Sunday, February 15, 2015

Katz And Jane Doe

Katz was up for reappointment as commissioner of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and she was reappointed.  During the hearing she was questioned about Jane Doe, the trans girl in the boy’s detention center.
Despite Criticism, Katz Endorsed For 2nd Term As DCF Chief
Hartford Courant
By Josh Kovner
February 11, 2015

Katz was also questioned closely by Rep. Cecilia Buck-Taylor, R-New Milford, on why Katz pressed for the transfer last year of a 16-year-old transgender girl to adult prison with no new charges pending – a move that drew outrage nationally from civil-rights groups.

The problem is the public only hears about a few cases. There are THOUSANDS of them that go unpublished.

The teen, known as Jane Doe, had an assaultive history. Advocates said DCF should be able to care for her anyway; Katz said her behavior was out of control. Katz and the agency lawyers invoked an obscure juvenile-transfer statute that hadn't been used more than twice in 20 or more years, and a judge approved the transfer after a trial. The teen has been back in DCF care since the summer.

"I didn't do it lightly," said Katz, first nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in January 2011 and renominated last month. "And I'm not going to walk that back now."

She told Buck-Taylor that DCF social workers and state correction officials "built a cocoon" around Jane Doe when she was at the York Correctional Institute for women in Niantic, "and she was successful enough to allow us to bring her back."

Despite a couple of setbacks, Jane Doe "is doing incredibly well now," Katz said. The teen has a room in her own wing at the CJTS boys facility, and Katz said she has visited and bonded with her…
Why is she in the boys’ facility? Why isn’t she in with the girls? That was a question that should have been asked?

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