1. (a) The department shall plan, create, develop, operate or arrange for, administer and evaluate a comprehensive and integrated state-wide program of services, including preventive services, for children and youths who have mental health needs and substance use disorders and who have been abused, neglected or uncared for. The department shall provide such services to all children and youths, including children and youths who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing, who are or may be committed to it by any court, and all children and youths voluntarily admitted to, or remaining voluntarily under the supervision of, the commissioner for services of any kind. The department shall not deny such services to any such child or youth solely because of other complicating or multiple disabilities. The department shall work in cooperation with other child-serving agencies and organizations to provide or arrange for preventive programs, including, but not limited to, teenage pregnancy and youth suicide prevention programs, for children and youths and their families.

2. (b) The state-wide program of services shall provide services and placements that are clinically indicated and appropriate to the needs of each child or youth. In furtherance of this purpose, the department shall:

   1. (1) Develop a comprehensive program for prevention and treatment of problems experienced by children and youths and provide a flexible, innovative and effective program for the placement, care and treatment of children and youths committed by any court to the department, transferred to the department by other departments, or voluntarily admitted to the department; (2) provide appropriate services to the families of children and youths as needed to achieve the purposes of sections 17a-1 to 17a-26, inclusive, 17a-28 to 17a-49, inclusive, and 17a-51; (3) establish incentive paid work programs for children and youths under the care of the department and the rates to be paid such children and youths for work done in such programs, and may provide allowances to children and youths in the custody of the department; (4) collect, interpret and publish statistics relating to children and youths committed to the department; (5) conduct studies of any program, service or facility developed, operated, contracted for, licensed or supported by the department in order to evaluate its effectiveness; (6) establish staff development and other training and educational programs designed to improve the quality of departmental services and programs, which shall include, but not be limited to, training in the prevention, identification and effects of family violence, and may establish educational or training programs for children, youths, parents or other interested persons on any matter related to the promotion of the well-being of children, including, but not limited to, the prevention and treatment of mental illness, substance use disorders and other disabilities in children and youths; (7) require each social worker trainee to complete the training in the prevention, identification and effects of family violence established pursuant to subdivision (6) of this subsection prior to being assigned a case load; (8) develop and implement aftercare and follow-up services appropriate to the needs of any child or youth under the care of the department; (9) establish a case audit unit to monitor each regional office's compliance with regulations and procedures; (10) develop and maintain a database listing available community service programs funded by the department; (11) provide outreach and assistance to persons caring for children whose parents are unable to care for such children by informing such persons of programs and benefits for which they may be eligible; and (12) collect data sufficient to identify the housing needs of children served by the department and share such data with the Department of Housing.

3. (c) Not later than July 1, 2021, the Commissioner of Children and Families shall submit, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies and to the State Advisory Council of Children and Families the following reports for which the commissioner most recently received approval from the Administration for Children and Families pursuant to federal law:

   1. (1) The Child and Family Services Plan, (2) the Annual Progress and Services Report, (3) the Final Report of the Child and Family Services Review, and (4) any Program Improvement Plan. Thereafter, the commissioner shall submit, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies and to the State Advisory Council of Children and Families said reports not later than thirty days after the Administration for Children and Families approves the reports.
4. (d) The Department of Children and Families shall maintain on the department's Internet web site information on services provided to persons with disabilities. The department's Internet web site shall include a link to the Internet web page maintained by the Department of Aging and Disability Services pursuant to section 46a-33a, containing information about services for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing individuals.

See Sec. 17a-453c re “Project Safe” interagency collaboration.

(1969, P.A. 664, S. 2; P.A. 75-524, S. 3, 30; P.A. 79-165; P.A. 86-15; P.A. 89-191, S. 2; P.A. 91-268, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-8, S. 55; P.A. 94-232, S. 1; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; 95-257, S. 5, 58; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; 96-238, S. 15, 25; P.A. 97-272, S. 6; P.A. 99-26, S. 11, 17, 39; P.A. 05-246, S. 1; P.A. 06-102, S. 3; 06-196, S. 102; P.A. 09-205, S. 1; P.A. 11-105, S. 5; 11-120, S. 2; 11-152, S. 18; 11-156, S. 2; 11-157, S. 4; P.A. 13-234, S. 2; P.A. 16-28, S. 1; P.A. 17-202, S. 53; P.A. 18-31, S. 16; 18-111, S. 1; P.A. 21-140, S. 2; P.A. 22-31, S. 4; P.A. 24-79, S. 9.)

