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I don't know if it's that DCF lacks the ability to recognize the sage/ill
advice of experts or that it lacks institutional flexibility when a
situation arises that does not fit neatly into preconceived schemas of
operation. Combine either of those with an atmosphere of micromanagement
set by Commissioner Katz and you end up with a predictable set of
consequences: a result-oriented department with an interest in punishing
failures, little support at the case worker level, an institutional need to
fit people to the program rather than tailoring a program to the people and
a desire at all levels to hide mistakes by burying their collective heads
in the sand.

For too long now has DCF used the courts and the children they are tasked
to support as shields to hide mismanagement and systemic failure. By hiding
those failures, they have hidden their path to long-term success. By not
addressing their mistakes, past and present, the chance for growth as
professionals and as an institution has been stunted. And by focusing on
their federal overseers and satisfying the consequences of Juan F, they
will continue to fail scores of the individuals and families that they
purport to help.

None of the stories I've seen, heard about and experienced over the last
few years have shocked me. They are stories that are on repeat from child
protection agencies around the world. I'd hope that Commissioner Katz could
find a way to address these systemic problems. But with pressure from the
governor's office and the legislature to satisfy a judge and hit that
public success, we'll most likely have a doubling down on current
practices, continued failures and a new commissioner come 2016.


On Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 1:10 PM, Bonnie Berk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> http://ctmirror.org/op-ed-for-joshs-sake-and-janes-can-dcf-listen-to-others/
>
>
>
> *For Josh’s sake and Jane’s, can DCF listen to others?*
>
> Josh . .  is .  . a 17-year-old kid who has suffered abuse and many other
> unimaginable traumas in his young life. For the past four months, the state
> of Connecticut – that is you and I – kept Josh at Connecticut Juvenile
> Training School (CJTS). Not for any new arrest, but because he disobeyed a
> staff member at his group home and went down the street to smoke a joint.
>
>
>
> Jane Doe?  . . she has been moved five times this year  -- from detention
> to a treatment facility to CJTS to York Correctional Institution (an adult
> prison) to the Pueblo Unit back to CJTS.
>
>
>
> Office of Child Advocate: 11 fatalities of children in contact with DCF in
> the first five months of 2014
>