Child deaths probe prompts calls for changes
Hearing set for Wednesday to address Child Advocate’s report
A hearing will be held Wednesday in response to a report released last week by the Connecticut Child Advocate seeking greater transparency and better safety planning by the state Department of Children and Families after a child died of fentanyl poisoning last year.
State Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, co-chair of the Committee on Children, believes DCF will move forward with the recommendations issued by state Child Advocate Sarah Eagan as internal policy goals. But if not, Linehan said, she would consider legislation requiring the agency to implement Eagan’s recommendations.
“It’s my hope that during his hearing we are all going to agree on what’s best for children,” Linehan said.
Linehan has also proposed legislation outlining when DCF caseworkers must conduct in-home visits during public health emergencies and when agency employees should connect with families virtually.
The informational hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Legislative Office Building and on Zoom.
“We look forward to this opportunity to engage in a discussion about the department’s efforts over the past year to respond to the nationwide fentanyl crisis,” DCF Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes said in a statement. “As our work on this issue has shown us, this public health epidemic knows no boundaries and safeguarding our children against its impacts requires that community members and key stakeholders are represented at the table given the critical role we all play in serving those most vulnerable in our state.”
Based on her findings from a one-year investigation into multiple DCF cases, Eagan recommended the agency implement ongoing quality assurance regarding its assessment, safety planning and service delivery to families. Eagan also said the state should create a framework for requiring DCF to be more transparent and accountable for Connecticut’s child welfare system.
Eagan’s investigation began in March 2022 after the death of Kaylee, a Salem baby who was fatally poisoned by fentanyl while the family received DCF services over allegations of neglect.
Kaylee’s father had a documented substance abuse problem and tested positive for using fentanyl days before the child was found lifeless in her playpen, according to warrants for the arrests of the baby’s parents.
Eagan studied several cases, concluding that DCF’s safety planning was lacking in some instances and the agency needed to do more to connect families with substance abuse disorders to in-home treatment, the report stated.
Eagan acknowledged in the report that since Kaylee’s death, DCF has provided better training to staff on how to deal with parents who are addicted to opioids and caregivers to prevent potential overdoses of children in their care.
Kaylee is among eight infants and toddlers in Connecticut who have died of fentanyl poisoning since 2020.
Last week, Michael C. Williams, DCF’s deputy commissioner of operations, questioned the timing of Eagan’s 15-page letter on the investigation’s findings, saying it would’ve been more helpful when Kaylee died last year.
Since the child’s death, he said, the agency has evolved how it handles cases involving substance abuse treatment.
“The contents of the report really don’t speak to the actual casework, the family work, the substance abuse work and issues like that,” he said. “It sounds like what she’s asking for in this letter is some reporting that we make public to her and the public around the outcome of our (quality improvement) work, nothing instructive about our practice on casework.”
Eagan noted in the letter that she met with DCF several times during the investigation, sent Dorantes a copy of the draft of the letter so she could provide comment and sought quality assurance reports on how caseworkers are implementing new safety planning guidelines.
Eagan said Dorantes did not respond to her letter and quality assurance reports have not been provided. Dorantes was notified on Jan. 18 that the findings would focus on the death of the Salem child and other cases that demonstrated what she considered concerns in the way DCF handled safety planning for other children.
Eagan also noted in the letter that a caseworker had not been to Kaylee’s home in the two months prior to the child’s death. In January, Eagan called the agency’s response to the family’s situation “deficient.”
The Salem baby died Feb. 8, 2022 — one day before a DCF caseworker was scheduled to visit the home after the family failed to engage in a planned virtual visit on Feb. 2, according to court documents and agency officials.
The hearing on Wednesday will focus on the work of the Child Fatality Review Panel and the findings of Eagan’s report, Linehan said.
“DCF does not need legislation to change their internal policies,” Linehan said. “If they agree with the recommendations, they can put them into practice.”
Linehan said she hopes an agreement can be reached on what policies are best for children.
“I know everyone wants what’s best for kids,” she said. “The question becomes on what points can we agree?”