Connecticut DCF touts enormous progress after 30 years of federal oversight – CT Insider

A day after the state filed a motion to end federal oversight of the state Department of Children and Families, Gov. Ned Lamont heard about the departments progress in addressing some of the major issues they were facing several decades ago.

Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes, who started out at DCF as a case worker in 1992, told Lamont of improvements theyve made in the past 30 years, including hiring more case workers, reducing those workers case loads, lowering foster care rates and increasing kinship placements.

Lamont visited the agencys main office in Hartford Tuesday morning to thank the staff for all the changes theyve made, as well as the changes they plan for the future.

People forget about all the lives youre saving, Lamont told DCF officials. We desperately need these kids ... We need everybody lifted up in order to keep this state growing.

DCF is getting it right, he added.

The Office of the Attorney General and others filed a joint motion Monday to end the federal oversight over DCF, which started after a federal civil rights class action lawsuit alleged structural failures in Connecticuts child welfare system that put children and families at risk of harm in December 1989.

The filing came after the most recent status report from the federal court monitor confirmed that DCF has both met and consistently sustained the expectations from the court. The Court Monitor is confident that the DCF has the necessary infrastructure to continually improve performance," the report states.

The agency is now offering more proactive, preventative and supportive services, said Jodi Hill-Lilly, the deputy commissioner, who started with the department in 1988.

Whats really interesting is to hear families talk about wanting to be involved in the department, she said. Certainly we have our share of folks who are continuing to be angry because of our involvement, but theres some that knock at the door for us to be involved.

Were not the same agency we were in the 80s, she added.

The state agency has made a lot of strides to improve since the early 2000s.

In 2004, social workers visited 33 percent of in-home family cases at least twice a month. Now that number is up to 90 percent. Additionally, the percentage of children experiencing repeated, substantiated maltreatement has been cut in half, from 9.3 percent in 2004 to 4.7 percent in 2021, according to the motion.

Also, case workers arent as overwhelmed as they used to be. The 1,300 to 1,400 case workers in the agency each have, on average, about 12 to 15 cases, according to data from the agency.

The state agency has aimed to keep families together as long as theyre safe. Since 2019, there has been a 19 percent reduction in foster care cases, according to Dorantes.

This hasnt resulted in a spike in abuse, either, Dorantes told Lamont Tuesday. Repeat in-home maltreatment went from 9.4 percent in 2004 to 4.7 percent in March 2022, according to the states motion.

You dont want to send kids home for the sake of sending them home, we want to make sure that theyre safe, she said.

For children who do need to be removed from the home, DCF tries to put them with relatives or someone they know, which is known as a kinship placement. In January 2010, the kinship rate was at 21 percent. By January 2022, this was at 42.3 percent a 21.3 percent increase, according to the motion.

The rate of children being placed in out-of-state congregate care has also plummeted. On March 31, 2011, the number was at 352. As of March 15, 2022, there are only six children in these out-of-state facilities.

When children need clinical intervention, I think that needs to be close to their families and it needs to be in a way that works toward getting them back home, Dorantes said.

In December 1989, the federal lawsuit said DCF failed to make reasonable efforts to keep families together, failed to adequately investigate child abuse and neglect complaints, and failed to provide adequate safety, oversight and health care services to the children in the care, custody or supervision of DCF and children who the departments knows were or would be neglected, abandoned or at serious risk for maltreatment.

In January 1991, the state reached an agreement, or a consent decree, with the plaintiff and a judge adopted a 120-page plan to improve DCF operations. This included focusing on investigations and pre-placement services, foster care and out-of-home placement services, mental health and medical care, staffing and other factors. This was then overseen by a court monitor.

DCF made strides to improve, but not enough at the time. The motion states the agency struggled to comply with case loads and staffing, among other factors, throughout various exit plans.

The agency turned a corner in 2011 when Joette Katz was appointed as the DCF commissioner, according to the state. Kats immediately sought to overhaul DCFs organization structure by moving staff to regional offices and spearheaded fundamental policy changes that emphasized a family-centered approach, according to the motion.

Dorantes, who was hired in 1992 as one of the early hires of the initial decree, was appointed as commissioner in 2019 and was immediately committed to continuing and expanding the progress of her predecessor, the motion states.

Dorantes focused on meeting measures that had not been met. This resulted in sustained, reduced case loads, improved quality of in-home visits and additional time for household members and observation.

Under Commissioner Dorantes leadership, improvements under the governing 2017 Revised Exit Plan accelerated and full, sustained complaince has now been reached, the motion says.

Connecticuts Child Advocate Sarah Eagan said DCF has made enormous progress. Eagan has worked around the child welfare system for almost 20 years and has been the child advocate since 2013. Her agency monitors and evaluates public and private agencies that are supposed to protect children.

In particular, she has noticed DCFs drastic reduction in relying on institutional care and a large increase in placing children with relatives.

We dont put babies in group homes anymore. Things like that, its great progress, she said. And we dont ship all of our foster care children who have autism to out-of-state facilities.

This doesnt mean everythings perfect, though, Eagan said.

There remain unmet needs, she said. I dont think its a milestone that says why all our work is done ... Its a milestone that says a lot of things have been accomplished and theres no longer a need for forced oversight from the federal court.

The state will have to rely on itself to sustain and continue to build on the progress that has been made, she added.

Eagan hopes that policymakers, child welfare stakeholders and DCF itself can come together, make goals for the future and determine what state-based oversight will look like.

The DCF of today benefits from three decades work of child welfare evolutions and positions Connecticut to lead best practice areas and improved outcomes in support of the children and families we serve, Dorantes said in a statement. We await further direction from the court as to the outcome of this motion.

Families who think they may need help with child care, support or other resources should call 211 or visit 211CT.org.

Families can also find behavioral health services and support by going to ConnectingToCareCT.org.

To report instances of child abuse or neglect, call the DCF Careline at 800-842-2288.

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Connecticut DCF touts enormous progress after 30 years of federal oversight - CT Insider