Enough piling on DCF; and a liquor lobby tool

Enough piling on DCF; and a liquor lobby tool

Connecticut's child advocate, Jeanne M. Milstein, is furious that Governor Rell's new budget proposes to eliminate her staff and dump her into the office of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, with whom she often works in belaboring the shortcomings and mistakes of the state Department of Children and Families. No doubt the governor is almost as tired of the child advocate's criticisms as she is of DCF's shortcomings and mistakes themselves. But then Connecticut could be tired of them too. For after a couple of decades of painful scrutiny, court orders, legislation, and massive increases in appropriations, the state no longer needs anyone to point out that DCF doesn't always protect children very well.