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.
DCF
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.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
In Connecticut juvenile justice, children get many second chances
A two-part series in the Connecticut Mirror this week asked the question of whether youth who break the law in Connecticut receive a second chance. It focused on the relatively small share of youth in the juvenile justice system who are placed in secure settings rather than the vast majority who receive services at home and in the community. What the article left out is that youths who are committed by Juvenile Court judges to the Department of Children and Families and placed at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School have received many second chances before that point.
Posted inEducation
Giving young offenders 2nd chance means system-wide reform
With a goal of reducing the number of young offenders incarcerated by 20 percent in three years, Connecticut will need to both prevent youths from entering the juvenile justice system and make sure they don’t return when they leave. Second of two articles.
Posted inEducation
Challenges for Katz at confirmation, then an endorsement
The sweeping changes made over the last four years by Joette Katz, the leader of the Department of Children and Families, drew mixed reviews Wednesday at a hearing that nonetheless ended with a unanimous vote in favor of her confirmation.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-Ed: Incarcerating disturbed youth is a flawed response
The particular facts of transgendered teenager Jane Doe’s case are unique, but the scenario of incarcerating severely abused children for entirely predictable behavior is all too familiar.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Incarcerating disturbed youth is a flawed response
The particular facts of transgendered teenager Jane Doe’s case are unique, but the scenario of incarcerating severely abused children for entirely predictable behavior is all too familiar.