A few Public Acts of interest in the DCF arena:
HB-5217. Currently all adoptions must be heard in the Probate Court. This Act would allow DCF to file adoption petitions in the Juvenile Court if that was the court, which terminated parental rights. This Act is a long time coming and should make the adoption process much more efficient.
This Act also requires the Chief State’s Attorney to conduct a criminal investigation of people who falsely report child abuse or child neglect. Hopefully, this will make false accusers think three times before calling DCF when their sole purpose is vengeance or to gain leverage in a custody case.
SB-156. This Act would set minimum visitation requirements – at least once per week – for separated siblings placed in DCF custody. Unfortunately, the Act is not scheduled to become effective until October 1, 2014.
SB-294. This Act requires a DCF Social Worker (or an agent of DCF) to visit each foster home at least once every sixty days. Good start but I would like the visits to be more frequent – say monthly. I know the argument is lack of DCF personnel but hey it’s about child welfare. This would be especially true in cases where a child has identified “special needs.”