Wex Wimpy
August 22nd 03, 03:40 PM
DCF to submit plan to court monitor
Associated Press
August 22, 2003
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Department of Children and Families said
Thursday it would ask a court monitor to change the requirements DCF
must meet to exit court oversight.
The agency said the terms under which it can free itself from the
court's supervision were agreed upon by previous Commissioner Kristine
Ragaglia, and the proposed changes would be in line with the goals of
new Commissioner Darlene Dunbar.
"The process was fatally flawed," Dunbar said.
The child welfare agency has operated under a consent decree because
of a class-action lawsuit in
1989 that alleged the state violated federal laws by not adequately
protecting children.
Eighteen months ago, DCF had agreed to comply with negotiated
standards on 28 improvement measures. By July 1, a court monitor said
the agency had met the requirement for six. In addition, three of
10 fundamental issues were not met, the monitor said.
On Thursday the agency said meeting the requirements in that period of
time was unrealistic, but the plan was well-intentioned.
"If you come into work and your boss tells you that you need to do a
better job, and gives you 38 things you need to improve in, that makes
it a little hard to focus," said spokesman Gary Kleeblatt.
The proposal, not yet composed, was heavily criticized by the lawyers
that brought the original suit against the agency. Martha Stone,
co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the "Juan F." case, said that the
attorneys stood by the existing plan for improvement.
"What we have is a situation where we're having this administration
blame the last administration," Stone said. "We are frustrated that we
have not gotten compliance after all these years."
"It's cold comfort for foster children in Connecticut to hear a
proposed remedy be, `Let's just revise the numbers,"' said Ira
Lustbader, associate director of New-York based Children's Rights Inc.
The agency's move comes after a federal court monitor issued a series
of reports detailing shortcomings in the child welfare agency. The
monitor's reports said DCF failed to complete timely investigations in
a majority of cases and failed to substantiate abuse or neglect in
some cases in which a child was removed from a home.
The reports said the agency also did not have enough social workers,
and that social workers were overburdened with too-large caseloads.
Kleeblatt said the agency has until Sept. 19 to submit the plan to the
court monitor. Areas the agency plans to target as priorities are
safety, maintaining connections between families, staff training and
oversight and timely response to families, he said.
Attorneys said they will decide on a response in the coming weeks.
They may suggest court-appointed receivership, limited receivership or
additional care standards. They have also said they are considering
further legal action.
In a statement, DCF said it didn't believe receivership was an
appropriate remedy because it creates delays in helping families.
Lustbader said receivership would be appropriate "if the crux of
what's wrong is a failure of leadership and management."
"Which, unfortunately, is what we do have in Connecticut's child
welfare system," he said.
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-22014557.apds.m0201.bc-ct--dcfoaug22,0,7062830.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire
Associated Press
August 22, 2003
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Department of Children and Families said
Thursday it would ask a court monitor to change the requirements DCF
must meet to exit court oversight.
The agency said the terms under which it can free itself from the
court's supervision were agreed upon by previous Commissioner Kristine
Ragaglia, and the proposed changes would be in line with the goals of
new Commissioner Darlene Dunbar.
"The process was fatally flawed," Dunbar said.
The child welfare agency has operated under a consent decree because
of a class-action lawsuit in
1989 that alleged the state violated federal laws by not adequately
protecting children.
Eighteen months ago, DCF had agreed to comply with negotiated
standards on 28 improvement measures. By July 1, a court monitor said
the agency had met the requirement for six. In addition, three of
10 fundamental issues were not met, the monitor said.
On Thursday the agency said meeting the requirements in that period of
time was unrealistic, but the plan was well-intentioned.
"If you come into work and your boss tells you that you need to do a
better job, and gives you 38 things you need to improve in, that makes
it a little hard to focus," said spokesman Gary Kleeblatt.
The proposal, not yet composed, was heavily criticized by the lawyers
that brought the original suit against the agency. Martha Stone,
co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the "Juan F." case, said that the
attorneys stood by the existing plan for improvement.
"What we have is a situation where we're having this administration
blame the last administration," Stone said. "We are frustrated that we
have not gotten compliance after all these years."
"It's cold comfort for foster children in Connecticut to hear a
proposed remedy be, `Let's just revise the numbers,"' said Ira
Lustbader, associate director of New-York based Children's Rights Inc.
The agency's move comes after a federal court monitor issued a series
of reports detailing shortcomings in the child welfare agency. The
monitor's reports said DCF failed to complete timely investigations in
a majority of cases and failed to substantiate abuse or neglect in
some cases in which a child was removed from a home.
The reports said the agency also did not have enough social workers,
and that social workers were overburdened with too-large caseloads.
Kleeblatt said the agency has until Sept. 19 to submit the plan to the
court monitor. Areas the agency plans to target as priorities are
safety, maintaining connections between families, staff training and
oversight and timely response to families, he said.
Attorneys said they will decide on a response in the coming weeks.
They may suggest court-appointed receivership, limited receivership or
additional care standards. They have also said they are considering
further legal action.
In a statement, DCF said it didn't believe receivership was an
appropriate remedy because it creates delays in helping families.
Lustbader said receivership would be appropriate "if the crux of
what's wrong is a failure of leadership and management."
"Which, unfortunately, is what we do have in Connecticut's child
welfare system," he said.
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-22014557.apds.m0201.bc-ct--dcfoaug22,0,7062830.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire