A new report on the Department of Children and Families says the state’s child welfare system has made progress overseeing children in state care, but management practices still need to improve.
The state’s child advocate — who serves as an independent watchdog for the department — says DCF is restructuring how it manages its frontline social workers and how they monitor children, but there are still needs: like more attorneys to handle child welfare work, training for managers and additional funds for new technology, equipment and travel.
New state Child Advocate Maria Mossaides warns that without investing in more robust quality assurance for DCF, cases of child neglect could fall through the cracks.
“We are not on top of everything we need to be on top of and as a result children get hurt,” Mossaides said.
While she says the budget is being restored to $906 million this fiscal year, she says more may be needed to fund initiatives that are already underway.
