Will DCF Ever Go Away?

People often ask me if DCF will ever go away, or at least be replaced by a kinder and gentler agency.

I would say that that is highly unlikely.

Connecticut has two growth industries left: gambling, and government bureaucracy. When I was growing up in the 1950’s, we led the nation in many things: typewriters, insurance, defense, education, quality of life. Things changed. Don’t ask why.

Democrats blame Republicans and Republicans blame Democrats; business and labor blame each other; big cities and small towns blame each other. It’s a fun debate, but one without a purpose.

We are what we are. Gambling sneaked in, with the help of no-income-tax Weicker and never-answer-your-mail Gejdenson. It is run by questionable Indians from non-existent tribes. The lessons of “Without Reservation” and “Hitting the Jackpot” are ignored, even by those who once opposed legalized gambling. No one will give up the money.

As outsourcing increased, public employee unions became stronger. DCF is part of that. No one seriously questions its budget in terms of its actual performance. What counts is making government the employer of last resort.

Bureaucracy is the strangest phenomenon in the intellectual history of the world. It is the only idea, to my knowledge, that everyone is publicly against; and yet it keeps growing. That tells you two things: bureaucracy serves a purpose, and people are ashamed of that purpose. The purpose, of course, is to foster security while reducing risk; but without paying a premium as is done in private insurance. Bureaucracy appeals to two well-known human foibles: laziness and greed. Sometimes these foibles are countered by religion and scholarly education, but those two concepts are somewhat out of fashion today.

Until some future Utopia arrives, DCF will be a way of life. And other States are getting on the bandwagon. The child protection game, minus the child welfare, is good for business.

As to our two major growth industries:

Recently, this country went on an anti-smoking campaign. A move to ban smoking in casinos, however, was defeated. Legislators, to their credit, openly acknowledged the danger of second-hand smoke to casino employees; yet they openly admitted that they would do nothing that might arguably hurt casino business.

Similarly, legislators will do nothing that might hurt government employment. DCF is a perfect way to ensure more power to public employee unions, while avoiding the thornier question of child welfare. Legislators know that most people will equate DCF’s version of “child protection” with the concept of “child welfare”.

The real problem is that we do not have enough jobs in this country to support our population. Hence, make-work is the order of the day. There is plenty of work to do; make no mistake about that. But it cannot be done under our current minimum wage and welfare and vote-buying climate. A very sad commentary on our education system.
The Hartford Courant recently wondered why students were learning less today than in the bad old 1950’s. They proposed all sorts of gimmicks for improvement. It never occurred to the Courant that the gimmicks were the problem in the first place.

Educators are supposed to educate; not to solve the problems that the rest of society ignores.

Connecticut has indeed come a long way since I was a child.

The bottom line is that, given current political realities, DCF will only get stronger. You must live with DCF. This web site is intended to make that easier.

And if you think that DCF won't get stronger!  Please see The Role of the Federal Government.