State Child Protection Iniative—

Prevention Efforts No Longer Measured In Ounces

By John Voket

The state’s chief child protection attorney is calling the recent adoption of prevention legislation a precedent-setting achievement for virtually every agency and organization dealing with the after-effects of child abuse, abandonment, the lack of early childhood education as well as myriad behavioral and criminal issues involving Connecticut’s children.

Newtown resident Carolyn Signorelli, who was named to lead the newly created Commission on Child Protection, told The Bee this week that the act Concerning State Investment in Prevention, “is right on target” in mandating a redirection of taxpayer dollars to aggressive, proven, and outcome-driven prevention initiatives for young people.

Approved unanimously by the 2006 General Assembly and signed into law earlier this summer by Governor M. Jodi Rell, the legislation seeks to prevent children and youth from falling behind in the first place — and save taxpayer dollars in the process. Among other things, it sets this goal for all state agencies that serve children and families: allocation of at least ten percent of their budgets to prevention services by the year 2020.

Elaine Zimmerman, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Children, said the act is the first of its kind in the nation, and positions Connecticut as a leader in “making intelligent investments in our young people.”

“Traditionally, the state puts money into programs that react to children and youth in crisis,” Ms Zimmerman said in a recent interview. “Spending that prevents crises — such as investment in early education, after-school programs, immunization, and vocational-training opportunities — currently accounts for less than three percent of state spending.”

Besides setting a goal of raising that share to ten percent for each child agency by 2020, the act also requires a report on prevention spending to be included in the governor’s proposed budget, which is offered every two years. This report must indicate the state’s progress toward the ten percent goal.

In addition, the act creates a Child Poverty and Prevention Council and assigns it the tasks of establishing prevention goals and measuring the outcomes of prevention programs. The council also absorbs the work and goals of the Child Poverty Council, created in 2004.

Ms Zimmerman said this legislation is necessary, and comes at a critical moment for Connecticut, which devotes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually toward programs addressing existing problems and challenges facing a growing number of young people.

She pointed out that every dollar invested in prenatal care saves $3.38 in the cost of caring for low-birth-weight infants; that every dollar invested in preschool in Connecticut produces a return on investment of $18.39; and every dollar spent on quality after-school programs produces a return on investment ranging from $2.19 to $3.22 — not including the significant savings realized from lower crime.

Ms Signorelli, whose office is already handling on average 14,000 youth clients in each of the two months since she established in the new position, pointed out that in today’s dollars, the investment of ten percent of just the Department of Children and Families budget of $650 million would infuse the prevention initiative with $65 million.

She said factoring that allocation along with the other agencies participating puts Connecticut’s related prevention program in a position to achieve “significant results and taxpayer benefits” in just a few short years.

“I’ve already seen the proof that prevention programs are very cost-effective,” Ms Signorelli said. “The Children’s Trust Fund is already administering a number of highly effective prevention programs.”

In 2004, Ms Signorelli was appointed to the Children’s Trust Fund Council. That state agency is responsible for preventing child abuse and neglect through programs assisting families and others at risk before a crisis occurs. The agency focuses on building stronger bonds and healthy relationships between parents and their children, along with improving the chances that children will experience a safe and healthy home, have positive relationships with their  parents, and enjoy a more stable family life.

In her current position, Ms Signorelli works with a staff of just five others to ensure the provision of quality legal representation and temporary or long-term guardian services to children, as well as advising indigent parents involved in child protection matters in Juvenile and Family courts. She is also a member of Newtown’s Charter Revision Commission.

Ms Signorelli said that shifting funds through the new prevention legislation from reactive to proactive programs is the best way to counter the major problems she sees in many of the state’s disadvantaged youths and families.

“If you get kids dealing with one or more of these issues — illiteracy, behavioral, social, abuse, or neglect — along with the burden of poverty, prevention programming can make all the difference in the world,” she said.

Ms Signorelli believes the gradual reallocation of agency budget dollars to proven prevention initiatives can collaterally motivate all agencies involved to scrutinize where redundancies and service overlaps are occurring, and create further collaboration no matter where positive outcomes are occurring.

“The beauty of this legislation is it requires agencies to identify what’s working, and pool resources to expand the most effective programs,” she said. “It forces us to look across the entire state and come up with comprehensive programs instead of doing it by piecemeal approach.”

She is also happy to see the legislation demands both accountability and the establishment of best practices criteria.

“This is a huge step for state government,” Ms Signorelli said. “We don’t claim to have all the answers, but this will help us step up the speed at which we’re learning to do things right. And it will help us make more of a difference on a much more global scale. It’s an exciting time to be working with child protection agencies.”