Department of Children and Families'

Department of Children and Families'

Rell's proposed budget would eliminate the Office of the Child Advocate as an independent agency and close High Meadows in Hamden, one of the Department of Children and Families' smallest facilities that currently serves more than 30 children.

Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein, who has served as a high-profile watchdog over DCF since June 2000, said she was shocked and angry when she learned her office would be folded into the attorney general's office, saving about $1.6 million over the next two years, according to Rell's proposal.