By Mary Welander
State Rep., D-114
Mary Welander
This has been a difficult year in Connecticut with many very publicized incidents of children being abused and neglected, and in some incredibly tragic cases, children dying.
As a body, the legislature knew that we needed to do something to address these situations, but there were additional concerns within the child welfare space that also needed attention. Foster families had not seen an increase in rates for over a decade, and neither had financial support for grandparents who have taken in their grandchildren in times of need.
Between the pandemic and what we called the “silver tsunami” in 2022 (a larger than typical group of state employees retiring early), the Department of Children and Families saw a massive drop in the number of experienced case workers on staff. Simultaneously, the acuity of the needs of children within the DFC system rose drastically, and the number of foster families dropped significantly.
The work done within DCF is some of the most critically important but also the most challenging in the state, and any policy work addressing it needs to be done with care and respect for the people who provide that care and those who receive it.
Over the past many months, the Children’s Committee has been listening to families, advocates, various agencies in the state, and too many others to list here as we tried to craft legislation that would lay the foundation for more transparency and accountability within DCF and lead to better support for families and case workers.
We brought the resulting proposal to the floor in the House on April 30. It contained 23 sections. Some sections increased financial support for foster families of all kinds, created grant programs to help offset the costs of child care and enrichment programs for kids in the foster care system and codified an existing program that assists in post-secondary education expenses. Other sections created a stipend for experienced case workers who mentor newly hired case workers and provided funding for personal emergency communication devices for employees. It also created an oversight committee that will look at all aspects of the agency and the work that it does to both improve the process and inform the public about the internal work that is already done.
I am incredibly proud to share that our bill passed unanimously out of the House. At the time I am writing this the Senate has not yet taken it up, but I am confident it will be strongly supported in that chamber as well.
No matter the topic, no one piece of legislation can fix everything, and that doubly applies to a subject as sensitive and nuanced as child welfare. But I believe this legislation is a reasonable and necessary first step.
I welcome any feedback on this, or any other topic. You can reach me via email at mary.welander@cga.ct.gov or through options on my state webpage at housedems.ct.gov/Welander.