Connecticut Department of Children and Families

The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a state agency of Connecticut providing family services. Its headquarters is in Hartford.[1]

Connecticut Department of Children and Families
Agency overview
JurisdictionGovernment of Connecticut
Headquarters505 Hudson Street Hartford, CT 06106
Minister responsible
  • Vanessa Dorantes
Websitehttp://www.ct.gov/dcf/site/default.asp

History

The Connecticut Department of Children and Youth Services was established around 1970. The Long Lane School became a part of the new department in 1970.[2]

In 1989, a group of plaintiffs instituted an action against the Connecticut Department of Children and Youth Services [3] which resulted in a requirement for federal court supervision of DCF, which has continued for more than 20 years to date. The Connecticut DCF, as recently as 2012, was under this supervision due to its inability to correct the problems identified.

The department received its current name in 1993.[2]

In July 2003 employees of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) filed a complaint with federal authorities, stating that the DCF did not do enough to protect inmates from sexual assault and violence and that the DCF gave girls at contracted facilities fewer opportunities than the boys at CJTS. The Boston Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education began an investigation.[4]

Bureau of Juvenile Services

The Bureau of Juvenile Services operated the state's correctional facilities for children; it received its current name in 2003.[5]

Corrections for boys

The Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) was the state's secure facility for delinquent boys.[5] The CJTS is located in Middletown. The $57 million juvenile correctional center opened in August 2001.[6] The Walter G. Cady School of the Unified School District #2 (USD #2) served residents of the CJTS.[7] CJTS closed in 2018.[8]

Long Lane School
Main article: Long Lane School

The state of Connecticut used to operate the Long Lane School in Middletown, a juvenile correctional facility for boys and girls of the ages 11–16.[9] As of 2002 about 35 girls resided there.[10] The facility had three cottages for boys and one for girls.[11]

In 2002 the Government of Connecticut announced that the Long Lane School, then the state's designated juvenile center for girls, was closing. Girls were moved to the Connecticut Children's Place in East Windsor. The closure occurred after the Attorney General of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, and a state child advocate, Jeanne Milstein, investigated a suicide attempt at Long Lane and then asked DCF to review its practices regarding the safety of delinquent girls.[6] Long Lane was scheduled to close on December 30, 2003.[10]

Corrections for girls post-2003

By 2002 several adjudicated girls had run away from Children's Place, which was designed as an open community.[12][13]

By 2009 the state was using York Correctional Institution, an adult women's prison, to house some delinquent girls ages 15–18,[14] who had committed crimes as juveniles. As of February 2014, two girls were assigned to York, 21 girls were in pre-trial facilities, and no girls were out of state. One girl was waiting to get into Journey House, a secure facility for girls;[15] Journey House is a privately operated facility on the property of Natchaug Hospital in Mansfield Center.[16][17]

By 2013 the state planned to establish a hardware secure facility for 10-12 girls at the Albert J. Solnit Center, a facility at the former Riverview Hospital.[18] Pueblo Unit, a state-owned, newly opened facility next to the CTJS in Middletown, was established so the state would not have to send juveniles to York.[19] The state spent $500,000 to renovate Pueblo Unit into a girls' facility, and this was completed in March.[20] It is intended to house two girls placed on an emergency basis and ten girls for longer commitments, up to six months.[19] Pueblo Unit has classrooms, common areas, three double rooms, and six single rooms.[21]

As of 2014 DCF assigns girls to two locked facilities: Pueblo Unit and the Journey House.[19]

Albert J. Solnit Children's Center

The Albert J. Solnit Children's Center- North Campus; formerly the Connecticut Children's Place (CCP),[22] and the State Receiving Home; is located in Warehouse Point,[10] in East Windsor. Effective December 1, 2013 it became a psychiatric treatment facility for juvenile males.[22] It had been a state residential and educational center for abused and neglected children of the ages 10–18.[23] It has three cottages, with each having 14 beds.[10] After the closure of the Long Lane School, CCP became the housing point of delinquent girls adjudicated by the state.[6] Delinquent girls were to be moved to a vacant cottage that was "staff secure," meaning patrolled by employees but not hardware secure.[10] This unit was to have 12 beds.[24] In 2003 some area selectmen met with DCF and discussed concerns about the facility.[25]

