A federal judge Wednesday ordered Connecticut to commit to certain staffing and caseload levels at the Department of Children and Families as a step toward ending the court’s quarter-century oversight of the agency under a consent decree. Unlike an exit plan rejected in February by the legislature, it does not shield the DCF from budget cuts.
DCF
Posted inEducation
Child advocate finds many lapses preceded death of Hartford youth
A 17-year-old Hartford youth with autism died from starvation, dehydration and child abuse in February, just weeks after the Department of Children and Families closed its case file on him, an investigative report released Tuesday by the state’s child advocate said. The report criticized several state agencies it said had not taken sufficient action, including DCF, the Hartford Public Schools and the juvenile court.
Posted inEducation
DCF reaching out to same-sex couples as adoptive parents
Connecticut’s governor and its commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, who played a role in legalizing gay marriage as a state Supreme Court justice in 2008, marked Adoption Awareness Month on Monday by highlighting the state’s outreach to same-sex couples as potential adoptive parents of children in foster care.
Posted inEducation
She’s aging out of DCF care, graduating college and beating the odds
Ashley Foster will soon be graduating from college, defying the odds against foster children. One in five leave the state’s care without having a high school diploma or GED, few have a college degree and the majority are unemployed. Many go on to become homeless or incarcerated shortly after they leave care – things Foster is determined to avoid. She sat down to talk with The Mirror at her apartment in East Haven as she braces for aging out of the Department of Children and Families’ care.
Posted inEducation, Money
Little progress reported on closing the state’s juvenile jail
It’s been more than a year since Gov. Malloy said he would close the state’s controversial jail for juvenile offenders. Legislators received an update this week on where that promise stands – and the administration has yet to recommend an alternative.
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
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
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, Justice
DCF envisions a better way to work with incarcerated juveniles
The agency’s concepts offer a preview of what a juvenile justice system might look like after the state closes its controversial jail for juveniles in Middletown.
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.
Posted inEducation
Cutting DCF: Right-sizing or wrong-headed?
The Department of Children and Families says it has been able to absorb large budget cuts and better serve vulnerable children by placing more of them with family members and fewer with strangers in expensive group homes. But critics say the agency hasn’t been allowed to redirect enough of those savings into community support to improve outcomes. And more cuts loom.
Posted inEducation
Legislators press DCF on errors in child-risk assessment
Updated Feb. 5 at 4:10 p.m.
The Department of Children and Families faced intense scrutiny from state legislators Thursday morning for not identifying a number of high-risk child abuse cases, and several top officials acknowledged the department’s shortcomings and described steps that have been taken to improve.
Posted inEducation
A toddler dies, and the direction of a child welfare agency is tested
The debate over how to best protect children goes back decades, with advocates on one side arguing that keeping families together whenever possible is better for children. But others push back, saying that approach is applied too broadly and keeps children in dangerous environments.
Posted inEducation, Politics
7 hours of video released from inside CJTS and Pueblo Unit
Under fire for what has been called improper restraint and seclusion of youths at state-run juvenile correctional facilities, the Department of Children and Families has released nearly seven hours of surveillance video in an effort to provide the public a more complete picture of its operations.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Call for DCF’s Katz to resign is about children, not politics
Recent reports concerning the Department of Children and Families, along with Commissioner Joette Katz’s long history of failure, misplaced priorities and lack of transparency and accountability, leave me with no confidence in her willingness or ability to openly and seriously confront critical issues within her agency. That’s why I felt compelled to call for her resignation.