Joette Katz Joette Katz, the former commissioner of the Department of Children and Families and the former Connecticut Associate Supreme Court Justice, has taken a job with the prominent Hartford law firm, Shipman & Goodwin LLP. Katz, who served eight years as commissioner and almost two decades on the state Supreme Court, will work with […]
Joette Katz
Posted inHealth
As DCF’s Katz bows out, the risky world of child protection awaits new administration
Joette Katz, who served under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for eight years, is resigning next month after what is believed to be one of the longest tenures leading a state child-protection agency in the nation. But it wasn’t always easy. Despite Malloy’s loyalty to her, Katz’s abrasive personality, refusal to back down from controversial decisions, and her decision to march the child protection agency in a new and sometimes perilous direction, resulted in a rocky eight years.
Posted inEducation
A pregnant teen dies, and DCF debates value of more transparency
Testifying at the state Capitol complex Wednesday about a spate of suicide attempts at the state’s psychiatric facility for children, the commissioner of the Department of Children and Families held up her right hand and promised to start publicly disclosing when outside inspectors deem the facility unsafe.
Posted inEducation
Final report on DCF under Malloy and Katz cites progress
Connecticut received Monday what is likely to be a federal overseer’s final assessment of the progress made by the Department of Children and Families during the tenure of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Commissioner Joette Katz, saying the state is closer than ever to ending nearly three decades of federal supervision. But not before the next governor takes office.
Posted inEducation
DCF seeks independent review of children’s psychiatric hospital
Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz said on Thursday she is seeking an independent review of the state-run psychiatric facility for children where a pregnant teenager hanged herself last month.
Posted inJustice
Juvenile center, ‘costly relic of Rowland era,’ closes
The Connecticut Juvenile Training School — the product of bid-rigging, outdated thinking and poor execution by the administration of Gov. John G. Rowland — closed Thursday as the last three young occupants left the sprawling detention center for home or private residential facilities.
Posted inMoney
In budget deal, a rebuke of the DCF
Critics of the Department of Children and Families are using the bipartisan budget deal to strip the agency of responsibility for its detention facility, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, and give it to the state court system. It’s an implicit rebuke of the DCF’s management of the facility.
Posted inEducation
Federal monitor: DCF can’t meet requirements under ‘current conditions’
After moving closer to compliance with its court supervision exit plan in the first quarter of 2016, the state Department of Children and Families was unable to make additional progress in the second and third quarters of 2016, a federal court monitor reported Tuesday. The court monitor put much of the blame for DCF’s continued failure to meet certain compliance standards on the state government.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Legislators reject DCF settlement in ‘Juan F’ case
The General Assembly voted overwhelming Wednesday to reject a court settlement that would have charted a path for the state Department of Children and Families to end decades of federal court supervision and shield its $800 million budget from cuts.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Connecticut, hospitality industry join to fight sex trafficking
The warning signs can be a well-dressed man of a certain age checking in to a hotel with an ill-dressed minor girl. The girl might be unwilling or unable to make eye contact. Or she doesn’t have her own money, ID or cell phone. She might show evidence of abuse, physical or psychological. By law, Connecticut hotels now must train their staffs to recognize them.
Posted inEducation
Legislators question shielding DCF from budget squeeze
Legislators are growing increasingly concerned with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s push to lock in an $800 million budget for the state agency responsible for the care of thousands of abused and neglected children – while he promises to slash spending elsewhere.
Posted inEducation
State watchdog: Infant’s neglect suggests systemic failure at DCF
Doctors determined that an infant placed by the Department of Children and Families with relatives had been malnourished for months, had weeks-old breaks in bones in both arms, a brain bleed and numerous other injuries. A state watchdog report released Tuesday called the case an “utter collapse of all safeguards,” while DCF says it was an outlier.
Posted inEducation
Malloy celebrates a DCF milestone, undeterred by other setbacks
MIDDLETOWN — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy delivered a vote of confidence Tuesday to Joette Katz, his only commissioner of children and families. Five days after the suspension of two DCF workers, Malloy joined Katz to celebrate a record in placing at-risk children with family members, instead of foster homes.
Posted inEducation
Federal monitor: Progress being ‘made and sustained’ at DCF
The state Department of Children and Families has “made and sustained progress” toward improving the state’s child welfare system, a federal court monitor reported Monday. The monitor released his “best findings ever” in two key areas – case planning and meeting children’s basic needs.
Posted inEducation
Union protests timing, process of layoffs at juvenile jail
Dozens of people gathered outside Connecticut Juvenile Training School Thursday to protest state layoffs that cut about one-third of the facility’s staff last weekend, creating what one union official called a “potentially life-threatening situation” for those still remaining.