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HARTFORD — Incidents like the shutdown of a Harwinton group home for teens amid accusations of sex trafficking and assault have prompted a proposal this legislative session to boost the Office of the Child Advocate’s budget by $300,000.
State Rep. Mary Welander, D-Orange, the main sponsor of the bill, said there must be “more eyeballs on the kids that are in DCF [Department of Children and Families] care.” She added that the request to increase the budget, which currently stands at $810,000, is an opportunity for all agencies working for the benefit of children to partner more closely.
“This is not a slight [at DCF]. This is to make sure we can catch things before they get to a crisis point,” Welander said. “… There are enough of us that are recognizing that things need to change and that we can do better.”
Last month, DCF announced plans to reduce the number of adolescents in STAR group homes, add supervisory staff to the night shift, and open two new intensive treatment centers for high-needs teens.
The OCA, which was established 30 years ago, monitors and evaluates public and private agencies that are charged with the protection of children, and reviews state agency policies and procedures to ensure they protect children’s rights and promote their best interests, The OCA can also conduct facility investigations and has subpoena authority.
The DCF has a $305 million budget for personal services and about 2,900 staff across the state. According to its website, DCF works “together with families and communities to improve child safety, ensure that more children have permanent families, and advance the overall well-being of children.”
But Welander called the system aimed at helping children in the state “fractured.”
“I know that the people who work at DCF are doing the best that they can and that their goal is to make sure that kids around Connecticut are safe,” Welander told CT Examiner. “But I think we have a system that is fractured. We have a system that has multiple ways of reporting certain concerns. There are not enough people, there are not enough caseworkers, there are not enough attorneys, and there are not enough foster families.”
Peter Yazbak, a DCF spokesperson, said on Thursday that the two agencies often overlap, but that the goal remains the care of children.
“DCF is in frequent communication with OCA regarding our overlapping work, and we remain committed to collaborating with the OCA on our shared mission of supporting and improving the safety and well-being of the children and families we collectively serve,” Yazbak said in a statement.
Welander said she hopes the additional $300,000, if approved, would be used to hire two additional staff at the OCA and cover administrative costs including data systems and computer programs.
The $300,000 would be appropriated to the Office of Governmental Accountability from the General Fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, for the Office of the Child Advocate.
Sarah Eagan, the state’s child advocate for the past decade, said the agency operates with a staff of eight, including herself. At one time, she said, the OCA had a dozen staff members.
“We actually made a pitch to the state Legislature last year to bring on two new people to assist with the Child Fatality Review and Prevention efforts,” Eagan told CT Examiner. “Having the extra people would also free us up a bit to do more system analysis around vulnerable children served by DCF.”
Though the OCA provides oversight over DCF operations, Eagan said, “We do not have the staff to provide individual hands-on advocacy for hundreds and hundreds of families every year.”
Eagan called the relationship between OCA and DCF “constructive.”
“I would say we are partners in the traditional sense, given our investigative oversight role,” she said. “But, we are stakeholders, and I think that we have a constructive relationship. Even in our different roles, we are trying to achieve the same thing — a more supportive system for children and families.”
Steve Hernandez, executive director of the education advocacy group ConnCAN and former executive director of the legislature’s Connecticut Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity, said he’s worked with Eagan and the OCA while serving in both roles.
Hernandez said on Thursday that the OCA enjoys a level of independence from the executive branch and acts as a watchdog agency.
“It ensures that the systems of government, both at the state level and at the local level, are protecting children and that children are, effectively, safe. It can be an inconvenience for the government for an organization like the Office of the Child Advocate to exist, but it’s not an inconvenience for the children that are being protected,” he said.
Hernandez added that he supports upping the OCA’s budget.
“A way to hamstring an organization and their accountability is to reduce their staffing. That was what was done previously in the past,” he said.
Welander’s proposal passed out of the Children’s Committee, of which Welander is a member. It now heads to the Appropriations Committee. Both legislative chambers and the governor would need to approve the measure as well.
State Rep. Kathy Kennedy, R-Milford, an Appropriations Committee member, said the $300,000 request appears to “have a lot of merit to it,” but remains undecided about how she will vote on the matter.
“There are bills being referred everywhere. We can just do so much with what money we have,” Kennedy told CT Examiner on Thursday. “Every cause is worthwhile — nonprofits, child care, teachers. They all have worthy causes. I have a lot of questions I want answered. It seems like a noble effort, but I need to know what the money is going to be used for and what is it going to deliver for us?”