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DCF tightens sibling-connection and 'family time' policies; new forms and timelines for kinship staffing
Summary
DCF presenters told the committee about new ‘family time’ terminology replacing 'visitation', a revised sibling-connection form and 90-day staffing cadence for unplaced sibling groups; DCF reported 73.8% of children are placed with at least one sibling and said 402 capacity-exception requests were approved with four denials.
A DCF presentation to the joint committee outlined policy changes intended to preserve sibling connections and clarify family-time expectations for children in care.
Director Rebecca Gerhardt said DCF adopted ‘family time’ language in January 2025 to emphasize time spent together and to align case-plan tasks with supervision-level decisions. "We presume family time to be in the best interest of children and families unless there's an identified present danger that cannot be mitigated," she told the committee.
Gerhardt walked the panel through revised forms that staff will use to document family-time frequency, supervision level and steps needed to move from supervised to…
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