STORIES FROM THE HAMILTON STREET PLANTATION

“Never mistake the concessions of the ruling class as benevolence. You have only their fear of us to thank for whatever they give up.”

The stories you are about to read come from three black male employees who work at the DCF Plantation office at 250 Hamilton Street in Hartford, Connecticut. This staff writer believes it is important that people understand how the inner working of certain offices [ plantations ] operate and affect workers.

The first worker is a Case Manager and provides services for DCF clients such as finding resources and transporting in state owned cars. He agreed to meet this DCF blog writer at the corners of Tower and Main Street. We refer to him as Case Manager..CM.

 The CM said that for years he has worked at DCF Hamilton Street plantation and how treatment of employees is disgusting. People in a certain economic bracket [ not upper management ] are considered expendable and men of color are targeted for harsher disciplinary measures. “Work loads for the main line employees is heavy and difficult at times to bear; in many respects that Hamilton Street office is run just like a damn plantation. I want the blog readers to know how terrible it is to work under oppressive conditions of bias / racism; something needs to be done about this.”

The second worker interviewed is a Clinical Worker and also has years of experience at the Hamilton Street plantation. He shall be referred to as CW for this story. We met in a building where a local union was holding a rally for employees.

This CW came to DCF Plantation blog with stories of overwork and racism within his Hamilton Street office. “We [ DCF workers at Hamilton Street ] are expected to carry a case load of clients that allow us a high rating. However, if you reach a 100% per cent full case load, management gives a low rating [ grade of C ]. This means in order to gain a passable grade of B or A clinical workers must work at 150% per cent, this does not leave time for a personal life away from the plantation.”  There is intense pressure for all employees to produce higher client outcomes but this is especially true for CW. This staff writer continued to notice how angry the CW became as he recounted tales of white management racism / bias toward employees of color. However his main bone of contention is how all workers in a certain economic bracket are being abused by uncaring –calloused management types. He lamented about lack of racial sensitivity by white management and the acceptance of [ white managers ] abusive treatment by employees of color.

The third worker met DCF blog staff on Park Street to discuss conditions at Hamilton Street. He works in the Investigations Unit seeking to ascertain if complaints of child abuse or neglect are valid. We refer to him as IU in this story.
“I am still working at that damn place [ Hamilton Street ] and conditions are not getting any better.” While looking at IU there seems to be a dark cloud covering his face, maybe it was anger or a sense of helplessness. “Whenever we [employees ] speak up about heavy case loads there is always a backlash of some sort. Damn managers start to examine [ closely ] our time sheets and productivity. They claim this scrutiny is all necessary and part of policy but we know better.” I noticed how IU continued looking at a wrist watch then slowly monitored people walking down the street. I asked him if there was a concern of being discovered about giving information to DCF Plantation blog. His reply to my query is typical of workers on DCF Plantations. “Listen, there are co-workers in cahoots with management over at Hamilton Street, they report anything considered to be of value. You never know who is speaking to the plantation boss.”

In conclusion this staff writer tried to capture the tenor of each conversation in order to give readers insights into struggles at Hamilton Street DCF Plantation.