Good news for the thousands on the Connecticut DCF Child Abuse Registry.
Legislation is being considered which would allow individuals to appeal if they have been on the Registry for at least 5 years. To be removed, applicants must establish that they have “rehabilitated” or that other legitimate reasons exist for removing their name. An applicant would be precluded from appealing if they were involved in any new abuse reports or DCF investigations.
I am in favor of this legislation. However, I see two problems:
1. What is the definition of “rehabilitation”? It seems too subjective. Maybe a list of identified factors should be weighed when determining one’s rehabilitative status.
2. Merely being “involved” with any new abuse reports or DCF investigations is overly harsh. It would prevent otherwise worthy applicants a right to appeal simply because they were the subject of an unfounded investigation. Any new investigation should at least be substantiated. Better yet, how about being denied a right to appeal only if the new substantiation is “substantially similar” to the prior DCF substantiation? This would be a reasonable standard and more consistent with the underlying concept of this legislation -rehabilitation.
Have a look here:
Conn. lawmakers to consider abuse registry changes – Boston.com