Connecticut Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner Vannessa Durantes continues to seek innovative ways to improve the lives of foster children. The goal? "Reunification is always our first disposition... that we want to get families back together."
One physical result of her effort to innovate is a facility that she believes will ease the path to reunification: the Quality Parenting Center (QPC) at The Village for Families & Children. Set in a renovated home on a wooded Manchester hillside, the center will host supervised parental visits with foster kids-- visits that typically occur in a more clinical, often sterile, space.
The new center, in the former Alison Gill Lodge, has the atmosphere of a well-maintained country home. Sunlit visitation rooms feature plush furniture with new games and books. There's a new kitchen and plenty of space to play outdoors.
Durantes believes the more nurturing conditions for visitation will ultimately help get more families back together.
"Families can come here and have normalized visits and interactions with their children as opposed to in an office setting," says Durantes. "This is a way for a parent to come and maybe cook with their child, play games with their child and build up their parental capacity towards reunifying, and that's just a win-win."
Visiting parents will also be provided access to trained coaches "to help them strengthen their skills as they work towards reunification," according to The Village.
Speaking at a grand opening event at the QPC, Durantes reported healthy progress in reunifying families. She says that during the pandemic, about 900 foster children have been safely returned to their parents' custody. That's a 19% decrease in the need for foster care in Connecticut.
The QPC, which is already in operation, could help strengthen those trends.