Julian Carroll vows to challenge $240K contract for Bevin's adoption 'czar'

A no-bid, $240,000-a-year state contract awarded to a Baptist pastor and professor to reform Kentucky's child adoption and foster care system is being challenged by a veteran state lawmaker who said he will urge fellow lawmakers to reject it.

State Sen. Julian Carroll,  a 21-year member of the General Assembly and a former Kentucky governor and lieutenant governor, said that Daniel Dumas, a vice president at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, simply is not qualified to be Gov. Matt Bevin's adoption "czar."

"He has absolutely zero experience in these areas," said Carroll, a Frankfort Democrat who plans to aggressively question the administration about the contract when it comes before the legislative Government Contract Review Committee in June.

Meanwhile, publications available on the seminary website in which Dumas said Christ is essential to the adoption process and appears to mock men in skinny jeans who ride scooters drew criticism from a gay-rights advocate.

"His appointment is a clear injection of religion into state adoptions," said Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign. "He wants to perpetuate the toxic ideas that lead to a lot of LGBT marginalization and discrimination."

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Neither the Bevin administration nor Dumas responded to requests for comment.

Carroll said he's concerned that the salary is "exorbitant" for the job and that the Bevin administration didn't seek other proposals before awarding the contract to Dumas.

"Our committee is always concerned about sole source contracts because it enables someone to make a political decision," Carroll said.

The contract, renewable for up to two years, is nearly $100,000 more than the governor's annual salary of $142,970 and allows for annual bonuses of up to 20 percent to be awarded by Bevin. A brief statement filed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services described the contract as "not practical to bid," which allowed it to award it to Dumas without seeking other proposals.

The cabinet signed the contract with Red Buffalo Ventures, Dumas' consulting company on May 1, one week after Dumas filed paperwork with the Kentucky secretary of state to organize Red Buffalo as a limited liability company.

Carroll is one of two Democrats on the eight-member contract review committee and acknowledged it will be tough to convince Republican members to reject the contract awarded by Bevin, a fellow Republican. Still, he said, "that doesn't mean we don't raise the problems."

Sen. Max Wise, a Republican who co-chairs the committee, said in a statement from his office that the matter will be reviewed and discussed at the next meeting June 13.

"Mr. Dumas' contract will go through the same review process as every other contract prior to our June meeting," Wise said. "As co-chair I will ensure that every question from members of the committee receives an answer and that the Bevin administration has the ability to fully articulate its position."

Bevin, during his 2017 State of the Commonwealth address, identified improving the state's system of adoption and foster care as a priority and pledged to appoint a "czar" to oversee such improvements.

Bevin and his wife, Glenna, have four adopted children from overseas, and he frequently cites his frustration about a previous unsuccessful effort to adopt a child through the state foster care system.

Carroll said he appreciates the governor's concerns. And, as a lay minister in the Assemblies of God church, Carroll said he respects the Baptist seminary and Dumas' church credentials.

But, "I am absolutely astonished in regard to this fine gentleman to see that the governor has made an appointment of an individual at an outrageous salary who has absolutely none of the experience that is required to perform the job," Carroll said.

The seminary's website says Dumas has a master's of divinity degree from The Master's Seminary, based in Los Angeles, and a bachelor's from Criswell College, a Baptist school in Dallas, and worked as a pastor before joining the seminary in 2007.

In "A Guide to a Biblical Manhood," a book published by the seminary press that Dumas co-wrote, a brief biography describes him as "a devoted follower of Jesus." It adds that he served in the military for five years, is "an avid outdoorsman" and says "he is on a personal mission to rid the planet of 'men' wearing skinny jeans and driving scooters."

It also says Dumas and his wife, Jane, are the parents of two adopted sons, a detail cited by the Bevin administration in a press release announcing his appointment as adoption czar.

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In another book published by the seminary press, "Adoption and Orphan Care," Dumas writes a chapter on his family's experience with adoption. Both were private adoptions; in his state role, Dumas would oversee more than 8,000 children in state foster care, some of whom are eligible for adoptions.

Dumas writes in detail about the frustrations surrounding the adoption of the second child after the birth mother in another state initially appeared uncertain about whether she was willing to give up the newborn but eventually agreed to do so.

Dumas wrote that "Dependence on Christ's aid is crucial throughout the process" and advised men to remember that "we must lead throughout the process so we bring theology to bear on the home and speak into the adoption process."

He adds: "Our wives crave and desire our leadership, especially in uncharted waters."

Dumas' religious background has prompted objections from state Rep. Jim Wayne, a Louisville Democrat who wrote Bevin on May 4 expressing concern about whether Dumas could be objective about LGBT individuals or same-sex couples seeking to adopt, given the seminary's strict stance against homosexuality.

Wayne is asking Bevin to reconsider the appointment given those concerns and Dumas' lack of credentials in child welfare. He said the governor has not replied to his letter.

"The concept of a czar is not a bad concept," Wayne said, himself a social worker. "I really applaud him for that. But why wouldn't we get an expert?"

Contact  reporter Deborah Yetter at 502-582-4228 or dyetter@courier-journal.com.