Upgrades unveiled for family visitation rooms at Milford DCF location
Families who use the visitation rooms at the Department of Children and Families in Milford will be much more comfortable next time around, thanks to some newly unveiled upgrades.
Families who use the visitation rooms at the Department of Children and Families in Milford will be much more comfortable next time around, thanks to some newly unveiled upgrades.
Erin Johnston, a foster mom and co-executive director of Fostering Family Hope, said that she has heard the former visitation rooms described as "prison like," and compared to medical offices.
"It's just not warm and it's not something a child wants to be in," she added about the old rooms.
That's why her group has set out to restore DCF visitation sites like the one in Milford, which is the sixth so far for her organization.
Each and every room was designed with an age group and families in mind, but they all have one message: for all of them to love their own.
Four rooms were redesigned, including settings for infants and children with sensory needs.
There are even video games for the teenagers.
Vanessa Dorantes, Connecticut's DCF commissioner, said the objective was to "create spaces that allow for that connection to continue and the attachments to not be severed. We're completing the circle of making sure that crisis doesn't define what happens to a family."
