Connecticut social workers have reached their lowest, most manageable child welfare caseloads in more than three decades.
That is the finding of a report by a federal monitor that oversees the state Department of Children and Families.
Ken Mysogland, bureau chief of external affairs at DCF, says smaller caseloads make for better social workers.
“You are better at assessing, your assessments are more timely, and you can connect families to supports that ultimately will help and strengthen and move them on the path to rehabilitation.
Mysogland says proper state funding helped his department hire more social workers and lower caseloads to about 12 per staff.
“Without that funding support and without the overall belief in the department being most appropriately staffed, we would not have been able to get to this point.”
He says it will also help DCF improve the remaining issues with investigations and case planning.
Federal oversight of Connecticut’s child welfare agency started in 1991 after a lawsuit raised awareness of issues with child neglect.