Hearing sought in Dcf-funded girls home case
Lawmakers react to report of crime, sex assault, trafficking
“There has been a noticeable change in the violence that takes place within this home, without any recourse to the juveniles that are present, and without any oversight by the staff on site.” — Kevin Ferrarotti, chief of the Harwinton Ambulance Association, in a memo
Following a report of alleged sex trafficking, sexual assaults and other crime at a state-contracted shelter for troubled adolescent girls, Republican legislative leaders are demanding an investigation while the key state agency involved said a turnaround has already begun.
Crime and dysfunction ran rampant at the STAR temporary shelter in Harwinton over the past year, with reports of fights, sex assaults of teenage residents, vandalism and theft rising sharply this past spring, according to an online report published Sunday by Connecticut Inside Investigator, which describes itself as a nonprofit newsroom.
Public safety officials and the resident trooper in Harwinton, a small Litchfield County town, expressed concerns for months about apparent mayhem at the home, with one telling DCF in May that the operation was “a free for all,” according to the report.
“There has been a noticeable change in the violence that takes place within this home, without any recourse to the juveniles that are present, and without any oversight by the staff on site,” according to a May 10 memo to DCF from Kevin Ferrarotti, chief of the Harwinton Ambulance Association.
On Wednesday, a half-dozen Republican legislators led by House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora signed a letter calling for an informational hearing.
The General Assembly’s committee on children should convene a hearing into the “shocking allegations of violent incidents involving both minor residents and staff, including assaults, sexual assaults by staff and residents, and sex trafficking,” Candelora wrote. “These problems, and others detailed by the report, expose a chaotic and dangerous environment both for staff at the facility and the children under their care.”
The letter went to Rep. Liz Linehan and Sen. Ceci Maher, the Democratic co-chairs of the General Assembly’s Committee on Children, and asks for a hear
ing that would be attended by DCF Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes, town and emergency services officials from Harwinton, and representatives from Bridge Family Center, which operates the Harwinton home.
Linehan said Thursday that she would be talking with DCF officials later in the day.
“I’m doing my due diligence, investigating and seeking out the facts myself. If those facts warrant a further investigation via a public hearing, I’m more than willing to do that,” she said.
“If there are faults somewhere, it’s the fault of adults failing the children and not the fault of the children themselves. I’ve heard cries from neighbors regarding group homes and vilifying the children who reside there,” she said. “But anything we do moving forward has to be about (protecting) the kids.”
DCF spokesman Ken Mysogland said the agency has been acting on the Harwinton issues since mid-summer. All but one of the female residents has been reassigned to another facility, and DCF isn’t putting anyone else there until it sees evidence of improvement in operations, he said.
“This is what a government agency should be doing when a problem is noted about a contracted provider. We met with the administration at the STAR program after issues were brought to our attention by the state police and by the town. A hold on admissions was placed,” Mysogland said in an email. “There are problems in this facility that they are addressing.
“The Bridge has been a longstanding, very trusted provider of ours. They have done work with our children and youth and families for decades. We will continue working with them,” he said.
DCF also said the Bridge Family Center has made progress in hiring more experienced staff including a program manager for the Harwinton home.
Troubles at the home appeared to peak in late spring, prompting Troopers Gregory Kenney and Nicholas Baldwin to advise town leaders about the surge in a June 29 letter.
In the first half of the year, there had already been 87 calls for police service there, including 10 reports of thefts, nine trespassing complaints, eight reports of threatening and 21 disorderly conduct complaints, they said. Troopers made 35 arrests there, and handled more than 60 reports of young clients who’d gone missing.
“Over the past year, the STAR home has also had numerous incidents including assaults, sexual assault/misconduct involving residents/staff, and juveniles going out into Harwinton’s community and committing numerous crimes of larceny and burglary,” they reported.
Police said that in 2021, several adult men were caught driving into town to meet a 14-year-old girl who frequently ran away from the group home. She used a dating app on her phone and troopers classified it as a sex trafficking case, ultimately charging a 26-year-old man with second-degree sexual assault. Also that year, they charged a 42-year-old male employee with first-degree sexual assault after he had sex with a 14-year-old girl while they were alone at the house.
Troopers said that they were investigating allegations that an female adult staffer sexually assault four teenage residents. In April, STAR home staff notified DCF of a “suspicious” video in the home’s surveillance system, but neither STAR nor DCF alerted state police until six weeks later, troopers said.