Just as Connecticut lawmakers prepared to discuss a bill Thursday that would create new oversight for the state Department of Children and Families, the watchdog Office of the Child Advocate released a public letter condemning the quality of casework at the child welfare agency.
The letter, which included detailed findings and research, described the apparent suicide last week of a child who died within an hour of asking to be moved into foster care. In that case, according to the letter, 鈥淒CF made a decision to leave the child with the parent, indicating that coming into care was not an option.鈥�
The Child Advocate called the incident alarming. 鈥淚n fact, OCA has grown increasingly alarmed at the quality of case practice observed through our reviews of critical incidents and child fatalities, some of which have garnered significant public attention and some of which have not.鈥�
The letter said that such decisions are part of a pattern of declining quality of 鈥渢he most meaningful鈥� elements of casework, with social workers consistently diverging from policy and facing few repercussions. Supervisors, meanwhile, often consider the work to be 鈥渁dequate,鈥� according to OCA.
The letter cited a decline in the number of home visits with children and a decline in how quickly work begins. One rating for contact with children went from 85% to 58% between the beginning of 2022 and the beginning of 2025. And some children in DCF care and their caregivers went without any documented visits with caseworkers in a given month, which the OCA said was particularly concerning.
OCA also described attempts it had made to work with DCF on improvements 鈥� without success. 鈥淒espite expression of shared concern by DCF Executive Leadership, OCA finds that DCF has been unable to demonstrate improvements and the currently identified action steps are not adequate,鈥� the letter stated.
In a statement Thursday, DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton said the agency had launched 鈥渁 multidisciplinary review.鈥� Hamilton said since she last September, DCF 鈥渉as undertaken a thorough review of this data, along with other information from our continuous quality improvement activities, and determined that tangible and measurable changes are needed to elevate the quality of our work.鈥�
Hamilton said DCF was already working on 鈥渋mprovement strategies鈥� and that the agency takes OCA鈥檚 findings seriously. 鈥淲e are committed to ongoing collaboration with our system partners, including the OCA, legislators, private providers, community partners, families and youth with lived expertise to address identified system gaps,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淭hese collaborative efforts will lead to improved oversight and enhanced data sharing and accountability so that DCF has the tools, training, and support needed to better serve children and families.鈥�
But lawmakers expressed dismay at the OCA鈥檚 findings, even as legislation outlining reforms at the agency was being debated in the House chamber Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, called the child suicide described in the OCA letter, 鈥淎bsolutely tragic. Awful, alarming and preventable.鈥�
鈥淭o say these findings are disturbing is an understatement 鈥� we are seeing an ongoing pattern where DCF does not meet the moment and children in Connecticut suffer,鈥� said Committee on Children co-chair Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, in a statement. 鈥淏ased on this and past reports it鈥檚 become clear there鈥檚 a significant problem in our state 鈥� and more children are inherently in harm鈥檚 way. I鈥檓 grateful to the acting Child Advocate for drawing attention to the significant issues, and the need to follow policies to improve practices.
Maher said , which passed the House unanimously Thursday, 鈥渋s set to address issues at DCF and work with them to protect our children. The commissioner and her agency owe us answers and accountability.鈥�
What鈥檚 in the bill?
The bill includes two dozen provisions aimed at reforming and supporting DCF, including the creation of a new oversight council. Earlier in the session, Commissioner Hamilton told lawmakers in public testimony that she didn鈥檛 believe the additional oversight was necessary.
Committee on Children Co-chair Rep. Corey Paris, D-Stamford called H.B. 5004 the most comprehensive effort to create change at the agency in some time. 鈥淲e are saying that we know what happened in the past year is not good,鈥� he said, referring to a spate of child abuse and death cases that were connected to the agency.
Rep. Anne Dauphinais, ranking Republican on the Committee on Children, drew a direct line from recent deaths of children 鈥� like and , and the revelation of a child suicide in OCA鈥檚 letter 鈥� to the need for changes at the agency as laid out in the bill.
鈥淭hese are tragic, tragic stories and events that have happened in our state,鈥� Dauphinais said, adding that she and Paris worked hard on the bill. 鈥淲e still need to do a lot more work, but we wanted to make 鈥� meaningful changes 鈥� something that was really gonna reflect the things that have happened.鈥�
Aside from the measures establishing additional oversight, the bill includes procedural changes for providing financial support to families and mentoring DCF staff.
DCF would be required under the bill to whenever possible 鈥� already a common practice but not yet required. When children are not placed with kin, DCF would be required to provide an explanation as to why.
The bill doesn鈥檛 address more substantive funding for the agency, but it included smaller efforts to address workforce retention and basic needs 鈥� such as a new internship program with stipends for mentors and mentees to improve workforce retention, as well as grants for families to buy basic necessities and pay for after school programs.
Maintenance care payments have not increased for kin in two decades, or for foster families in a decade, Paris said. The grants are designed to fill that gap.
The bill would make some trainings mandatory for DCF employees 鈥� on topics including cultural sensitivity, perinatal mood and anxiety and human trafficking 鈥� and it would create a new public-facing website with updated information and reports on DCF. Lawmakers said the website seeks to address public demands for accountability.
The bill also responds directly to the case of , who died of malnourishment and abuse at age 11 after DCF involvement with her family. The bill would require more accountability when children in the agency鈥檚 care leave the state, including welfare checks by the child welfare agency in their new location. Torres-Garc铆a鈥檚 mother covered up the child鈥檚 death, telling a DCF social worker that Torres-Garc铆a was unavailable for an in-person visit because she was visiting a relative out of state. That DCF staffer eventually conducted a video check-in, but the young woman the staffer spoke to was pretending to be Torres-Garc铆a.
Other provisions include emergency communication devices that DCF workers would carry with them when they conduct site visits.
While discussed at length in the House Thursday, the bill had widespread bipartisan support, passing 149-0, with two lawmakers not voting. It heads now to the Senate for final passage.
As the legislation proceeds, advocates say current conditions at the agency are crying out for urgent action. The Child Advocate described 鈥渨orkers and children 鈥� in a near constant state of crisis,鈥� noting that children鈥檚 behavioral health needs aren鈥檛 being addressed, foster parents lack support and children are losing hope.
In a statement Thursday, the nonprofit legal rights organization, Center for Children鈥檚 Advocacy, said, 鈥淚mmediate measures must be taken to address DCF workforce gaps, support foster parents and social workers, and enable and empower community human service providers and lawyers to engage and serve children and families in need of help and services.鈥�
___
This story was originally published by and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
