Are DCF or its contracting foster agencies:

• Taking more than 30 days to complete your adoption home study?
• Failing to decide your adoption application within 14 days of your adoption home study being approved?
• Refusing to provide you the records you are legally entitled  to?
• Failing to provide you notice of hearings or solicit caregiver input?

Most people first think of complaining to the judge. That may or may not be advisable, depending on the circumstances. Caregivers and prospective adoptive parents are entitled to be heard in court, but most judges don’t like to referree these types of complaints.

You do have the option of complaining to the foster agency and seeking dispute resolution. 

You also have the option of complaining to the Inspector General, which is housed within DCF, but is technically independent. It is basically DCF’s Internal Affairs. Around 9,000 complaints against DCF are made to the IG every year. DCF launches a serious investigation into only a small fraction of those cases, but for the cases it investigates, it frequently does issue some sort of corrective action.

If you think you have a serious complaint, you may want to consult with our firm to learn more about your options and explore strategies.