Albert J. Solnit Psychiatric Center - South Campus is in Middletown.[26] The primary secure girls' correctional facility, intended for short-term use, is located on this property.[27]

Commissioners
  • Wayne Mucci (1970)
  • Francis H. Maloney (1971 - 1979)
  • Mark J. Marcus (1980 - 1986)
  • Amy B. Wheaton (1987 - 1990)
  • Rose Alma Senatore (1990 - 1994)
  • Linda D'Amario Rossi (1995 - 1997)
  • Kristine Ragaglia (1998 - 2003)
  • Darlene Dunbar (2003 - 2007)
  • Susan Hamilton (2008 - 2011)
  • Joette Katz (2011–2019)
  • Vanessa Dorantes (2019–Present)

References
  1. "Send Us Your Comments and Questions Archived 2010-07-09 at the Wayback Machine." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on August 23, 2010.
  2. "Long Lane School". Connecticut State Library. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  3. Poitras, Colin (2004-01-08). "DCF FACES CIVIL RIGHTS PROBE". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
  4. " Welcome to the Bureau of Juvenile Services." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on August 23, 2010.
  5. Seay, Gregory. "LONG LANE TO CLOSE SOON ; GIRLS FROM SCHOOL TO BE DISPERSED." Hartford Courant. November 26, 2002. B1. Retrieved on August 23, 2010.
  6. "Connecticut Juvenile Training School." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  7. Middletown Press Staff (2018-04-13). "State closes Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown". connecticutmag.com. Connecticut Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  8. "DCF Offices and Facilities." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. February 13, 1998. Retrieved on December 2, 2010.
  9. "New girls unit to open at Children's Place." Journal Inquirer. Tuesday July 16, 2002. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  10. "Chapter Five." Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee, Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  11. Smith, Lary. "Officials Focus On Runaway Children." Hartford Courant. April 9, 2004. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  12. McCluskey, Christine. "Escapes proves safety elusive ." Journal Inquirer. Tuesday August 26, 2003. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  13. "Sticking it -- a juvenile detention center for girls -- to Bridgeport" (). CT Post. Friday October 23, 2009. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  14. Thomas, Jacqueline Rabe. "Questions (And Answers) About CT’s New Girls’ Detention Unit Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine" (). The Connecticut Mirror at the Newtown Bee. Monday April 7, 2014. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  15. "Locations Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine." Natchaug Hospital. Retrieved on December 17, 2015. "JOURNEY HOUSE 189 Storrs Rd., Mansfield Center, CT [...] Located in Natchaug Hospital's Mansfield Center campus on Rte. 195 just north of the Eastbrook Mall and the intersection of Rte. 6." - Directions Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine()
  16. "Connecticut Juvenile Training School Journey to Journey House." African-American Cultural Center, University of Connecticut. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  17. Beals, Shawn R. "DCF Plans Secure Facility For Girls At Risk Of Running Away" (). Hartford Courant. August 6, 2013. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  18. Thomas, Jacqueline Rabe. "Questions (and answers) about CT’s new girls’ incarceration unit" (). CT Mirror. April 7, 2014. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  19. Fetterling, Jessie. "Pueblo Unit Opens for Juvenile Justice Girls" (). Correctional News. June 10, 2014. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  20. Beals, Shawn R. "DCF: Locked Girls' Unit Serving As 'Relief Valve'" (). Hartford Courant. November 13, 2014. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  21. "Albert J. Solnit Children's Center - North Campus." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  22. "Welcome to Connecticut Children's Place." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on December 2, 2010.
  23. Poitras, Colin. "Dcf Unit For Girls Planned." Hartford Courant. July 16, 2002. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  24. Smith, Larry. "Selectmen Discuss Concerns About Children's Place." Hartford Courant. July 17, 2003. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  25. "Albert J. Solnit Psychiatric Center - South Campus." Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Retrieved on December 17, 2015.
  26. Beals, Shawn R. "DCF Plans Secure Facility For Girls In Middletown" (). Hartford Courant. October 10, 2013. Retrieved on December 17, 2015. "The state Department of Children and Families plans to open a secure treatment facility for teenage girls adjacent to the Connecticut Juvenile Training School in January, officials said Thursday. The DCF is renovating one building at the Albert J. Solnit Center on River Road, the former Riverview Hospital, into a locked treatment center for about 10 to 12 girls at a time."

Further reading
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