AN ACT CONCERNING PROCEEDINGS AND OPERATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.

AN ACT CONCERNING PROCEEDINGS AND OPERATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.

1. creates a presumption that it is in the best interests of abused and neglected children to be placed with grandparents or other relatives when they are removed from their homes;

2. prohibits the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and courts from taking into account a parent's application for, or receipt of, voluntary behavioral health services for their child from the department when making certain decisions about that person's suitability to care for a child;

3. requires DCF employees to notify the commissioner when they suspect a co-worker of illegally disclosing confidential information and gives them whistleblower protections;

4. requires local approval before state agencies can license or contract with residential facilities formerly licensed by DCF; and

5. requires DCF residential facility contracts to include provisions requiring compliance with state statutes, regulations, and local ordinances concerning noise levels and resident safety.

It also authorizes adults who are related by blood or marriage to a child who is the subject of an abuse or neglect proceeding in Superior or probate courts to intervene as parties in the case. Judges must grant these motions unless good cause is shown for not doing so. The child's grandparents already have this right in temporary custody proceedings brought in the Superior Court.

Finally, the bill eliminates a probate judge's authority to order temporary placements of children without making specific findings of parental abuse or neglect when (1) the parent consents to the child's temporary removal or (2) the minor has no guardian.

The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that placement with a grandparent or other relative is in the best interest of a child who a Superior or probate court judge has ordered to be temporarily placed with someone other than a parent because of allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Among other options, current law authorizes placement with any suitable person, including relatives (see BACKGROUND).

The presumption attaches to grandparents and other people related to the child by blood or marriage (1) who have been granted intervenor status in the case or (2) when the court has committed the child to DCF and termination of parental rights proceedings are or may be commenced. Under the bill, the presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the placement is not in the child's best interests.

The bill requires DCF employees to notify the commissioner when, in the ordinary course of employment, they reasonably suspect a co-worker of illegally disclosing confidential department records. It prohibits DCF officers and employees from taking or threatening to take adverse personnel actions against them for making these reports. The law already provides these whistleblower protections to state employees who report suspected child abuse and neglect under mandated reporter laws.

DCF's Voluntary Services Program is for children with serious mental health conditions who could not otherwise gain access to treatment they need. The bill prohibits the fact that a parent applied for or received voluntary services from being used against him or her:

1. in DCF child abuse or neglect investigations,

2. when placement decisions are being made about the child,

3. in foster care licensing decisions, or

4. in any court proceeding concerning the placement of a child who is related to the parent.

The law requires residential facilities, such as group homes, temporary shelters, and residential treatment facilities that provide services to DCF-involved children to be licensed by the department. The bill prohibits other state agencies from licensing or contracting with residential facilities that were previously operated by people or entities holding DCF licenses unless the (1) agency notifies the chief executive officer of the town where the facility is located and (2) the town's legislative body approves the change.

Existing law, unchanged by the bill, requires DCF to notify towns when a DCF-licensed residential facility operator applies for a new license that will permit it to serve a different type of DCF population.

By law, probate courts must consider the following when appointing temporary guardians for children under these circumstances:

1. the prospective guardian's ability to meet the child's physical, emotional, moral, and educational needs on a continuing daily basis,

2. the child's wishes if he or she is at least 13 or is of sufficient maturity and capable of forming an intelligent preference,

3. whether there is an existing relationship between the child and prospective guardian, and

4. the best interests of the child (CGS § 45a-617).

DCF's non-binding policies state that it must give preference to placement with relatives or extended family if the family:

1. can meet the needs of the child;

2. can meet licensing requirements (i. e. , either are licensed foster parents or will become licensed if the child remains in their household for longer than 60 days); and

3. lives in the same community where the child had been living at the time of removal, unless it is in the best interests of the child to be placed with relatives in another community.

When DCF places a child with non-relatives, its policy states that the placement must be in a foster care setting that serves the child's best interests based on the child's individual needs (DCF Policy Manual §41-19-2).

In general, DCF cannot disclose information it creates or obtains in connection with its child protection activities or other activities related to a child while that child was in its care or custody or a person it has investigated for child abuse or neglect without (1) obtaining permission from the person who is the subject of the record or an authorized representative or (2) legal authorization to do so without the person's consent. Existing law specifies many entities and officials to whom DCF must disclose records that would otherwise be confidential, in most cases expressly limiting the uses recipients can make of the information. It also lists entities and people with whom DCF may share information when the commissioner or designee determines this is in the best interests of the person who is the subject of the record.

Anyone who discloses any part of a confidential record is subject to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to $ 1,000, or both.

Yea

Nay

(03/18/2008)