The Indiana Consulting Machine
20 years. $2+ billion to consultants. Systems keep failing. Contracts keep flowing.
WHERE_THE_MONEY_GOES
$24-50
per day to foster families
($8,700-$18,200/year)
$85,000
state cost per child/year
($977M ÷ 11,547 kids)
$1.07M
average Deloitte payment
(66 payments from DCS)
Foster families receive 10-21% of what the system spends per child. With federal matching, total cost is ~$113K/child. The rest goes to bureaucracy and contractors.
INDIANA_DCS_INVESTIGATION
├─ dcs_state_budget_fy24 $977M (verified appropriation)
├─ dcs_total_w_federal ~$1.3B (with Title IV-E match)
├─ consulting_statewide $491.5M
├─ foster_family_pay $24-50/day (poverty wages)
├─ budget_increase +88% since 2013 ($520M → $977M)
├─ children_in_foster 11,547 (6th highest removal rate)
└─ source IN State Budget Agency, DCS Rate Letters
Same Playbook, 20 Years Running
2006: Indiana gave IBM $1.3 billion to privatize welfare. People died waiting for wrongly denied benefits. The guy who awarded that contract? Back running FSSA as of January 2025.
2013: Pence brought in KPMG and Deloitte. 2023: $1 billion Medicaid shortfall that officials "can't fully explain." 2025: Deloitte gets that contract too.
Deloitte currently faces an FTC complaint for faulty Medicaid software in 20+ states. Their Indiana lobbyist? The former GOP Chairman who resigned in December 2024 to take the job.
HOW_LOBBYISTS_KEEP_CONTRACTS_FLOWING
1. Former 3-term GOP Chairman lobbies for Deloitte (Krieg DeVault)
2. Former State Senator/GOP Chair resigns to lobby for Deloitte (2024)
3. Pence legislative director joins Deloitte as Client Executive (2022)
4. KPMG executive appointed to run FSSA under Pence (2014)
5. Ex-ACS executive returns to run FSSA under Braun (2025)
6. When systems fail, same firms get new contracts to fix them
DCS (2013-2024)
2013: Pence becomes Governor. Appoints Mary Beth Bonaventura (36-year veteran) as DCS Director. Brings in Michael Gargano from KPMG to run FSSA.
2015: Pence hires Deloitte for "independent" caseload analysis. Deloitte recommends more staff and better IT. Then Deloitte builds the IT. Then maintains it. $70.6 million later, still there.
2017: Bonaventura warns the system is failing children. Forced out.2024: Budget up 88%. The man she called "the greatest threat to DCS reform" is now DCS Director.
Where the Money Goes
DCS budget (FY2024): $977M for 11,547 children.$85,000 per child from state funds. With federal matching: ~$113,000.
Foster families get $24-50/day ($8,700-$18,200/year).
├─ 4,000+ DCS employees (37% turnover)
├─ Private residential facilities $480/day
├─ IT & consulting $250M over 4 years
├─ 214K investigations/year (2x national rate)
└─ Admin overhead
Indiana removes children at the 6th highest rate nationally.
The Budget Explosion (2013-2024)
| Year | Budget | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $520.0M | Pence becomes Governor, appoints Bonaventura |
| 2014 | $550.0M | Gargano (KPMG) appointed to FSSA |
| 2015 | $580.0M | Deloitte hired for "independent" analysis |
| 2016 | $612.0M | CCWIS federal mandate enacted |
| 2017 | $629.0M | Pence becomes VP; Bonaventura resigns(whistleblower exit) |
| 2018 | $629.0M | Verma now runs CMS (controls federal match) |
| 2019 | $679.0M | +8% increase |
| 2020 | $780.0M | COVID increases caseloads |
| 2021 | $850.0M | COVID federal relief |
| 2022 | $920.0M | Heather Neal joins Deloitte |
| 2023 | $950.0M | Randy Head resigns GOP Chair to lobby |
| 2024 | $977.0M | Eric Miller becomes DCS Director |
"I choose to resign, rather than be complicit in decreasing the safety, permanency and well-being of children who have nowhere else to turn."
Mary Beth Bonaventura, DCS Director, resignation letter (Dec 2017)
Data sources: Indiana State Checkbook, FEC contribution records, Indiana Lobby Registration Commission, KFF Health News, Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group, National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, Indiana Capital Chronicle, Indianapolis Business Journal. Last updated January 2026.