BOONE COUNTY, Ind. The Indiana Department of Child Services is investigating after the agency shared an email containing the names of 290 Boone County employees and their Social Security numbers.On July 21, DCS sent an email co ntaining a spreadsheet with Boone County employee names and Social Security numbers to unintended recipients, according to an email sent to Boone County employees.DCS notified Boone County of the disclosure on July 22, according to the email.Boone County Attorney Beth Copeland tells Indianas I-Team that as part of an annual audit related to federal funding, DCS asked the Auditors Officer to produce information.That office sent to DCS a document that included a list of employees names and social security numbers, as well as other non-protected information, said Copeland in an email to Indianas I-Team. At this point, I believe the list contained the names of 290 county employees, as this federal program (that works through DCS) reimburses the County for expenses incurred on those employees who assist the program and receive long term disability.For some unknown reason, a DCS employee took that email with the attachment and forwarded it to four Boone County employees and two vendors who work with Boone County, said Copeland in an email to Indianas I-Team.Once discovered, Boone County IT pulled back the emails from employees and ensured they were not further disseminated, said Copeland.Boone County IT has also been in contact with and is working with the two outside vendors to confirm they do the same, said Copeland in an email to Indianas I-Team. DCS has acknowledged the incident, reported that it is investigating it and will be in touch very soon to discuss remediation options.Boone County is encouraging employees to review their credit reports and financial accounts for suspicious activity.Employees should also consider placing a fraud alert or security freeze on their credit files, according to the email sent to Boone County employees.Indianas I-Team contacted Indiana DCS for comment and the agency provided the following statement:The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) takes very seriously the protection of the information entrusted to us in providing services.On July 21, 2026, DCS Child Support Bureau learned that data in its custody was inadvertently disclosed by email to both internal and external parties. While this information was originally provided to CSB by the Boone County Auditor for use in CSBs ordinary course of business, it included additional data that the agency should not have received. DCS took immediate action to control the situation and is closely following state and federal protocols, including adhering to Indiana Code 24-4.9-3-1, commonly referred to as the Indiana Security Breach Notification Statute.Boone County is asking DCS to provide identity-theft and credit-monitoring services, according to the email sent to county employees. ...read more read less