To: The United States House of Representatives
CT Department of Children and Families : Dividing Families and Diluting Services
Connecticut public institutions disproportionately identifies and excludes children with special needs from support services over racial and socio-economic groups. Access to education, child care and other enrichment or special interest programming can then exclude children on the premise of not having resources or offering support services to allow all children to participate. The result of this practice particularly disadvantages female headed single parent families and those that are vulnerable due to needs for accommodations. It also floods the system with overstated needs and empowers the practices of inequitable resource allocation founded on the premise of restricted resources. This is inefficient, wastes tax dollars, leaves people without care who really need and want it and allows the practice of inequity to be systematized such that privilege is established for some at the cost of many. Over representing and misrepresenting service needs is fraudulent and it hides accountability for the allocation of resources.
Why is this important?
The CT Department of Children and Families needs to take a stand to preserve families as they are and support parents in their choices to obtain special education support services and alternative therapies that their children need to address emotional, social behavioral challenges. Parents should not have to waive their rights to decide on providers or treatments for their children or for themselves in order to have the school and department of children and families put public dollars to work with services in place. Parents have a right to choice of providers and programming in or out of state. The practice of committing children to state custody on neglect petitions in these situations in order to avoid the cost of providing relevant and timely services for children in the care of their parents must stop.