcha questions. They all would have been very helpful if the governor’s office had said that in their press release. Seems like we have the right to know as taxpayers. Here’s the response. "Adam’s role is a regular, full-time salaried state position with no special employment code and is being created." So now we know they did create it just for him. "The position will be paid through DCS for administrative purposes while functionally reporting to the governor’s office. He will have the option to enroll in the state employee health plan consistent with other full-time state employees." Did you notice what was missing? What the hell does this guy do? Like I’m guessing in most positions, if you make $210K, not only you but your coworkers know what you do. $210,000 for a guy who disappeared for three months, wouldn’t tell us where he went or what he was doing or why he was out specifically, and now we don’t know what he does. RTV6 goes on to say SPD and the governor’s office have not yet responded to the remaining questions, including a job description. Guys, this is like the world’s biggest red flag. It’s standard operating procedure in the Braun administration, in the Morales administration, in the Beckwith administration, or is it the Beckwith-Braun administration, because Braun lets Michael Beckwith boss him around? Isn’t that wild, how subservient the governor is to the lieutenant governor? There’s just all these red flags, and these guys go, well, kiss my ass, what are you going to do about it? You create a job that pays $210,000 and you won’t tell people what he does. Why is that okay on any planet? Don’t I have the right to know why this job is worth my money, what I’m getting in return for my money? You do everywhere else but government, because they take it from you. Government takes the money by force from you, so they don’t owe you anything in their mind. We’ll do whatever we want to do with your money. What are you going to do about it? You don’t have the option to opt out.

Lawmakers Speak Out on Government Spending and Special Treatment

Here’s what a couple of state lawmakers said. Now the Republicans refused to return comment to RTV6. Isn’t that crazy? The Republicans, they don’t have anything to say about this in the House or the Senate. Here’s what State Senator Fady Qaddoura said. "I’m concerned because this is out of the normal of how government works. State government is not a private company. It’s a public institution funded by taxpayers, so taxpayers deserve to know the answers to these questions. This position as a governor’s advisor never existed before for that specific role. It seems this was a personal privilege that was afforded to a government employee that was not extended to others. That special treatment and favoritism is not something I support." Yeah, spot on. Why do the Democrats have to keep talking sense? Why aren’t the Republicans saying this? This is total party insider special treatment. Representative Greg Porter, who’s on the state Budget Committee, said our priorities are wrong. "It’s very alarming to me. Dollars that we have should be going toward keeping children safe. This is not good governance." By the way, Qaddoura made a great point on the $210,000. He said, "I would have been more in favor of using a quarter of a million dollars to hire three additional case managers that can oversee cases, reduce the workload, and improve the quality and oversight of investigations that DCS performs." Bingo.

Debate Grows Over Priorities at Indiana’s Department of Child Services

DCS is supposed to be about helping kids, taking care of kids, dealing with adults who can’t take care of kids, and ensuring those kids are placed somewhere safe. You could have hired three people to do the role this guy’s doing. Who do you think is going to do more for kids? Three trained caseworkers who actually care about doing their job, or some political hack who disappeared for three months and now has a role they won’t tell you what it is? As usual, the Republican Party, Mike Braun, not about kids, not about taxpayers, not about helping us. Simply a giveaway to one of his political buddies. And shame on Adam Krupp for taking the position. Shame on him.