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| Connecticut to assess quality of juvenile services |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/22/2004 |
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The state has hired a private child advocacy group to examine the services given to children in the juvenile justice system and make recommendations about how they can be improved, state officials said last Tuesday. The Connecticut Department of Children and Families and the state's Court Support Services Division said they want to integrate the treatment services given to troubled kids in the courts and in the state's child welfare agency. "Families with children involved in the juvenile justice system need to obtain quality services, regardless of whether that help comes from the Judicial Branch or from the Department of Children and Families," DCF Commissioner Darlene Dunbar said. The Child Welfare League of America, based in Washington, D.C., received a $100,000 contract to analyze the state's system. The group has done similar work in other states, said Don DeVore, DCF's director of juvenile services. The group will take about nine months to create a blueprint that would change juvenile services over three to five years, officials said. It will also consult with nonprofit service providers, community leaders, lawmakers and others. The move comes after a turbulent year for the Connnecticut Juvenile Training School, the state's detention facility for boys in Middletown. After a weekend of violent chaos last spring, the Department of Children and Families implemented a series of reforms at the facility. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said the state will help fund changes to make the facility less like a jail, and more like a school. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein have also expressed concern about the status and equity of the state's services for girls. When the Long Lane school shut down, boys were sent to CJTS, but there is no comparable facility for seriously troubled girls. The Child Welfare League is expected to examine the state's services for girls. Because sending juveniles to a detention facility is usually the last step, the group will also look at earlier intervention methods and how they can be tailored to meet girls' unique needs. |
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