A lengthy letter from the state Department of Children and Families released in response to concerns raised months ago by the state’s child advocate sheds light on actions the department is taking after a series of tragic child deaths. The letter also shows how the department is trying to address difficult conditions for employees, like high caseloads and overtime, that are leading to poor workforce retention.

In a 17-page letter addressed to Gov. Ned Lamont, DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton said the department is hiring support staff positions, improving on how quickly visits to children and caregivers take place and hiring a nonprofit to improve its recruitment and retention of foster families. Hamilton noted the agency partly disagreed with Child Advocate Christina Ghio, however, on its efforts to address behavioral healthcare for youth, an issue that advocates say is in dire need of attention.

Hamilton’s memo is a response to one released by Ghio in April that outlined a series of issues within DCF and her office’s recommendations on how to address them.

Ghio said she wrote the public letter in part to ensure that another tragic death — the apparent suicide of a child who died within an hour of being told by a DCF worker that the youth’s request to be moved into foster care ‘was not an option’ — did not go unnoticed. Ghio’s letter also discussed extensive concerns at the department, including poor workforce retention and casework quality.

The child welfare agency’s response identifies and responds to each of Ghio’s 15 recommendations. In most cases, DCF details changes that are being made to comply with OCA’s suggestions. In a few instances, DCF disputes Ghio’s assertions.

Ghio on Tuesday said that she was appreciative of DCF’s receptiveness to OCA’s criticisms. “There are some significant positives about their response,” she said, including an emphasis on in-person supervision of staff, a focus on safety practice and major hiring of support staff positions. “I think those are good things.”

Among the changes mentioned by Hamilton is her push to fill social work case aide positions. Those staffers assist social workers with a range of time-consuming tasks like driving children to appointments, so they can focus on their core work. In response to questions from the Connecticut Mirror, DCF said via email that 81 such positions are funded and 75 are currently filled, with two more candidates scheduled to begin employment this month.

DCF is also working with the Child Health and Development Institute to develop a statewide strategic plan to recruit and retain more foster parents, improve the process of managing placements and administer payments to cover services and supports for kids in foster care.

Responding to concerns about worker supervision, Hamilton wrote that new social workers are not allowed to telework within their first six months, which is part of the state’s telework agreement for all state employees. She reiterated previous assertions that in-person visitation and other mandatory case work is always done in person.

“However, we agree that in-person connection with supervisors, managers and other colleagues in accessible and meaningful ways is critical to our work,” Hamilton wrote, “and we will continue to prioritize those opportunities.”

One of Ghio’s strongest assertions in April was that many girls in DCF care with mental health needs are not receiving the care they need.

Ghio wrote that girls “wait twice as long as boys (about 80 days) for access” to psychiatric residential treatment facilities and when access to those is not available they are placed in STARR shelters, where they do not receive adequate treatment and often “lose hope, run away and/or fall prey to human trafficking.“

“DCF must take affirmative steps to develop a continuum of mental health treatment services, including out-patient, intensive in-home services for children and families, therapeutic group homes and residential treatment,” she wrote.

Hamilton wrote that while the agency doesn’t minimize the complex needs of such youth, “we respectfully disagree with the assertion that young women in need of treatment programs are routinely placed in Short-term Treatment STARR programs solely because appropriate treatment is unavailable.” She also said that they are “wary of assuming the solution to be ‘more beds.'”

Ghio said on Tuesday that she remains extremely concerned about the availability of not just any beds, but the ones girls need when they are in crisis.

“Because there are open beds in some programs, that does not mean that all children who need to be in a certain level of care have access to that level of care,” she said.

Recently, DCF employees held a press conference to draw attention to the high number of workforce injuries at Solnit South, the state psychiatric institution for youth age 13 to 17. Workers argued many injuries were “preventable” and the result of a lack of resources, funding and appropriate staffing at the facility.

Hamilton’s response this week said the agency welcomes “the opportunity for ongoing collaboration with the OCA and other key stakeholders.”

Ghio in April had also recommended the creation of a public data dashboard with “real-time quantitative data,” including the number of reports received and accepted, the number of children in in-home and out-of-home care, worker caseloads and other information.

Hamilton’s response noted that a public-facing dashboard was a priority but pointed out that a working group established by the Committee on Children “never completed its work and did not issue recommendations” regarding the dashboard.

The co-chairs of the Committee on Children, Rep. Corey Paris, D-Stamford, and Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, said they were surprised that DCF referenced the previous working group in the letter. Maher said the group was unable to complete the task of creating a dashboard because DCF’s information system at the time was not ready with sufficient pertinent data.

This year, Maher and Paris said, the working group is underway and has additional meetings planned. It expects to complete its work on time, they said.

A new oversight committee created by a bill passed this year will also be part of efforts to track the agency going forward. When the bill was proposed, DCF contended that no such committee was needed.