The Idea of NOREIN
DCF has changed since those days. Now it goes full-steam into child protection, even if that protection sometimes harms the child more than it helps.
As to the future of DCF, I have an opinion.
DCF operates on the referral system. Someone has to call DCF to say that a child is possibly being abused or neglected. Then DCF investigates.
But why wait for a call? What if DCF could investigate all children at will, and determine for itself if the child were abused or neglected?
That is what I call NOREIN – NO REferral INtervention. And I am convinced that it is the future of DCF.
Several highly-placed DCF managers have told me that there is no such program. Maybe not by that name, but I am morally certain that DCF is planning something like it. NOREIN would ensure that DCF never goes out of business, and is in a position to demand ever-more money from the State Legislature.
This is hardly fantasy. This is the same DCF that once asked the State Attorney General if it had the authority to violate the Fourth Amendment, invading people’s homes without their consent, just by claiming that they were investigating child neglect.
DCF has bright lawyers, and they see what the Patriot Act allows law enforcement to get away with. No, it is hardly fantasy.
But how would you actually implement NOREIN? It’s a fair question.
The answer is simple: through the schools. The kids are a captive audience; and the teachers, reduced today to teaching to a test, will have no trouble making referrals and comments and filling out reports as they are told to do. The administration is even easier; it is already accustomed to being paper-pushers and taking direction from its downtown lawyers.
This explains why DCF absolutely hates home-schooling with a passion. Although it is perfectly legal, DCF has often stated that parents are neglectful, per se, because of home schooling their kids. DCF is maddeningly frustrated by home schooling; and the obvious reason is that it has little or no control over it.
The DCF pitch is simplicity itself: kids are victims, they
cannot speak for themselves, so we cannot wait for a neighbor or
a teacher to call. We have to investigate for ourselves. The
need for more workers, more investigators, more procedure
writers, more supervisors, more legislative liaisons, more think
tanks, and more study groups, is clear; as is the need for more
taxpayer money to implement Big Brother (or Big Uncle) for our
children.
Far-fetched? In truth, many lawyers today would say so. I do
not. After Vietnam and Iraq, and our energy policy, and our tax
system, nothing done by the Government would surprise me. I ask
that lawyers and lay persons remain vigilant: DCF will never
give up its quest to be the premier all-encompassing State of Connecticut agency.
Remember that home-schooling is illegal in some countries. Why do you suppose that is so? If the U.S. moves toward European-style socialism, it could happen here.
Just Say NO to NOREIN.
DCF's battle to control all Connecticut households will never end. Please see my additional perspectives as to the future of DCF: