Sad state of affairs! Displace all the children and tear the place down
probably!
In the IndyStar Thursday January 8, 2009
Keep youth home open, Legion urges state
The Indiana Department of the American Legion is urging state officials to
reconsider their decision to close a 143-year-old home for troubled
children.
Indiana Legion spokesman Stephen Short said Thursday the 125,000-member
organization is nearly unanimously opposed to the decision to close the
Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home near Knightstown. The group
will meet with state officials this weekend at the Legion's annual midwinter
conference to discuss its concerns.
The Indiana State Department of Health said this week it would close the
home and move the 114 fifth- through 12th-graders into community settings in
May. The state cited the costs to renovate and maintain the facility, which
was founded in 1865 to care for children of Civil War veterans and once
housed 1,000 children.
Veterans groups have helped support the home since it was founded. The
Indiana Legion gives $50,000 in money and services each year, Short said.