Connecticut Department of Children and Families
Assessing Conditions of Child Welfare Practice and Outcomes in CT
Charting our Progress
1989 - 2009
(Attorney Client Privilege and Work Product)
INTRODUCTION
In 1989, Children’s Rights filed a class action lawsuit against Connecticut and on behalf of children in state custody or at risk of entering state custody. The federal complaint articulated several allegations concerning "…widespread violations of laws which were enacted to protect [children], and…unlawful policies and practices concerning the operation of Connecticut's child welfare system". Based on these allegations, the complaint asserted that this condition caused harm to children and had deteriorated to "…state of systemic, ongoing crisis".
In 1991, the State of Connecticut entered into an agreement with lawyers representing children in the Juan F. class to improve services provided by DCF. The agreement was filed as a Consent Decree order in the United States District Court of Connecticut. That agreement stayed in effect until 2002 when the parties established a plan to achieve exit from Federal Court jurisdiction. Following an initial attempt to set more explicit outcome measure aimed at better defining the conditions under which exit from court jurisdiction can be achieved, the Juan F.Exit Plan was entered into in the fall of 2003 and remains in effect. The Department’s success in meeting these measures has been rapid and substantial, and to date, the Department is meeting or nearly meeting and sustaining its performance on 20 of the 22 explicit outcome measures of the Exit Plan.
Children's Rights recently acknowledged this progress by stating: "Connecticut’s child welfare system has come a long way since the settlement of our lawsuit, implementing a great many of the improvements required as part of the court-enforceable reform plan. Children in foster care are being moved less frequently between different foster homes. The caseworkers responsible for safeguarding their well-being are no longer overburdened with impossible caseloads, enabling them to visit children in their foster homes to make sure they’re safe and well-cared-for. Children are being more quickly reunified with their parents — or, if reunification proves impossible, moved into adoptive homes. These are changes to be proud of."(July 2009)
As work in meeting the outcome measures continues, it is important to take stock in how Connecticut is reforming its practice specifically account for the progress that has been made since the filing of the complaint twenty years ago. Below is an effort toaccount for that progress and provide context by comparing the conditions of child welfare practice and outcomes as alleged in the original complaint to the conditions of today. In this presentation of information significant improvements across many areas of the work are evident and demonstrates a practice consistent with federal and state legal requirements and national professional standards where applicable. It also evidences that improvements will continue to take place through a multitude of federal and state executive and legislative branch initiatives and oversight and management functions. Finally, this chart provides a critical reference point for informing and organizing continuing efforts aimed at improving outcomes for children and families and enhancing agency performance.
Complaint Allegation / Complaint Evidence / Department's Assertion / ProgressPoints
I.Investigations:
Failure to provide adequate protective services through ensuring that all reports are investigated and responded to promptly by caseworkers who are trained adequately and appropriately. Investigations that are undertaken are not all initiated or complete with the promptness state and federal law mandates in part because of staff shortages. / There was a 70% substantiation rate;
There was an increase in the number of referrals and their seriousness (SFY 81-2 7,542 cases involving 10,846 children and in SFY 88-9 there were 13,010 cases involving 20,233 children);
Increasing caseloads were not matched by a corresponding increase in adequately trained workers (11,638 case statewide in 1987--over 14,000 in 1989);
60% of all calls were being "screened out". / Connecticut has improved child safety through investigations now conducted by highly trained social workers with significantly lower caseloads who routinely initiate and complete investigations in a high quality and timely manner in accordance with federal and state law. / DATA & OUTCOMES
1.1 In 2004, The DCF developed the capacity to document a commencement start date and time within its case management system, Link. Since this functionality was added to Link in August 2004, the Department has measured the rate of commencing investigations on time. The success rate has grown from 91% to 98%, the rate at which it has remained for the last year (Source: DCF Office for Research and Evaluation (ORE)--LINK Notes, ROM/EP Outcome Summary Table).
1.2 Between January 2000 and September 2004, the rate of completing investigations within 45 days fluctuated between a low of 58% (1Q 2001) to 86% (1Q 2003). Since October 2004, the completion rate within 45 days has been over 90% with the most recent quarter (3Q 2009) having a 94% completion rate within 45 days (Source: ORE--ROM/EP Summary Table).
1.3 The 2008 CFSR instrument looked at the timeliness of initiating investigations and making face-to-face contact with child victims, and it measured repeat maltreatment. Connecticut received a 100% rating and a finding that the 65 cases randomly reviewed were found to be a "Strength" (Source: CFSR Connecticut Round 2 Final Report).
1.4 As part of the Court Monitor's case review completed in November 2005 and again in September 2007, reviewers found that nearly 90% of investigations were either "superior or "good" (Source: Court Monitor's Office).
