House Passes H.B. 5004- An Act Concerning Child Welfare Accountability and Transparency

This week, the House passed H.B. 5004, An Act Concerning Child Welfare Accountability and Transparency. This bill strengthens protections for kids and increases oversight of DCF.

Highlights of the bill:

• Allows emergency placements with relatives or close family friends (fictive kin) even before full licensing, when it’s in the child’s best interest

• Requires written justification when DCF denies or ends these emergency placements

• Requires DCF to document to the court that any non-relative placement is in the child’s best interest

• Creates a grant program to help relatives and fictive kin cover basics like clothing, food, safety items, and other essentials when a child is placed with them

• Launches a public, real-time dashboard so families and the public can see how DCF is performing

I also backed an amendment to better protect children living in homes with individuals convicted of certain serious offenses. Under this change:

• Within one week of release to parole or probation, DOC must notify DCF if the person is living where a child under 18 resides

• Within one week of that notice, DOC or DCF must conduct a home visit to check on the child’s safety

• Follow-up home visits must continue at least every three months until parole/probation ends or no minors live in the home

This was strong work by the Children’s Committee and my colleague, Rep. Anne Dauphinais, the Ranking Member of the committee. Many will be grateful for their work on this important, bipartisan legislation.