FWSN-advisorybd-repo.. - The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance

In addition, minor changes to the recently enacted Families with Service Needs statutes
must be enacted to provide sufficient procedural safeguards for children, allow for
exchange of information without affecting due process considerations and adhere to
federal requirements regarding children in DCF placement.
Five core recommendations in this report of the FWSN Advisory Board address the
most critical needs in the area of services and legislation. Beyond these core
recommendations, additional necessary steps are recommended to effectuate system wide
reform that will provide for prevention and early intervention and deliver appropriate
services to FWSN children and girls in the juvenile justice system in all parts of the state.
THE FIVE CORE RECOMMENDATIONS:
RECOMMENDATION ONE
PROVIDE FUNDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SIX
ADDITIONAL FAMILY SUPPORT CENTERS TO MAKE THESE
SERVICES AVAILABLE TO EVERY CHILD AND FAMILY IN
CONNECTICUT.
The Family Support Center (FSC) is a multi-service “one-stop” community- based
program for FWSN-referred children assessed as high risk and in need of intensive
services. Public Act 07-4 requires that every juvenile court, after assessment by a
probation officer, divert children and families assessed as high risk/needs to a Family
Support Center. However, in 2007, the legislature only provided funding for four
centers, now located in Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport and New Haven. The purpose of
the FSC is to determine appropriate services and/or treatment needs for children and
families who exhibit behaviors that require an immediate response (high risk/needs) and
offer access to appropriate and effective services and interventions.
The Family Support Center provides voluntary services to the child and family. These
services include case management, 24-hour crisis counseling, family mediation,
educational advocacy; psycho-educational and cognitive behavioral groups, one-on-one
therapeutic sessions and respite care for up to two weeks.
CSSD received funds in SFY 2007-2008 to contract with private providers for these
services in only four juvenile districts. Thus, only 39 of Connecticut’s 161 cities and
towns are currently served by a Family Support Center. They are: Waterbury, Wolcott,
Prospect, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Southbury, Oxford, Beacon Falls, Seymour, Ansonia,
Derby, Hartford, Windsor, Bloomfield, East Hartford, West Hartford, Glastonbury, New
Haven, North Haven, West Haven, East Haven, Hamden, Cheshire, Wallingford,
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