A few weeks ago, a highly produced melodrama opened at the state Legislative Office Building under the billing, “Investigative Hearings Into the Department of Children and Families.” It was the semiannual effort by lawmakers to grill the commissioner of the department, the head of the state’s budget office and other lesser-known members of the Rell administration, all in an attempt to show that the department is mismanaged, and someone, preferably appointed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, should be fired. As of this writing, no victim has been found.
From the moment the hearings were announced by the haughty Senate chairman of the Children’s Committee, Ed Meyer (D-Guildford), who rarely fails to point out that he is a former prosecutor, there was a partisan taint to the proceedings. The underlying theme of hearings were: DCF is bad; it’s the Republican administration’s fault; and we are going to use these hearings to figure out why.
Hearings, such as this one, are usually the result of a death involving a child in the care of DCF, or the revelation of some spending excess in what is one of the state’s largest social service agencies. What usually results is a promise by DCF to implement additional procedures and an allocation of new funds. At other times, the simple opportunity for legislators to publicly beat their chests and humiliate the commissioner on the Connecticut Television Network is reward enough. It’s not really about making DCF better or more efficient, despite the rhetoric.
More Talk
We know this, not because we can see into the hearts and souls of legislators conducting the hearings and discern their motives, but because the story never changes. The fact that there is always an opportunity for lawmakers to call a hearing to bash DCF demonstrates that there has never been a serious legislative attempt to reform the system. Only talk, flurry and bombast.
DCF is one of the most closely watched departments of state government because the lives of children are in the department’s hands. There should be vigorous oversight. It’s time, however, to admit one of the biggest problems facing the agency is not a lack of oversight, but too much.
The death or injury of a child in state custody is a high-profile mistake with political consequences, so the DCF commissioner is under constant pressure from the governor’s office to maintain a perfect record. On top of that, the department operates under two federal consent decrees, faces spending oversight from the Office of Policy and Management and has the offices of the attorney general and child advocate always on the lookout for any slip. They are always willing to offer new suggestions that — at this point in history — usually amount to more administrative burdens. Legislative oversight is thrown in mainly for the theater it provides.
Mounting Demands
Can any state government agency operate, with any efficiency, with that many hands on the wheel? No!
Administrators at DCF spend most of their time tending to the demands of federal court monitors and playing a regulatory game of twister imposed on them by the attorney general, child advocate and legislature. Similarly, social workers in the department, who must make tough decisions involving children and families in the field — where most of the DCF critics have never been — are under intense pressure to perform under a growing set of politically generated regulations.
Hundreds of jobs are at stake in the DCF watchdog industry, so change is unlikely. It would be helpful, however, if someone would step forward to say the focus at DCF should be on children not new regulation.
Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