1.5 Caseload for investigators have been lowered and kept stable for several years. On 12/17/09 the average caseload for a DCF investigator was 10.8 cases per worker and has averaged 10.01 cases per worker over the last six years (Source: DCF Division of Information Systems (IS)--LINK)
PROGRAM, PRACTICE & POLICY
1.6 A centralized DCF Hotline was established in 1994 for initiating investigation responses. Using advanced technology, the Hotline receives more than 40,000 reports of abuse and neglect annually and prioritizes approximately 2/3rds of those reports for response times based on severity of report and refers them to the area office staff for investigation. This centralization has brought greater consistency and accountability to this critical area of practice (Source: DCF IS--LINK)
1.7 In 1996, the Department's training and policy guiding investigations protocols consisted of eight total documents. Today, through a multitude of practice and systemic enhancements, the Department's policy framework guiding investigations has expanded to 61 policies spanning 15 topic areas.Since1996, agency policy has required all DCF investigators to participate in mandatory training components through the Department's TrainingAcademy designed to build skills, key competencies, and integrate best practices in specific areas of service including but not limited to timely investigations commencement, initiation, and completion (See DCF Policy Chapter 34-1).
1.8 In 2006, the Department integrated Structured Decision Making (SDM), standardizing its safety and risk assessments, and revised the investigations policy outlining Operational Definitions of abuse and neglect. SDM is a research and evidence-based practice model that promotes consistency and accuracy in decision-making at critical junctures in a case. It has been proven to reduce harm and expedite permanency.The two primary goals of SDM are to: 1) reduce harm to children and 2) expedite permanency for children in out-of-home care. It accomplishes these goals through five key objectives:
Identifies and structures critical decisions in the life of a case. SDM helps workers gather, document and evaluate the right information to make informed decisions
Increases consistency and reliability in decision making
Increases accuracy and reliability of critical decisions
Targets resources to families most at risk. SDM recommends families be treated differentially based on risk level and need
Uses case level data gathered by social workers about our families to guide decision making at all levels of the agency. It aggregates data to enable management to make appropriate decisions about resource development and allocation, staffing and workload management
(See DCF Policy Chapters 16-3-2 and 34-13-1, CRP Website at: and Appendix A)
1.9 In 1996 the Department created a Special Review Unit (SRU), a centralized mechanism for conducting timely, comprehensive case reviews of cases involving; critical incidents, child fatalities in active or recently closed cases. The SRU annually submits a report to the Commissioner on Department related to child fatalities in Connecticut (See DCF Policy Chapter 34-1).
1.10In 1997, the Department established a Special Investigation Unit (SIU), a centralized mechanism for responding to maltreatment reports requiring special considerations including but not limited to: alleged child maltreatment on behalf of a facility or school staff member; disabled infants in life threatening situations; or Safe Haven newborns (See DCF Policy Chapter 34-1).
1.11 The Department has developed a statewide training and education program to support the accurate and prompt identification and reporting of suspected abuse and neglect for mandated reporters.The Department has a centralized system for monitoring the quality and frequency of statewide trainings and for coordinating all Mandated Reporting activities. Inspired by statute enacted in 1965, the Department has established training and investigations policies outlining mandated reporting procedures and protocols. Under a dedicated DCF training manager, in fiscal year 07/08, the Department was successful in training 8,556 school, agency, and facility staff, 1,534 more than the previous year. The groups trained also include 148 day care agencies, 86 school or educational facilities, and 96 camps, residential, group homes, hospitals, clinics and other entities and organizations (Source: DCF Training Academy Annual Report).
1.12Growth in the numbers of multidisciplinary teams and their increased professionalism have enabled the department to better serve children who have been sexually abused and seriously physically abused, especially in investigations. Today, 16 teams serve all of CT's judicial districts. They are defined in statute, overseen by the Governor's Task Force on Justice for Abused Children and DCF, formally evaluated every three years, and guided by standards and best practices updated in 2008 (Source: 2009 Needs Assessment conducted by Hornby-Zeller Inc. through the Governor's Task Force on Justice for Abused Children).
1.13 Children's Rights recently acknowledged progress in the area of Investigations by stating: "In Connecticut, a long-standing reform plan has produced a lot of benefit, including timely and adequate investigations of abuse and neglect and a wide range of new services for children and families…Systematic failure to investigate alleged abuse and neglect had been placing thousands of children in danger until Children’s Rights took action, ensuring that more than 90 percent of abuse and neglect allegations are now investigated promptly — and the quality of the investigations has markedly improved(Children's Rights Website at: .)
1.14Public Act 05-35 codified in state statute the time frame for DCF to complete an investigation report of child abuse or neglect to not later than 45 calendar days after the date of receipt of the report, which is consistent with the Exit Plan outcome measure (See Appendix B).
II. Pre-Placement Services:
Failure to make reasonable efforts to keep families together by providing appropriate services to prevent placement into out-of-home care. / NA / Connecticut, since entering the Exit Plan in 2003, has significantly reduced the number of children and youth in out-of-home care and placed a greater practice emphasis on early intervention and family preservation has yielded substantial growth in the number and percentage of families served in-home, thereby reserving limited out-of-home resources for those most in need. / DATA & OUTCOMES
2.1 The number of children in placement resulting from abuse or neglect fell 30% from 5,702 to the current (December 6, 2009) figure of 3,998. Looking further back to January 2000 when there were 6,183 children in placement, there has been a 35% drop (Source: ORE--Chapin Hall).
