Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee
Department of Children and
Keypoints -
Briefing
Department of Children and Families: Briefing Keypoints
Goals and Models
It is generally agreed children's services are best provided in a comprehensive, coordinated, family-focused, and community-based manner.
The goal of establishing DCF was to provide leadership, develop a network of services, and improve advocacy for children.
No ideal structure for delivering child welfare services has been identified.
Connecticut is one of five states using a consolidated agency model for delivering children's services.
Mandates and Consent Decree
DCF is statutorily mandated to provide child protection services, juvenile justice, mental health, substance abuse, and preventive services.
The current DCF mission statement focuses on its protective services role and responsibilities and does not specifically address its juvenile justice, mental health, substance abuse, and preventive services mandates.
DCF's mission statements are continually under revision and reflect the agency's shifting priorities.
In addition to its statutory mandates, DCF must comply with the provisions of a federal court ordered consent decree.
Almost 10 years after it was initiated, DCF is not in compliance with the consent decree; there is no plan or process in place to vacate the order.
Connecticut is one of 21 states with active consent decrees covering the administration of children's services.
Resources and Organization
DCF's spending has more that doubled between FY 90 and FY 98 and has increased at a rate 2.5 times greater than the rate of increase of state spending as a whole.
Legislative appropriations in the 1990s have generally been less than DCF requested but more than the governor recommended.
Budget narratives describing DCF's activities have been rewritten to place greater emphasis on the importance the department attaches to its child protection mandate.
Spending on specific DCF mandates cannot be tracked through current budget documents.
Additional funds made available to DCF in response to the consent decree have been disproportionately allocated to child protection programs relative to the department's other mandates.
DCF is one of the many state agencies addressing the needs of children and is the clear lead agency in only two areas -- programs to prevent child abuse and neglect and programs to serve children with mental health or substance abuse problems.
DCF's current organization is in draft form, which is consistent with its history of repeated restructuring.
The unstable nature of DCF's organizational structure contributes to several long-standing management weaknesses.
Management staffing for juvenile justice, mental health, and substance abuse mandates is minimal and there is no unit or staff dedicated to preventive services.
Actual operations, allocation of resources, and management roles are not accurately reflected in DCF's current organizational structure.
Management and Planning
DCF has been unable to overcome long-standing management deficiencies in planning, information systems, management structure, and accountability.
For the past 13 years, DCF has failed to meet its statutory mandate to produce a comprehensive annual master plan.
DCF planning regarding its juvenile justice, mental health, and preventive services mandates is sporadic; its planning efforts are neither comprehensive nor integrated.
No staff in DCF is dedicated to analyzing trends, examining models, reviewing research, and compiling and coordinating data generated by the agency.
DCF's automated information system is used primarily to process provider payments and record protective services caseload activity; it can not be used for case management at this time.
DCF's information system does not incorporate juvenile justice or mental health case data with protective services caseload information.
Some of the data in the automated information system and the reports produced from it are considered unreliable and inaccurate by DCF management.
Over the past year, DCF began to implement a quality assurance process that complies with the requirements of federal and state laws and the consent decree.
Major Activities
DCF services are organized around client populations and developed and delivered under three separate and distinct processes (i.e., protective services, juvenile justice, and voluntary mental health).
Treatment planning for protective services and juvenile justice include mental health and substance abuse components.
DCF has no coordinated system of preventive services.
DCF's behavioral health activities are focused on committed children and its efforts to develop and fund services for non-committed children have been minimal.
Children's Services Outside of DCF
Many state agencies and the Judicial Branch have roles in serving children; most children’s services are provided by agencies other than DCF.
DCF services are focused on one segment of Connecticut's children -- those in crisis.
The bulk of services for children are delivered by community-based, private providers that are used by many different state agencies.
A network of children's advocacy organizations has developed outside of state government.