The lockdown at Manson has advocates worried that incarcerated youth aren’t getting the services they need – or being vaccinated.
Sarah Eagan
Posted inJustice
CT Child Advocate report: Adult prison system is no place for minors
The adult prison system is not an appropriate place for minors, according to the Office of the Child Advocate.
Posted inJustice
Officials weigh massive changes in juvenile justice system
State officials will weigh a recommendation to create a new state agency for minors in the juvenile justice system.
Posted inEducation
Parents oppose greater oversight of their home-schooled kids
Connecticut home-school advocates and parents on Wednesday called an ongoing Office of the Child Advocate investigation into home education discriminatory and an invasion of privacy. The OCA opened the investigation after an autistic home-schooled child died of neglect.
Posted inEducation
Child advocate finds some homeschooled kids subject to abuse, neglect
Connecticut doesn’t have a way to insure the safety or well-being of children withdrawn from school for homeschooling, the state’s Child Advocate Sarah Eagan told lawmakers Thursday.
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
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
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
DCF commissioner tells legislators: Don’t close juvenile jails
Under fire over questions about how youths are treated while incarcerated — and facing calls from advocates to close the state’s juvenile jails in Middletown — Department of Children and Families Commissioner Wednesday reaffirmed her commitment to keeping the locked facilities she runs open.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Close the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Training Center
In a scathing 68-page report released July 22, the Office of the Child Advocate reported on its findings after an investigation of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School over the past 18 months. OCA conducted site visits and interviewed staff and residents; viewed videotapes; and analyzed facility reports, educational attendance data and treatment plans. The youth prison model embodied at CJTS can’t be fixed. CJTS should be closed and here’s why:
Posted inEducation
Expert: Progress made, more needed at jails for young offenders
An expert’s review of DCF’s locked facilities for juvenile offenders highlights the successes of a juvenile justice system that incarcerates fewer youth than 10 years ago, but also raises questions about the adequacy of mental health services provided for at-risk youths both in and outside of jail.
Posted inEducation
Questions (and answers) about CT’s new girls’ incarceration unit
“There are girls that really very easily can fill these 10 beds,” said Joette Katz, commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families.