DCF Employees Suspended For Leaving Children With Sex Offender: Report

A report revealed that several Department of Children and Families employees have been suspended after learning that two children in Willimantic, Connecticut, were left in the care of a couple who are on sex-offender and child-abuse registries. 

"I am very troubled by the decisions made in this matter, and we are now conducting a human resources investigation involving several staff from the Willimantic office," DCF Commissioner Joette Katz said.

Last year, a 1-year-old and an infant were left with a father who is a registered sex offender and a mother who is on a child-abuse registry despite a child-abuse hotline complaint, the Hartford Courant reported

In Aug. 2015, the DCF office director learned of the family's arrangement and the children were immediately removed from the home, Katz said in a statement. The Courant reported that action was taken four months after the complaint was filed.

The children were not harmed.

An investigation is underway at the agency and it will be decided what disciplinary action will be taken, Katz told NBC Connecticut. 

"We must and will hold ourselves accountable," Katz said in an email. "We will impose discipline up to and including termination as warranted by the facts identified in our investigation process."

Katz told the Courant on Wednesday that she is aware of serious mistakes and human errors that have occurred within the agency. She defended the DCF by saying maltreatment of children since her appointment in 2011 is 0.2 percent of foster families in Connecticut. 

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