Public commenters urge board to examine extended foster care caseloads and a child‑welfare failure

Dani Forghi, a DCYF social worker, told the board about day‑to‑day casework in extended foster care and said the caseloads for that program are often double the federal recommendation. "I am often sitting at around 25 youth that I'm seeing," Forghi said, describing the difficulty of doing intensive transition work for 18–21-year-old youth while managing heavy caseloads and statutory reporting obligations.

A written statement read on behalf of Vicky Sims recounted years of reports about a child who was hospitalized twice and still returned to the same caregiving environment. The reader asked the board to examine why multiple reports and hospitalizations did not result in protective action and urged the board to consider how the system could better protect children while preserving family attachments.

Why it matters: Public accounts raised operational and casework pressures within DCYF and described an individual case alleging system failure — both are within the oversight remit the board cited when closing the meeting.