Federal oversight of CT DCF comes to an end

A federal judge in Bridgeport granted a motion Thursday morning to end the federal oversight of Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families.

The Office of the Attorney General and the plaintiffs in the Juan F. Consent Decree filed the motion last week after the court monitor determined the state agency has achieved and sustained the court’s expectations, such as manageable caseloads, reduced out-of-state institutionalization and placing more children with relatives.

“It’s been 11,783 days since this case was filed,” said Chief Judge Stefan Underhill. “The clock has now stopped.”

The oversight began after a federal civil rights class action lawsuit was filed in December 1989. It cited “structural failures in Connecticut’s child welfare system” that put children and families at risk of harm, according to the motion filed last week.

When the case was filed, families were terrified of working with the agency and getting their kids taken away. “We had a broken, non-functioning child welfare system in Connecticut,” said Brian Lynch, the CEO of the Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut and an original plaintiff of the Juan F. Consent Decree.

Jeanne Milstein said when she was the state’s child advocate from 2000 to 2012, there were “hundreds of children placed out-of-state.”

“There were far too many group homes,” Milstein, who now serves as New London’s human services director, said.

And “the conditions of confinement for too many children were horrific,” she added.

Now, as more children are at home with their families or relatives, “We have gotten better at seeing that poverty isn’t bad parenting, it’s poverty,” Milstein said.

Lynch commended Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes and the state agency for the improvements it’s made in the past three decades. And though it took awhile to get to this point, Lynch said the extra time has allowed these changes to firmly integrate into the department and DCF now has the infrastructure to continue its growth.

Dorantes, who started with DCF as a case worker in 1992, said that though many people see this as an end, to her department, “it’s the beginning.” She wants to keep pushing for improvement in the department, and be held accountable along the way.

Dorantes said the department has recognized the importance of relative care and community-based services.

“We believe here in Connecticut that children belong safely at home and when safety cannot happen at home, they are with relatives or someone that they know,” Dorantes said in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Connecticut’s Child Advocate Sarah Eagan earlier this month noted that DCF has made “enormous progress,” but there still remain “unmet needs.”

“It will be imperative in the weeks ahead to thoughtfully plan for how the state will conduct policy-making and oversight for its child welfare system to sustain and keep building on the progress made and recognized today,” Eagan said Thursday.

Milstein agreed that there has been progress, but said “we still have a long way to go.”

Particularly, Milstein wants to see an emphasis on children's’ wellbeing.

“They need to feel safe and connected, they need to feel that they belong, they need structure and predictability and also some space to experiment and have autonomy. They need to be valued and they need to feel valuable,” she said. “These are the core elements of well-being.”

Instead of addressing the root problem, the child welfare system typically strives to chase the symptoms and provide a Band-Aid, she said. “It’s not working,” Milstein said. “And we need more.”

Ira Lustbader, with the nonprofit Children’s Rights, said that though problems and challenges will arise, the department now has the leadership, road map and resources to continue its progress, he said.

Several people at the hearing did note that the department needs to be fully supported in order to maintain its growth.

“The children and families of our state deserve nothing less,” Underhill said.