History: P.A. 75-524 essentially rewrote section, clarifying and extending department's responsibilities; P.A. 79-165 added Subdiv. (i) re master plan; P.A. 86-15 required biennial, rather than annual, submission of master plan; P.A. 89-191 added youth suicide prevention as part of the prevention programs the department is required to provide or arrange for; Sec. 17-412 transferred to Sec. 17a-3 in 1991; P.A. 91-268 added provision in Subdiv. (g) prohibiting a social worker trainee from working on assigned cases until the completion of training, added new Subdivs. (i) establishing a case audit unit, and (j) requiring the development of a list of community service programs, and relettered the remaining Subdiv. accordingly; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-8 added new Subdivs. (k) re providing outreach and assistance regarding various programs and benefits to persons caring for the children of others, and (l) re collecting housing data to identify and provide housing assistance to children in need and relettered the previous Subdiv. (Revisor's note: The reference in Subdiv. (c) to Sec. 17a-51 was deleted editorially by the Revisors to reflect the repeal of that section by P.A. 93-216, S. 8); P.A. 94-232 added teenage pregnancy to requirement for preventive programs and added new Subdiv. (8) to require a comprehensive plan for substance abusers; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-238 added reference to deaf and hearing impaired children and youth who are mentally ill and added children with complicating or multiple disabilities to Subdiv. (7), effective July 1, 1996 (Revisor's note: In Subdiv. (d) the Revisor's editorially replaced a comma with the word “and” before the words “the rates” in the phrase “... under the care of the department and the rates to be paid such ...”); P.A. 97-272 added provision requiring that programs provide services and placements that are clinically indicated and appropriate; P.A. 99-26 added Subsec. (n) to require the department to prepare a plan to keep delinquent children placed in the new Connecticut Juvenile Training School in such facility for at least one year, effective May 7, 1999, and amended Subsec. (a) to replace “Long Lane School” with “the Connecticut Juvenile Training School” and amended Subsec. (n) to delete “new” before “Connecticut Juvenile Training School”, effective upon the filing with the Governor and the General Assembly of written certification by the Commissioner of Children and Families that the new Connecticut Juvenile Training School is operational (Revisor's note: Said written certification was filed with the Senate and House Clerks on September 20, 2001, and with the Governor on September 21, 2001); P.A. 05-246 divided section into new Subsecs. (a), (b) and (c), made technical changes throughout and changed “region's compliance” to “area office's compliance” in Subsec. (a)(9); P.A. 06-102 amended Subsec. (a) to add “or remaining voluntarily under the supervision of” and substituted “commissioner” for “department”, effective June 2, 2006; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (b)(8), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 09-205 replaced former Subsec. (b) with new Subsec. (b) re development of comprehensive strategic plan for meeting the needs of children and families, regional meetings on plan, submission of plan to State Advisory Council on Children and Families, General Assembly and Governor and submission of annual progress report re achieving plan's goals to General Assembly and Governor, effective July 1, 2009; P.A. 11-105 amended Subsec. (a)(9) by replacing “area” with “regional”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-120 deleted former Subsec. (c) re plan for children placed in Connecticut Juvenile Training School, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-152 amended Subsec. (a)(7) to require training in prevention, identification and effects of family violence, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-156 made identical changes as P.A. 11-120; P.A. 11-157 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that services and placements shall not commence or continue for delinquent child who has attained age 20, and deleted former Subsec. (c) re plan for children placed in Connecticut Juvenile Training School; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, reference to Department of Economic and Community Development was changed editorially by the Revisors to reference to Department of Housing in Subsec. (a), effective June 19, 2013; P.A. 16-28 amended Subsec. (b)(3) to add reference to children's committee in provision re submittal of report, effective May 17, 2016; P.A. 17-202 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “hearing impaired” with “hard of hearing”; P.A. 18-31 amended Subsec. (a) to delete references to delinquency and provisions re services to delinquent children, delete former Subdiv. (1) re Connecticut Juvenile Training School and other appropriate facilities, and redesignate Subdivs. (2) to (12) as Subdivs. (1) to (11), effective July 1, 2018; P.A. 18-111 amended Subsec. (b)(1) by adding new Subpara. (D) re strategies to identify racial and ethnic disparities and redesignating existing Subparas. (D) to (F) as Subparas. (E) to (G), effective July 1, 2018; P.A. 21-140 deleted former Subsec. (b) re development of and reporting on comprehensive strategic plan and added new Subsec. (b) re submission of federal Child and Family Services Plan, Annual Progress and Services Report, Final Report of the Child and Family Services Review and any Program Improvement Plan, effective July 1, 2021; P.A. 22-31 added Subsec. (c) re Internet web site information on services for persons with disabilities and link to Department of Aging and Disability Services Internet web page; P.A. 24-79 amended Subsec. (a) by changing “whose behavior does not conform to the law or to acceptable community standards, or who are mentally ill, including deaf and hard of hearing children and youths who are mentally ill, emotionally disturbed, substance abusers,” to “who have mental health needs and substance use disorders and who have been”, adding “, including children and youths who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing,”, redesignated existing provisions re duties of department in Subsec. (a) as new Subsec. (b) and therein added “and treatment” in Subdiv. (1), “, licensed” in Subdiv. (5), deleted “provided no” and added provision re establishment of additional or training programs in Subdiv. (6), designated existing provision re social worker trainee as new Subdiv. (7) and therein deleted provision re assignment of case load prior to completing training and establishment of educational or training programs and added provision re completion of training re family violence and redesignated existing Subdivs. (7) to (11) as Subdivs. (8) to (12), redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) and (c) as Subsecs. (c) and (d), and made technical and conforming changes throughout, effective July 1, 2024.