Fasano: Silent Lawmakers Just as Responsible for Putting Children at Risk

Hartford – Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement in light of today’s review of the Child and Family Services Review of Connecticut, a federal report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“We have been put on notice time and time again, by the Child Advocate and now by the federal government, that the state is failing its most vulnerable children. Silence is no longer an option. DCF has continued to diminish the severity of the systemic problems that have resulted in devastating cases of abuse and neglect. Leaders have denied the need for reform and dismissed repeated tragic cases as outliers. As a result, problems have persisted and children have been put at risk. Those are the facts. Children have been abused and neglected, all on the state’s watch, and almost all of state government has said nothing.

“It is up to the legislature to stand up, raise our voices and demand reform. I applaud those individual lawmakers who have spoken up and offered proposals to better the system, such as House Bill 6517 An Act Establishing the Child Welfare Oversight Committee. But a handful of voices are not enough. Every single lawmaker must stand together united in this effort because the leadership of our state has failed to grasp the need for change. The problem is not just those who defend the agency, but also those who sit back and say nothing. As legislators, if we don’t push for change knowing all that we now know about DCF, we are just as responsible when the agency fails to defend a child. Their lives are our responsibility to protect. And their voices are what we need to speak for now.”