Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) Deputy Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly says she plans to keep the sprawling agency on course when she takes over as commissioner.
"I am definitively, unwaveringly looking at continuity," says Hill-Lilly. "I am looking to go deeper in some of the things that we've done, but I do not want to interrupt the momentum we have already made."
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday he will nominate Hill-Lilly to take over as commissioner. The move comes as Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes prepares for a move to the private sector. She'll be a Connecticut-based managing director for Casey Family Programs, a Seattle-based child welfare nonprofit.
"The timing is never right, but when they approached me, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse," says Dorantes. "I love the organization and I know that DCF is in great hands."
And Hill-Lilly believes her boss is leaving DCF in great shape. Citing her 35 years of experience in the field and the national connections she's made as a consultant, Hill-Lilly told reporters and DCF staffers at a Hartford news conference, "I know this work, and I would put Connecticut DCF up against any child welfare system in these United States."
Both the governor's office and DCF say Dorantes' impending departure has nothing to with recent controversies, including the disclosure of alleged abuses at a group home for teens in Harwinton.
The governor cites many successes for DCF under Dorantes, who started with the agency more than thirty years ago as a social worker. DCF says that since Dorantes took over as commissioner in 2019, the number of children in state custody has dropped by about 30 percent, with more than 7,200 children finding permanent housing.