A Tale Of Two Stories

There is a story in the news about the 16 year old trans-girl Jane Doe who is in DCF custody and was sent to an adult women’s prison in solitary confinement without being charged with a crime.

DCF issued a press release saying she was in a fight and has been sent to a juvenile correctional facility for boys. The Hartford Courant covered the press release,

The transgender youth who was imprisoned without charges because of her history of assaulting staff members in juvenile facilities has been accused of assaulting a worker and another youth at a juvenile treatment program in Middletown on Saturday night, child protection officials said Sunday.

State police are investigating the allegations, said Gary Kleeblatt, spokesman for the Department of Children and Families. The youth was moved Saturday night to a single room at the secure Connecticut Juvenile Training School.
[…]
A brief statement from DCF said only that the youth, known in court filings as Jane Doe, "assaulted another youth and a staff member at the girls Pueblo Unit and also destroyed state property."

WNPR had this to say about the incident,

 The teen's public defender, James Connolly, said fights happen often in juvenile facilities. He said the weekend incident involved at least four girls, but that his client is the one being singled out. "For the first time," he said, "I’ve seen DCF issue a press release regarding one of these incidents specifically identifying Jane Doe. What was the purpose? The department is trying to show their original effort to move her into York was justified. I think it’s very unfortunate to see a child welfare agency act this way in regards to a child that is committed to them."

Notice “the weekend incident involved at least four girls,” I think her lawyer made two important points, the first that the three other girls did not receive the same punishment and two, DCF didn't include in the press release about the fight. It just sounded like her attack on the staff was an isolated incident.

I think DCF is floundering and has no policy in place for transgender children in their custody.