CT Schools Mishandle Child Abuse and Neglect

A version of this story appears in The Daily Norwalk.

Connecticut schools are not doing a good enough job protecting children from abuse and neglect according to a new report issued by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Jean Milstein, the state’s Child Advocate. The 66-page report, which was released last Thursday, examines the handling of child abuse cases in public schools across the state. It finds that the State Department of Education, Department of Children and Family Services and school districts themselves have all failed to adequately safeguard children. In particular, the report finds fault with hiring practices including the screening of employees and the rules regarding when school personnel must report instances of abuse.

“We have found a maze of miscommunication and misinformation, where mandated reporters fail to properly communicate abuse allegations, local and state authorities fail to share abuse information or adequately screen new hires, and public officials fail to set clear, explicit polices and training,” said Blumenthal in a press release. 

As its basis, the report cites hundreds of examples from an in-depth examination of five districts including Westport, East Hartford, Southington, New Haven and Bridgeport.

The report has particular significance for Norwalk. In May, two NPS employees were arrested  for inappropriate conduct with children. Since then, parents and school officials have questioned whether the school district has adequate policies to address abuse by teachers and whether they were appropriately followed.  In response to parent concerns, the policy committee of the Board of Education began a review of its child abuse policies at the end of the school year.

“There is an obvious need to look across the whole chain for coordination,” says BOE Policy Committee Chair Steven Colarossi  who has been pushing for a review of the district’s child abuse policy. “The report really highlights what I’ve been yelling about. Just because someone is not a mandated reporter, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t report abuse if they see it going on.”

In Westport, the report chronicles the child abuse by Paul Held, an art teacher in the Westport Schools for 30 years. Held was convicted in 2007 for the possession of three to four million photos depicting child pornography. The report cites example after example of reports of inappropriate conduct by Held that slipped through the administrative cracks, including inappropriate touching and taking pictures of girls.

The report puts forth several recommendations including the expansion of a DCF child abuse and neglect registry. It also focuses on regular review and training of the mandated reporting policies including who exactly can report instances of child abuse and the timeframe in which they should be reported.