The federal government's dereliction allows states to fall short on meeting minimum child welfare standards. Below is information specific to Connecticut.

CFSR Results Summary: In its Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) process, HHS determines whether each state is in substantial conformity with 7 specific outcomes (pertaining to the areas of safety, permanency and family and child well-being) and 7 systemic factors (relating to the quality of services delivered to children and families and the outcomes they experience).  In the first two rounds of the CFSR, HHS has concluded that Connecticut was:

Round 1 (2002)

• NOT in substantial conformity with 6 of the 7 Outcomes
• NOT in substantial conformity with 3 of the 7 Systemic Factors

Round 2 (2009)   

• NOT in substantial conformity with 6 of the 7 Outcomes
• NOT in substantial conformity with 2 of the 7 Systemic Factors

Although federal law mandates that any state found not to be operating in substantial conformity during an initial or subsequent review must begin a full review within two years after approval of the state's program improvement plan, HHS has announced that Connecticut will not undergo Round 3 of the CFSR until FY 2017 (see CFSR Technical Bulletin #7 (March 2014)).

Documents from the U.S. Health & Human Services Children's Bureau

• Child and Family Services Review Reports and Results
  
  
  • Connecticut Performance Improvement Plan, 2009 (Round 2)
  • Final Report: Connecticut Child and Family Services Review, 2009 (Round 2)
  • Connecticut Performance Improvement Plan, 2003 (Round 1)
  • Final Report: Connecticut Child and Family Services Review, 2002 (Round 1)
• Title IV-E State Reports and Program Improvement Plans (PIPs)
  
  
  • Initial Primary (FY 2003)
  • Primary Review (FY 2006)
  • Subsequent Primary Review (FY 2009)
  • PIP
  • Secondary Review (FY 2012)
• Other Documents / Reports
  
  
  • Connecticut AFCARS Assessment Review (2001)
  • Connecticut section from HHS' Child Welfare Outcomes, 2009-2012, Report to Congress

Child Welfare Litigation*

• Juan F. v. Malloy
  Children's Rights and Connecticut advocates lawsuit against the Governor of Connecticut and the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families on behalf of a class of current and future children in foster care and children not in state custody who are at risk of maltreatment.

*litigation summary taken from information provided by the website of Children's Rights.

Child Welfare In the News**

• Out Of The Shadows: Sex-Trafficking A Threat to Runaway Connecticut Teens (The Hartford Courant - December 12, 2014) Trafficking of children for sex isn't confined to the dark alleys of mysterious foreign cities. Children don't have to be chained as sex slaves in cages in dank basements. It was, and is, happening in Connecticut, and is as simple as a girl, or even a boy, running away from a foster home or somewhere else and bumping, literally, into a pimp trolling the mall or the park for just such a target.
  
• Youth in Foster Care Speak Out About Key Relationships Necessary for Success (Includes audio) (Connecticut Voices for Children - December 10, 2014) On Monday December 8, we hosted our 4th annual Youth at the Capitol Day Forum, "Because Relationships Matter: Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for Youth in State Care."
  
• Angela Carella: 2010 study found schools reluctant to report abuse (Stamford Advocate - November 29, 2014) In 2010 the Connecticut attorney general and Office of the Child Advocate documented failures among local Boards of Education to report school employees suspected of abusing children.
  
• DCF's level of involvement a factor in child deaths, review says (Register Citizen - October 07, 2014) Child deaths in families involved with the state Department of Children and Families are more likely in cases where agency workers have spent less time assessing and interacting with parents, a preliminary review by the agency indicates.
  
• A Child Welfare Update with Connecticut's DCF (Audio) (WNPR - October 06, 2014) Last Wednesday, the Department of Children and Families submitted a new five-year plan calling for a redesign of the state's children's behavioral health system. This hour, DCF's Joette Katz and Kristina Stevens sit down with us to explain how the new behavioral health plan addresses some of the recent criticisms of Connecticut's child mental health care system.
  
• Foster kids struggle academically (ctpost.com - September 24, 2014) Connecticut children in foster care are more likely to miss school, perform poorly on standardized tests and be suspended or expelled from school. That's according to a new report from Connecticut Voices for Children, a research-based policy think tank, which examined data from the state Department of Children and Families and the Department of Education to determine how students in foster care fared academically during the 2012-13 school year. Information Gateway Resources:
  
• Report: DCF must do better at tracking kids who 'age out' (The Connecticut Mirror - August 22, 2014) The number of children in state care who age out without family connections is mostly unknown to the Department of Children and Families, which was criticized for its lack of data collection in a report issued on Feb. 6 of this year by the bipartisan Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee.
  

**news summaries taken from daily newsfeed service of HHS' Child Welfare Information Gateway