State review security at Children's Place
By:Kory Loucks, Journal Inquirer
05/15/2007
http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18343466&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=569425&rfi=6
State officials are investigating the circumstances under which a
14-year-old female resident at the Connecticut Children's Place in East
Windsor ran away and later reported being raped by a man in Manchester.
Brian Mattiello, acting commissioner of the Department of Children and
Families, has ordered an immediate clinical review to assess what can be
done to prevent a similar incident, according to DCF spokesman Gary
Kleeblatt.
The review will be led by acting Superintendent Brian McKeown and will
be supervised by Joyce Welsh, superintendent of River View Hospital, who
oversees River View Hospital, the Children's Place, and High Meadows.
The Children's Place is a 52-bed residential facility, which currently
houses 38 children between the ages of 10 and 18.
The facility has a history of problems with runaways. As of today, 76
DCF children were unaccounted for, Kleeblatt said. Specific numbers for
Children's Place residents were unavailable.
According to Manchester police, the girl, who is reported to have
cognitive limitations, ran away from the facility on Wednesday and
decided to walk to Hartford.
It was then that she met a man, later identified as Carlos A. Boscana,
46, whose address is listed as the homeless shelter in Manchester, but
who lives in a tent behind the Adams Mill Restaurant in Manchester,
according to police.
After hitchhiking to Manchester, the girl told police, Boscana, who had
a knife, raped her. She was able to escape the following day when she
said she needed to use a restroom.
Boscana, who denied allegations made by the girl several times when
questioned by police, is being held on $2 million bond and is charged
with aggravated first-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor,
and first-degree unlawful restraint.
"It is obviously an awful thing," Kleeblatt said, "and we are all
troubled by the incident, but by law we cannot restrain them," referring
to children with DCF.
Restraint can be used only if the child is deemed to be "in imminent
danger" regardless of their age, Kleeblatt said.
And children who live at a group home such as the Children's Place are
not criminals, Kleeblatt said, nor have they broken any laws.
The staff has the difficult job of trying to convince a child verbally
not to leave the facility, Kleeblatt said, by informing them of the
possible danger they are exposing themselves to by running away.
Children are placed at DCF facilities either because they had a
problematic experience at a foster home home or have experienced neglect
or abuse at their family home.
Kleeblatt said that the investigation has just begun. "We are not going
to rush this," he said.
Connecticut Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein said she has begun her own
investigation.
"We are very concerned about the child whose parent is DCF," Milstein
said. "A lot of times these kids are not getting the kind of treatment
they need at the right time."
Milstein said that there are programs that are well run where children's
needs are being addressed.
Questions Milstein is asking as part of her investigations are: "Is this
program equipped to take care of the children it is caring for? What
kind of oversight do they have?"
A few years ago a task force was convened to look into the whole issue
of runaways, Milstein said.
"We will be following up to see if the recommendations have been
implemented," Milstein said, including a progress check on the
implementation of a more secure housing unit that had been planned,
which would make it more difficult for the children to run away.
What they have observed in the past with DCF, Milstein said,
"particularly with girls, is that often they just look for an open bed
to place the child.
"Historically CCP has done a good job caring for the kids," Milstein
added. "We just have to make sure that they are providing appropriate
services for the child's needs and appropriate oversight."
And although the investigation has just begun, Milstein said: "What I
have learned so far concerns me."
Staff Writer Jennifer Hoyt contributed to this report.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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