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PERSPECTIVES MARCH 23, 2020 ¦ 45

school-sponsored public forums and workshops ing seen. It means that 4,000 reports every month
on child abuse and neglect prevention. They host are not being made. And unlike during the sum-
joint school-community adult education pro- mer school recess when children are much more
grams on such topics as alternative disciplinary visible at town programs, camps, playgrounds, or
methods and early childhood growth and devel- community gatherings, children are behind closed
opment. School buildings can be made available doors, often unsupervised and certainly beyond
for daycare, crisis care, and after-school care pro- the reach of all the schools employees who have
grams operated by social service agencies and been trained to be their seraphs.
school staff often serve as consultants, leaders, and These are unusual times and I think it’s safe to
facilitators of these programs. School-community say that we are in a crisis. But these children and
partnerships for the welfare of families cannot simply be col-
children have existed for years, lateral damage. Lawyers who
and these partnerships now are already representing these
even include efforts to work to children or their parents should
help reduce delinquency. So reach out, make sure that servic-
what happens when, due to the es are being provided and that
crisis of the Corona virus, the A recent report indicated DCF knows of any concerns you

current schools are closed, pub- that DCF’s Careline had have.

lic programs are suspended and received 60 calls in a day. For anyone reading this, check
convening in most public places on children you know and don’t
is prohibited? Calls of suspected If that’s true, it is not a be afraid to call the Careline
abuse and neglect drop precipi- yourselves with concerns or
tously. good thing. It means 4,000 questions. If children are home,
reports per month are not so are parents, many of whom
In any given year, the Care- being made, and children hold jobs that cannot be per-
line at DCF, where all calls of
are not being seen.

abuse and neglect are received, formed remotely, which means
gets 110,000, calls, over half of that there will be economic con-
which, or 60,000, result in actual sequences. And if parents are
reports of abuse and/or neglect. not home, then that’s another
That’s 5,000 reports each month problem. But cases of abuse and
on average. When I first became neglect, despite common mis-
Commissioner the number of calls received the conceptions, are not confined to only certain zip
prior year was approximately 90,000. That num- codes. Instances of domestic violence rose dramati-
ber grew steadily as the opioid crisis grew and cally among the affluent during the 2008 recession,
remained fairly constant at 110,000 for the last and last time I looked we were headed for another
few years of my tenure. Recent conversations with one. All this to say that in this time of uncertainty,
former colleagues at the agency make me very as we figure out how to practice law remotely, let’s
nervous. The phones are barely ringing. One latest also think about ways we can safely help children
report indicated that the Careline had received 60 and families in our communities.
calls in a day. ¦

If the above statistics hold true, that translates Former Department of Children and Families
to 33 reports a day, and 1000 a month. That is not Commissioner Joette Katz is a partner at Ship-
a good thing. It means that children are not be- man & Goodwin in Hartford.

CONNECTICUT
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