CROWN POINT | Gov. Mike Pence named Mary Beth Bonaventura as the head of the Indiana Department of Child Services Wednesday afternoon.
"Judge Bonaventura is uniquely qualified to ... protect Hoosier children from abuse and neglect. She is a strong leader who has an impeccable reputation of integrity and compassion for children," Pence said in a press conference in Indianapolis.
"She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience ... as Senior Judge of the Lake Superior Court, Juvenile Division -- one of the toughest juvenile court systems in the state," he said.
DCS has been in turmoil for months following media accounts of its failure to prevent child deaths by abusive parents.
Former Director Judge James Payne quit last September over allegations he improperly intervened in a DCS neglect case involving his grandchildren.
Bonaventura, a lifelong Lake County resident, was born in East Chicago and graduated from Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond. She received her undergraduate degree from Marian University in Indianapolis and her Juris Doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill.
She has served the Lake Superior Court, Juvenile Division, since 1982, first as a referee and later as a magistrate. Former Gov. Evan Bayh appointed her Juvenile Court Judge in 1993, and voters have retained her by wide margins under Lake County's nonpartisan judicial selection system.
As juvenile judge, she administered a court system and detention center with a staff of 169. The detention center can house up to 146 children determined to be a danger either to themselves or the public.
She has overseen a court responsible for adjudicating charges of criminal behaviors by children too young to be judged by adult courts, as well as providing care for neglected children, and establishing paternity in child support cases.
Her court was featured on national television in the 2007 MTV show "Juvies" and the 2009 MSNBC documentary "Lake County Juvenile Justice."
Staff writers Dan Carden and Marisa Kwiatkowski contributed to this story.