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Lack of Funding By DCF Compromising the Safety of Connecticut's Most Vulnerable

Chion Wolf
/
WNPR
Joette Katz, Connecticut DCF Commisioner.
The court monitor said DCF doesn't have adequate front line staff to handle excessive caseloads.

A court monitor said the state is failing to meet critical measurements because of a lack of funding.

The Connecticut Department of Children and Families has been under federal oversight for 25 years. In the latest report measuring DCF performance, the court monitor found the state's fiscal problems were "compromising the safety and well-being of Connecticut's most vulnerable."

Specifically, DCF doesn't have adequate front line staff to handle excessive caseloads and there are persistent service gaps.

"So you have wait lists in many pockets around the state for critical services like substance abuse and domestic violence and mental health services for kids," said Ira Lustbader with Children's Rights, a national advocacy group.

Lustbader said the state's budget problems are not an excuse to shortchange the child welfare system. Children's Rights had sued the state in 1991, which led to the decades-long consent decree. 

Lustbader credited Governor Dannel Malloy and DCF Commissioner Joette Katz for making major improvements like keeping more kids with their families, and being less reliant on placing kids in institutions. He said Connecticut will never get out from under court oversight unless it commits adequate resources.

Lucy leads Connecticut Public's strategies to deeply connect and build collaborations with community-focused organizations across the state.

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