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After nearly five years overseeing the care of some of Connecticut’s most vulnerable residents, Vannessa Dorantes, commissioner of the state’s Department of Children and Families, is leaving her position to join a foster care nonprofit.
Dorantes, who will leave state government in January, has worked at DCF for more than 30 years. Gov. Ned Lamont appointed her commissioner in 2019, his first year in office.
“Throughout the beautiful mosaic of Connecticut communities, we have spent these five years reinvigorating relationships, restoring confidence and reinforcing the public trust as architects of this child and family well-being system,” Dorantes said at a press conference Wednesday. “But there’s more work to do.”
Dorantes led the department through its exit of a court-mandated monitoring program and the COVID-19 pandemic, which had profound effects on the child welfare and foster care community. She’s moving to a job at Casey Family Programs, a Seattle-based nonprofit focused on preventing the need for foster care.
A press release from Lamont’s office said he plans to nominate Deputy Commissioner of Administration Jodi Hill-Lilly to replace Dorantes as commissioner. Hill-Lilly will serve on an interim basis, and her official appointment is pending legislative approval.
Dorantes is the first Black commissioner of DCF, and — if her appointment becomes official — Hill-Lilly will be the second.
Hill-Lilly has worked for the state for more than 30 years and supervises the department’s administrative functions such as human resources, the Academy for Workforce Development and fiscal services, among other areas.
“We listen to our kids and our families, and we listen to our partners,” Hill-Lilly said Wednesday. “We will remain teachable, we will remain transparent. And we will remain in service to all of you, and particularly our kids and our families.”
The Department of Children and Families administers the state’s foster care system, oversees several programs that offer mental health services for kids in Connecticut and responds to child protection reports.
Under Dorantes’ leadership, DCF exited a federal consent decree that required a court oversight to track progress. In 1989, attorneys for children — including one identified as Juan F. — filed a lawsuit that challenged the state’s practices, funding and policies on the care of kids in foster care.
The state settled with the plaintiffs, and the Juan F. decree set new staffing ratios and policies for the department. A court monitor made sure the mandates were met.
When Dorantes started at the agency, she was part of a group of social workers hired to help reduce caseloads as part of the settlement. She said in an interview Wednesday that exiting the agreement years later felt “like a full-circle moment.”
The monitor approved DCF’s exit from the decree in 2022, although some advocates have since said that the state left without a plan to continue ensuring goals were met and for reporting progress publicly.
Dorantes also led the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic and a national rise in mental health needs among children. In 2022, the state legislature focused on addressing mental health needs and passed sweeping legislation to help more children. Dorantes has overseen some of the implementation of those laws, including the launch of the four urgent crisis centers.
Her administration has reduced the number of children in the state’s custody by about 30%, increased kinship placements and helped more than 7,000 kids find a permanency plan, according to a DCF news release.
Lamont complimented that work during a press conference Wednesday.
“One of the things I love is the fact that many, many more of the kids are able to stay with family, if not immediate family, extended family, and it’s a dramatic difference,” he said.
There has been controversy during her time at the head of DCF including objections to the Juan F. exit, recent allegations of abuse and neglect at a group home for foster kids and issues raised about the handling of several child protection cases.
Advocates and state lawmakers have also expressed concern about the lack of permanent funding for the urgent crisis centers, especially while many kids in the state are still struggling with mental health concerns and having a hard time accessing the care they need. While DCF oversees the crisis center programs, the legislature is charged with passing the budget with funding.
During her time as commissioner, the federal government also approved Connecticut’s Family First Prevention Plan, which aims to keep families together and prevent kids from entering into foster care.
Dorantes has been given national and state awards and recognition, including the 2022 Casey Family Programs Excellence of Children Leadership Award. She was named one of the Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut by the state NAACP and was part of the 100 Women of Color Class of 2020.
In a Wednesday press release, Lamont thanked Dorantes for her devotion and public service.
“I am so grateful to have had Vannessa at the helm of DCF for the last five years, and I am absolutely convinced that her leadership is responsible for having a forever impact on improving the lives of many children in Connecticut,” Lamont said. “The employees who work with DCF have some of the most essential responsibilities that we face in state government, and their selfless dedication to their work is an inspiration.”
Lawmakers also began issuing statements Wednesday about the announcement. Committee on Children co-chair Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, thanked Dorantes for her work and her “deep understanding of the basic tenets of social work and care for children, and the thousands of families she has aided over the years.”
Children’s committee ranking member Sen. Lisa Seminara, R-Avon, also issued a statement of thanks.
“For more than three decades, Commissioner Dorantes has dedicated herself to improving the lives of vulnerable Connecticut children and their families,” Seminara’s statement said. “The DCF commissioner’s role is among the most difficult, challenging and frustrating in state government.”
Connecticut’s Child Advocate Sarah Eagan acknowledged Dorantes’ decades of service in a written statement.
“Commissioner Dorantes has consistently brought empathy and compassion to DCF’s work with families, and a commitment to racial justice,” Eagan said. “OCA wishes her the best of luck in her future work.”
Dorantes said in an interview Wednesday that she views the Juan F. exit, the work through the pandemic and the racial justice work the department has conducted over the years as some of her best accomplishments. She added that the department has worked to reunite families and reinvest in the community, work she believes Hill-Lilly will continue.
There is work to be done to address issues such as a growing mental health crisis among children, she said.
New appointee Hill-Lilly has been an adviser, writer and speaker for state and federal child welfare initiatives and programs.
Earlier in her career, she worked as a DCF social worker and supervisor. She was also director of the Academy for Workforce Development, is on the faculty for the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute and is vice president of the National Staff Development Training Association. She leads DCF’s initiative on racial justice.
Dorantes said the work on racial justice and anti-racism, particularly around gathering data on outcomes and decisions by race to adjust practices if needed, is some of the work she’s proud the department accomplished.
She’s the first Black commissioner of DCF, a designation she said is often on her mind. She recounted a story about a young woman telling her about the experience of seeing another Black woman in a position of power and in the news.
“I held that responsibility and that characteristic very dear to my heart,” Dorantes said.
She added that leadership has worked to invest in other people of color to improve leadership in diversity. Hill-Lilly has overseen racial justice initiatives at DCF and would be the second Black woman appointed to the position.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Hill-Lilly said she plans to work on data collection systems and transparency within DCF. She also wants to start a process to get feedback on DCF’s work from community stakeholders, she said.
“I will tell you the one thing that I plan to lean in on is really partnering with our community to take back their children,” she said Wednesday. “Take your children back and help us protect, serve and nurture them. That’s what I plan to do.”
She also wants to address families’ needs and work to ensure that kids aren’t taken from their families because of poverty, she said.
“Jodi has dedicated her career to strengthening the lives of children and families, and her direct, hands-on experience in this field, including as a case management social worker, will be a valuable benefit to Connecticut as we work to protect the safety and security of the youngest and most vulnerable residents of our state,” Lamont said in Wednesday’s press release.
Dorantes said Lamont asked for her insight on who to lead the department and what needed to be done to transition to a new commissioner.
Maher said in her statement that she looks forward to working with Hill-Lilly.
“Her extensive career working for the benefit of children and families from hands-on experience to oversight and management provides her with the strength and talent she needs to succeed in this role,” Maher’s statement said.
Eagan also welcomed new leadership in her statement.
“We look forward to working closely alongside the new DCF leadership team as it grapples with the very challenging work of keeping children safely with their families whenever possible, providing safe supportive care when that is not possible, and ensuring that children and families have access to the services they need,” she said.
Dorantes’ annual salary is just over $230,000, according to online records.
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