The Republican leader of the Connecticut Senate is calling for the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families to resign.
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano said on Thursday that a recent report shows DCF Commissioner Joette Katz's leadership has put children at risk. The report, from the Office of the Child Advocate, highlighted urgent safety problems at the state’s juvenile detention facilities run by DCF.
“That report shows that there is violence against children unnecessarily, a lack of counseling, and punishment methods that at the very least are Draconian, and perhaps some could argue, are simply cruel.” Fasano said.
According to the report, boys and girls at the detention facilities have been subjected to unlawful and repeated use of restraints and isolation.
DCF released a statement on Thursday acknowledging the issues raised in the Child Advocate's report. DCF says it's working to reduce the use of restraint and isolation.
Mark Bergman, a spokesperson for Governor Dannel Malloy, said Fasano’s call for Katz’s resignation is a "ill-informed and misguided attack" without a serious plan to fix the problems.
Fasano did say he would like to see an independent board formed to review DCF, and an ombudsman appointed to work within it.
This story contains information from the Associated Press
