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| Connecticut Announces it Will Close Troubled Long Lane School |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/09/2002 |
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The Connecticut Department of Children and Families announced November 25 it will close its troubled Long Lane school for juvenile girls, just months after saying it would make nearly two dozen changes to the Middletown facility in an effort to improve safety there. DCF Commissioner Kristine Ragaglia ordered the school closed by February, saying it was the best option for the state and the 25 girls living at Long Lane. ''Given the challenges presented at Long Lane School and the status of our state budget, it makes little sense to invest resources in a program slated to close next year anyway,'' Ragaglia said. The announcement comes two months after State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein criticized DCF for not doing enough to keep the girls at Long Lane safe. Milstein's office had found several safety problems at the school during an investigation of a 15-year-old girl's suicide attempt Sept. 20. Milstein said recently that it was time for Long Lane, which she called deplorable, to close. Both she and Blumenthal said they remained concerned about the welfare of the 25 girls living there. DCF said last week that 12 of the girls would be placed in an East Windsor facility that provides behavioral health services to about 45 children; arrangements for the remainder of the girls will be made in the next several weeks. ''I think that they need to find appropriate placement and services based on the girl's needs as soon as possible, and that should have been done when the decision to close the facility was made,'' Milstein said. She said she was concerned about accommodations for girls who need high security and a lack of a specific plan for transferring the girls to other facilities. ''These children have been subject to so much change while they've been at Long Lane,'' she said. ''More than anything, these children need stability in their lives.'' Blumenthal said his office will continue its scrutiny of the agency and its treatment of the girls. ''This time, DCF must take the proper steps to plan for placing the girls now at Long Lane in new settings, with minimal disruption and maximum assurance for their safety and well-being,'' he said. The state had planned to phase out Long Lane, the state's only high-security facility for girls under 16 who have been convicted of crimes, by the end of 2003 and transfer the girls to other residential programs. ''The closing will expedite the Department's plans to better meet the individual behavioral health needs of the female juvenile justice population,'' Ragaglia said recently. |
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