Reform implication · 3 cases
Child welfare oversight
DCYF cases recur on critical-incident reviews, fatality reviews, and ombuds findings. The recurring reform proposal is to strengthen OFCO's authority and ensure DCYF cannot effectively gate the documents and access OFCO needs to do its job.
- Oakley Carlson was born in 2016 and came into contact with the child welfare system through a series of referrals predating her birth — reports of concerns about her parents' drug use and domestic violence. Over approximately eight years,…Civil rights harmStructural failure
- OFCO publishes an annual Critical Incident Report documenting child fatalities and near-fatalities reviewed during the prior calendar year. These reports are the primary independent tracking mechanism for child deaths connected to the…Civil rights harmStructural failure
- OFCO is the independent ombuds office responsible for investigating complaints about DCYF services and issuing formal adverse findings when the agency's actions fall short of legal or policy requirements. The 2024 Annual Report documents…Structural failureCivil rights harm