For Immediate Release Contact: Gary Kleeblatt

January 3, 2012 Office: 860-550-6305

Page: 860-260-0940

DCF And Klingberg Family Centers Launch Joint Initiative

To Expand Home And Family Services for Children

Reduced Reliance On Congregate Care Enables Shift In Focus

HARTFORD -- The Connecticut State Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Klingberg Family Centers are launching a joint effort to move from traditional congregate services for children to an array of family and community based alternatives.

DCF Commissioner Joette Katz said this step is one of many toward achieving the goals outlined in the Department's August 2011 report Congregate Care Rightsizing and Redesign. In that report, DCF outlined a plan to reduce utilization of highly structured and more costly residential treatment placements in favor of increased supports for families and expanded use of foster and adoptive family resources, especially with relatives.

“Youngsters involved with this Department deserve every chance to experience a normal childhood with a family that loves and cares for them," Commissioner Katz said. "We have been moving in the right direction, and Klingberg is going to be instrumental in accelerating that movement." In June 2011, 1,433 youngsters received care in congregate settings within and outside of Connecticut -- 28 percent fewer than in 2004. In addition, the number of children six and under in congregate care has fallen to 10 in December 2011 compared to 38 in January, when Commissioner Katz took office. The number of children age 12 and under in congregate care has fallen to 123 in December compared to 201 in January. Reducing the use of congregate care for these younger populations was made a special point of emphasis by Commissioner Katz following the Congregate Care report. "Despite these indicators of progress, too many children and youth are not growing up with family and community ties,” Commissioner Katz said.

Klingberg Family Centers President/CEO Steven A. Girelli, Ph.D. said the private, nonprofit provider shares the same goals. “We fully agree that, whenever possible, children experiencing behavioral health issues are best served in a family setting bolstered by in-home and community-based services. Over the past 20 years, Klingberg Family Centers has developed a full continuum of in-home, outpatient, foster care and community-based programs to address issues ranging from moderate family problems to serious behavioral health needs and traumatization.”

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As part of this plan, Klingberg Family Centers will reduce the number of congregate treatment beds from 68 to 26 at its main campus in New Britain. This will enable Klingberg family Centers to redirect its attention to expanding its network of foster homes, family support services, and day treatment and educational programs at the same time as DCF continues its efforts to shift state spending on behalf of children to community based services. Planning is underway to provide alternative care settings for 30 youths who have been residents at the treatment facility. DCF and Klingberg Family Centers have been working closely to plan and implement the next phase of care and treatment for each of these children. It is expected that the majority, consistent with existing discharge plans, will return to family homes with specialized in-home support services to be arranged as necessary by DCF or Klingberg.

Klingberg Family Centers acknowledged that these changes will be disruptive for its employees. It hopes to retain staff, whenever possible, and transfer them to positions being created in new programs. The agency has invested in considerable training of its staff members and values their expertise, dedication, and commitment to working with children with special needs and their families.

Founded in 1903, Klingberg Family Centers originally served as a “substitute home” for children who were orphaned, abandoned or whose families were unable to care for them due to economic, social or medical hardships. During the orphanage era, many of these children spent their entire childhood at the Klingberg “Children’s Home,” as it was then known. In 1968, the organization made the transition into a treatment center for children and families. For decades, it has been providing a range of services beyond residential treatment to children and families across Connecticut. In1988, it was the first agency to bring the “Home-Builders Model” to Connecticut. This approach, which is designed to work with families in their own homes to strengthen parenting skills and prevent the unnecessary removal of children, effectively anticipated the formal state policies that are now being implemented by DCF.

DCF and Klingberg Family Centers have worked in partnership since the state agency was formed in 1969. Commissioner Katz underscored the importance of this relationship. "Throughout the decades of shifting state and national priorities about the best approaches to care for and treat children, the two organizations have enjoyed a productive and mutually respectful relationship that has been guided by a consistent focus on the well being of the children in our care," Commissioner Katz said. "I expect we will continue to build on this collaborative spirit as we embark on this important set of improvements to Connecticut's system of services to children and families."

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