City Council Debates Indianapolis Training Center's Future

News 8 WISH-TV/February 27, 2002

City lawmakers took on the case of a controversial youth center at their meeting Wednesday night. The Indianapolis Training Center has been plagued by allegations of child abuse and the focus of a News 8 I-Team investigation.

Teresa Landis wants the center shut down so much that she has sent out petitions and has collected 200 signatures so far. She says her daughter Tara was mistreated at the Indianapolis Training Center. Tara was sent to the faith-based center after fighting on the bus and hitting a teacher. She spent 10 months there. City councilman Steve Talley has received emails about the center from other parents.

At a public safety committee meeting Wednesday night, he proposed that the group withhold any funding from the center and vote in favor of recommending the city council hold off on referring any more kids there while child protective services looks into it. But committee head William Dowden said the center doesn't get any public funding, anyway and that a judge has already suspended referrals. He also said the meeting was not a public hearing and the committee tabled Talley's proposal.

The committee came out against Talley's proposal by a vote of 6 to 3. Talley says that he'll still present the issue to the full council at their next meeting on March 4th.