Concerns are growing over $9 million in budget cuts to the Department of Children and Families that are part of Governor Dannel Malloy's rescissions to deal with a growing deficit. The cost savings align with a DCF goal to place fewer kids in group homes but critics say it's not always the best option.
Two-thirds of the DCF budget cut will come out of the agency's funding for group home placements. Over the last few years, DCF has been reducing the times it sends children to group homes, instead relying on foster care or placing them with relatives.
State Senator Beth Bye, co-chair of the Appropriations Committee said the policy sounds good, but she has questions about the impact.
"We're hearing from DCF line workers and regional managers that they're having great pressures -- even if they think a child should go to a group home -- not to place a child there whenever possible," Bye said. "We have to be really careful not to use the budget crisis to push this even further and faster."
Ron Cretaro, Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits, represents 100 organizations that contract services to DCF. He said DCF's reliance on foster care has led to at least ten homes closing in the last year, and he questioned what community supports exist for foster families. "Many of the kids who have gone into group care, historically, have a greater level of needs and challenges," he said. "So it's going to put extra stress on foster parents."
In a presentation to community providers, DCF stated that in the next three years, it will need 300 fewer group home beds, and 144 more foster homes.
DCF and the governor's budget office, the Office of Policy and Management, did not respond to requests for comment.
