Judge Finds Hartford Failed In Efforts for Abused Children

A Federal judge has ruled that Connecticut is in violation of a 1992 court order to improve services for abused and neglected children and has ordered the state to take 20 corrective actions.

Judge Alan H. Nevas of District Court in Bridgeport issued an oral ruling late Thursday supporting the findings by the court monitor who has overseen the state's services for neglected and abused children since 1992, said the monitor, David J. Sullivan Jr. The judge said he would use Mr. Sullivan's 51-page report as the basis of a court order to be issued shortly, Mr. Sullivan said.

The report said the state was delinquent in more than 20 areas, including specialized foster care placement, drug-abuse treatment for adolescents and families and parent training.

Under the ruling, actions the state must take include drawing up a plan to create 130 specialized foster-care homes by Aug. 30, hiring a private company by July 15 to provide short-term intensive treatment for 24 dangerous or aggressive children and providing thousands of hours of respite care for families taking care of children in fragile health.

It is the second time in a week that the state has been found to be violating a Federal court order. Last week, another Federal judge declared Connecticut in contempt for not improving conditions at Southbury Training School, the state's only large institution for the retarded. That judge also said she would appoint a monitor to oversee a plan to improve conditions.

State officials disagreed today with Judge Nevas's decision and said they might appeal.

David Dearborn, a Department of Children and Families spokesman, said the state had nearly doubled its spending since 1991, to $301.5 million. At least $72 million of that can be attributed to the court order.

"We are complying with the spirit of the law if not the letter of the law," Mr. Dearborn said. "We've done a lot and made tremendous progress in this area, but we don't have unlimited resources."

The 1992 court order stemmed from a 1989 lawsuit.

Martha Stone, the associate director of Children's Rights, a national nonprofit firm that handles child welfare litigation, said the state had not increased its treatment services to meet a drastic jump in the number of children needing care. Children who need therapeutic foster homes, for example, are stuck waiting in psychiatric institutions, she said.

"There's like a logjam, which is one of the things we originally hoped to remedy," Ms. Stone said.