2.2 The number of in-home cases has grown 43% over the past 8 years. In January 2002 the average in-home caseload was 2,835. In November 2009, the average was 4,047 (Source: ORE--Chapin Hall, See Appendix C).
2.3 Comparing the average in-home caseload and the number of children (in Juan F class) in 2002 to today's figures we can see the clear shift of service from out-of-home care to in-home care. The average in-home caseload is 43% higher today than in 2002 and the number of children in foster care was 43% higher in 2002 than it is today (Source: ORE--Chapin Hall, See Appendix C).
2.4In SFY 2009, 57,786 children were served by DCF. During this 12 month period, 8,003 children were served in out-of-home care. Thus, roughly 86% of all children served were served solely in the home during the SFY (Source: ORE).
2.5 On 12/6/2009, 21,262 children were being served. On the same day, there were 3,998 children in placement. That's 81% of children served in the home. (Source: ORE)
2.6 CFSR Item 3 determines whether the state put effective services in place to prevent a removal or re-entry into care. Often these involve intensive family supports put into the home early on in the investigations process. During the 2008 CFSR Connecticut was rated as a "Strength" for this item (Source: CFSR Connecticut Round 2 Final Report)
PROGRAM, PRACTICE & POLICY
2.7In 2006, the Department integrated Structured Decision Making (SDM), standardizing its safety and risk assessments, and revised the investigations policy outlining Operational Definitions of abuse and neglect. SDM is a research and evidence-based practice model that promotes consistency and accuracy in decision-making at critical junctures in a case. It has been proven to reduce harm and expedite permanency. The two primary goals of SDM are to: 1) reduce harm to children and 2) expedite permanency for children in out-of-home care. It accomplishes these goals through five key objectives:
Identifies and structures critical decisions in the life of a case. SDM helps workers gather, document and evaluate the right information to make informed decisions
Increases consistency and reliability in decision making
Increases accuracy and reliability of critical decisions
Targets resources to families most at risk. SDM recommends families be treated differentially based on risk level and need
Uses case level data gathered by social workers about our families to guide decision making at all levels of the agency. It aggregates data to enable management to make appropriate decisions about resource development and allocation, staffing and workload management
(See DCF Policy Chapters 16-3-2 and 34-13-1, CRP Website at: and Appendix A).
2.8 The Department's Training Academy has developed a "Services to Prevent Out of Home Placement and Facilitate Reunification" (Chapter 34-9) training to build skills, key competencies, and integrate best practices in this area of service delivery. The Department's policy requires that all investigations staff complete this training as a key component of their Best Practices training module, and offers an in-service training module to all agency staff (DCF Training Academy Annual Report).
2.9 Since the 1990's the Department's service array and capacity has been significantly expanded and now includes a multitude of in-home services and programs designed to support and preserve families through offering timely and accessible treatment services individualized based on the specific needs of the family. Important resource expansions include:
1) Resources for flexible, timely and individualized assistance have increased more than 400 percent since SFY04 when DCF’s flexible fund expenditure was approximately $5 million. In SFY09, DCF provided approximately $25.9 million in various forms of individualized assistance, which is helping to keep families together, reduce the number of children entering care and provide stability and permanency for children (Source: DCF SFY 2009 Comprehensive State Financial Report).
2) Community based behavioral health funding totaled $69.2 million in SFY09 or more than double the amount spent in SFY02 ($32M). Intensive in-home clinical services and family support services are available to approximately 3,000 children and their families. Intensive in-home- services, some which did not exist prior to 2004 and most that had very limited availability until recently, include:
- Multi-Systemic Therapy
- Multidimensional Family Therapy
- Intensive In-home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services
- Family Support Teams
- Intensive Community Family Support Services
- Functional Family Therapy; and
- Family Based Recovery and Building Stronger Families
2.10 In an effort to maximize the scope of services, the Department established the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs which supports the agency's ability to provide services across a broad spectrum of families by addressing any identified cultural and/or linguistic considerations (See DCF Webpage DCF Policy Chapter 10-1)).
III. Family Foster Care and Out-of-Home Placements:
1)Failure to provide minimally-adequate and appropriate care to all of the children who are placed in foster homes or other substitute care setting
2) Failure to place children in the least restrictive, most family-like settings and in settings which allow them to maintain sibling relationships and are culturally appropriate.
3) Failure in DCF's use of overcrowded and inadequately trained and supervised foster homes that do not conform to nationally accepted standards.
4) Failure to provide adequate training in sexual abuse or to develop sufficient specialized sexual abuse services and placements
5) Failure to provide foster parents with frequent, routine and supportive contact and assure quality through relicensing
6) Failure to provide supportive resources such as respite care, day care, individual and family counseling and funds for necessary incidental expenses.
7) Failure to provide adequate pre-licensing training is inadequate to prepare foster parents and post licensing training is neither required nor offered…failure to provide specialized levels of family foster care in a statewide system of specialized and treatment foster care…failure to provide shelter services and group homes in all regions of the state (emphasis on group homes for girls, emergency placements for those aged 8-13, maternity homes, and therapeutic group homes for adolescents cited).