NORTHEND WOMEN TALK ABOUT DCF PLANTATION

At the Unity Plaza Post Office in the Northend of Hartford women talked about their displeasure with the DCF Plantation foster child system. These women reported how DCF workers treat people of color in unacceptable ways,compared to potential white foster parents in suburbia. The women talked about the following things: (1) how DCF workers want to give families of color certain children with severe cognitive issues, while white foster parents do not receive the same types (limited cognitively etc), (2) DCF uses financial cudgels (short thick sticks) to convince people of color to accept "certain types" of children. One woman explained how a DCF worker said "if you do not take this child, monies ill be reduced when you accept another one", (3) these women also described how negative labels e.g. "uncooperative, difficult to deal with" etc are placed on them for simply asking questions about treatment plans for kids placed in their homes, (4) homes in suburbia with white foster parents are offered more financial assistance than parents in communities of color. It was all this writer could do to end the conversations with these women; their anger over perceived ill treatment by DCF was palpable, and this they say is typical of treatment in Hartford's Northend by DCF.
In the final analysis it appears as if the complaints about the DCF Plantation is not just isolated to a few malcontents. With organizing by activists among DCF foster parents of color, it is hoped that video footage of their stories will be posted soon.