Connecticut’s child advocate warned Gov. Ned Lamont, the DCF commissioner, state policymakers, and the public on Thursday that serious gaps in care provided by DCF to children must be “urgently remedied,” adding that she is “increasingly alarmed” by the quality of services.
Child Advocate Christina Ghio issued the letter outlining findings and recommendations after another child died while under the supervision of the Department of Children and Families, although she noted that her concerns have been ongoing.
According to the letter, the child died by suicide just one hour after telling DCF workers during a home visit that they did not feel safe and requested placement in foster care.
“According to DCF’s records, during that visit the child told the DCF caseworker that the child did not feel safe and asked to come into foster care. The family had a lengthy DCF history in Connecticut, did not have stable housing, had moved in and out of Connecticut over many years, and none of the children were enrolled in school. Despite these facts and all of the information available to DCF, DCF made a decision to leave the child with the parent, indicating that coming into care was not an option,” Ghio’s letter said.
Ghio said she has grown increasingly concerned by what she has seen in reviews of “critical incidents and child fatalities, some of which have drawn significant public attention and others that have not.”
Those cases include the death of 11-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia, whose severely malnourished body was discovered in a plastic container left outside an abandoned home in New Britain last year. Her family had a long history with DCF and reportedly misled caseworkers by having someone else pose as Mimi during a video welfare check. Based on the timeline, she was likely already dead at that time.
Another case involved 12-year-old Eve Rogers of Enfield, who was recently found dead. Enfield police said they had referred the girl to DCF just a week earlier. Officers had encountered her during a shoplifting call when she allegedly took an energy drink from a convenience store after 2 a.m. and had left her home. Her stepfather, 39-year-old Anthony Federline, now faces charges of sexually assaulting her.
Ghio told the Courant last week that “Visits with children and parents and contact with schools, providers and doctors are not happening with the frequency or quality required by current policies,” which makes it harder for DCF to make informed decisions.
In Thursday’s letter, Ghio points to “ongoing deficits in the quality of case practice, which DCF has been unable to address,” and urges leadership to “ensure that caseworkers have the support needed ot meet expectations, ensure that services are available to children and families, hold all staff accountable to expectations, and publish its internal quality assurance data.”
Ghio also notes that for 30 years, ending in 2022, DCF operated under federal oversight through the Juan F. consent decree. She said the court monitor carried out qualitative case reviews aligned with outcomes data, and when the agency exited federal oversight, it lacked assessment tools for in-home cases.
Her letter continues by highlighting the Office of the Child Advocate’s repeated recommendations that DCF implement assessments, establish quality assurance measures, and publish data—each recommendation tied to a report following the death of another child in DCF care.
In 2022, that case involved “Kaylee S.,” a 1-year-old who died on Feb. 8, 2022, from fentanyl and xylazine poisoning. DCF had opened an investigation into the family in August 2021. The agency rejected the OCA’s recommendations, stating that fentanyl was new to experts at the time and that its handling of the case was appropriate.
In January 2023, the case involved 2-year-old Liam Rivera, who was found dead and buried in a Stamford park. A later report from the OCA revealed that the state had documented multiple instances of Liam being abused, neglected, and undernourished before his death. He was under court-ordered protective supervision, and his father was on adult probation for a prior child abuse charge, according to the report.
In response, the OCA “recommended that DCF utilize frequent and reliable quality assurance protocols pertaining to safety planning and service delivery; that DCF assess the impact of telework and workforce trends on DCF case practice, staff retention, and supervision; and that the state develop a framework for oversight of DCF,” Ghio’s letter said.
DCF reportedly began reviewing data and issuing recommendations, created a tool for use during visits, and pledged expanded training for social work and program supervisors, along with a scorecard to track key performance indicators.
Ghio also referenced Marcello Meadows, a 10-month-old who died in June 2023 from fentanyl, xylazine, and cocaine intoxication. Both he and his 3-year-old brother were born with drug exposure, their parents had involvement in the criminal justice system, and DCF had been monitoring the family’s progress, according to the OCA report at the time. That report identified failures at multiple levels, including the absence of regular, random drug testing.
The OCA later stated that DCF had been “making numerous efforts to strengthen practice,” but “available data shows a marked decline in DCF’s risk and safety assessment and case supervision over the last two years,” and noted that three children had died while under DCF supervision in the past year.
Still, Ghio said outcomes have not improved. DCF faces a 50% worker turnover rate, and employees report feeling overwhelmed and concerned they cannot provide adequate care. The state also lacks enough foster homes, resources, and treatment options for children and families, she said.
“Workers and children are in a near constant state of crisis: caseworkers can’t find placements for children, and need to rely on emergency placements; children have significant behavioral health needs that go untreated, and foster parents can’t meet their needs without supports that are currently not available; children are placed in STTAR homes for many months with no real exit plan, lose hope, and engage in challenging behaviors. This constant state of crisis leaves workers feeling unsupported and burnt out,” Ghio said.
DCF Commissioner Susan I. Hamilton acknowledged the letter and the child’s suicide in a statement, saying the department has already begun taking action based on the data Ghio reviewed.
“Since taking the Commissioner position in September of last year, our Department has undertaken a thorough review of this data, along with other information from our continuous quality improvement activities, determined that tangible and measurable changes are needed to elevate the quality of our work. This needs to include addressing workforce challenges and ensuring transparency and accountability,” Hamilton said.
“To that end, we have already initiated several improvement strategies and others will be implemented in the coming weeks. We take very seriously and support the recommendations outlined in the OCA letter and will continue to work in partnership with them to strengthen our practices and improve the larger child welfare system. As the OCA states, the work our Department undertakes — protecting vulnerable children and supporting families in crisis — is among the most challenging and essential responsibilities in state government. That fact underscores the urgency of getting this work right.
“We 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. These 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,” Hamilton said.
Sen. Stephen Harding, speaking on behalf of the Senate Republican caucus, issued a statement calling for action.
“Awful, alarming and preventable. The child told the DCF caseworker that the child did not feel safe. The child asked to come into foster care. The child was in a dangerous, unstable environment and wanted out. What more did this child have to do? Senate Republicans demand leadership on this issue,” Harding said.
In response to the recent child deaths, state lawmakers are considering a bill that proposes sweeping reforms, including greater support for foster families and caseworkers, additional training for DCF employees, and a public online database to display DCF performance data comparable to federal standards.
House Bill 5004 passed the House of Representatives on Thursday.
However, Ghio emphasized in her letter that a single piece of legislation will not be enough to resolve the issue. She urged DCF leadership to take “swift and bold actions” to support workers and hold staff accountable, while stressing the need for “ongoing external oversight, identified outcome measures, and public transparency.”
She warned that without such changes, children in DCF care will continue to suffer and die.
“Every day, the deficits in case practice have consequences for children. OCA learns about some of these consequences when a new report comes in, when there is a critical incident, or when a child dies. Other children live with those consequences in silence, when they don’t receive the help they need. The deficits in the quality of case practice must be urgently remedied.”
She called on DCF leadership and lawmakers to commit to supporting caseworkers and ensuring external oversight and accountability.