Sen. Miner Votes to Override Malloy’s Veto, Protect Children in DCF Care

Hartford—State Senator Craig Miner (R-Litchfield) today voted to override Governor Malloy’s Veto of PA 18-140  sSB 188 An Act Establishing The State Oversight Council On Children And Families. The legislation, which failed to gain enough votes to override Governor Malloy’s veto, would have established a 25 member council to oversee the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The council would have tracked, monitored, and evaluated DCF policies and practices, and would have had more power than the current State Advisory Council on Children and Families.

“This is a missed opportunity to protect children who are failed by DCF,” said Sen. Miner. “There are no easy fixes to an agency which oversees neglected children; however, the Governor and the Democrat senators who choose to sustain his veto seem to think that the status quo is acceptable, and that no additional oversight is required. In 2013 alone there were 38 non-natural deaths of children birth to age 3 in Connecticut. The majority of these children lived in families that had current or previous involvement with the Department of Children and Families.”

A 2014 report by the Office of the Child Advocate uncovered serious failures and deficiencies at DCF.

“The social workers and bureaucrats at DCF have the hardest jobs in state government,” continued Sen. Miner. “No one disputes the difficulty of their charge. What can and should be disputed are the methods DCF uses to care for the most vulnerable people in our state: orphaned and neglected children. The agency has had too many failures for its work as a whole to be considered adequate.”