A DECLARATION AGAINST INSTITUTIONAL INJUSTICE

Peoples Manifesto:

Undoing Racism in the Dept. of Children and Families (DCF)!

We the People of Color and Working Poor of Greater Hartford are the victims of an unrelenting and systemic level of institutionalized racism and classism that permeates the Department of Children and Families, also known as DCF.  
We the People know that children, families of color and working class poor represent a significant percentage of the DCF caseload, yet its Administrators, Senior Management and Policy Makers do not reflect the population it serves in either color or working class background. 
We the People are informing all that this issue of racial and class bias within DCF has most recently been aggravated by the targeting of activists at Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, Connecticut for disciplinary actions by DCF management. Also by the fact that a disproportionate amount of disciplinary actions throughout DCF are aimed at their employees of color. 
We the People know very well that the relationships between our communities and DCF has always been a highly tenuous bond, and the People view the latest management actions by the DCF / CJTS unacceptable and simply adding salt to a very deep and festering wound.
We the People are telling DCF and the State of Connecticut that our children and families are NOT financial commodities of the State nor the Federal Government, and we demand that the Peoples Voices and Faces be given equal seats and representation at the DCF Tables of Power.
We the People are committed to assuring that the racial and class imbalance in DCF senior administration END TODAY, and that DCF’s Senior Management and Decision Makers finally mirror those in the community it serves and not mirror a pale and middle class representation of the community!
We the People can no longer accept our children, our mothers, our grandmothers, our families being victims not only of the systemic racism existing in Connecticut but to be re-victimized by a family support system that should be empowering our children and families as opposed to the current climate of fear and distrust.
We the People of Color and Working Poor of Greater Hartford are committed to:

1. Ending the reign of racism and classism that permeates the senior management levels and policy makers of DCF
2. Transforming, NOT Reforming, DCF into an organization that reflects in ALL aspects the communities it serves
3. Developing a Child and Family support structure that reflects a progressive social policy reflective of the communities it serves
4. Assuring that DCF is a partner with, not oppressor of, the Community Based Urban Organizations of whose families it serves

We the People Declare that until such action is taken, We the People of Greater Hartford hereby put DCF and its workers on notice that they are persona non-grata in the North End of Hartford, bounding the area from Garden Street to Vine Street to Capen Street and back to Garden Street! 
We the People call upon all members of the community within this designated area as a non-DCF zone and to respectfully let the DCF worker know that they are not wanted in our community due to policies by certain members of a “cronyistic” DCF system which promotes middle-class white women to leadership positions within DCF!
We close with the simple yet relevant words of Nehru:
    “Action itself, so long as I am convinced is right action, gives me satisfaction.”