It’s awful. And the people who work at DCF are, on the whole, not bad people (of course there are always exceptions). On the whole, I believe the individuals in the DCF system want to do just the opposite of what they’re doing (protect human rights, maintain safety for children and families). The system is broken and doesn’t have the tools to function the way it should and that’s a real shame with horrifying outcomes. But I don’t think that most people who work at DCF desire to be manipulative and harmful.

I’m a social worker in a hospital and my understanding were these situations lacking court order had to be an imminent risk (ie, kid is being trafficked and it’s learned on a weekend but no one wants to wait until Monday because who knows where the kid will be then). If what is being reported is true, this is utterly horrifying. Also, DCF is wildly under-funded and under-resourced, so naturally, they are looking for short cuts. With better funding and support to do what they’re supposed to do, I suspect things like this wouldn’t happen. I hope the kid and family are ok.

Even more reason not to come in the winter! Come in the spring or fall, it’s beautiful! Sheesh.

Who on earth told them Boston was a nice place to visit at the beginning of freaking December??

Eh, I think I’d rather spend my life worrying about the safety of others over worrying about getting from point A > point B faster.

I slow down because I have a cousin who was a toll booth worker and was killed by a car speeding through the booth. I won’t stop slowing down, no matter how much it irritates people. Sorry, not sorry.