August 9, 2011
DCF TRIES TO REASSURE NEIGHBORS OF GROUP HOME NUTMEG DRIVE
RESIDENTS VIOCE SAFETY CONCERNS, ASK FOR HOME TO BE CLOSED
By Narmeen Choudhury, Fox CT Reporter
MANCHESTER — Representatives of the state Department of Children and Families told Nutmeg Drive residents Tuesday night that they will consider new policies to address neighbors' concerns about a group home for troubled teenage boys on the street.
Some of the approximately 70 residents who crowded into the Lincoln Center hearing room asked DCF to close the group home, located at 89 Nutmeg Drive. Others asked for the home's directors to be stricter with the teens who live there.
"We fear our own safety and we fear the safety of these children because sooner or later something bad could happen," said one resident.
Mike Williams, a DCF regional administrator for Hartford and Manchester said, "We acknowledge your anger your frustration and all the concerns that you bring. We know that they are real. We are not sidestepping it. We are not trying to ignore it or disrespect it."
In addition to considering new policies, DCF representatives said they would meet more frequently with residents of the neighborhood to hear any future concerns, according to Jay Moran, a member of the town's board of directors who lives near the group home. The meeting Tuesday was organized by state Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford.
The Nutmeg Drive home, which opened in 2006, is one of several small, residential facilities operated for DCF by Southington-based Community Residences Inc. as a DCF STAR (Short Term Assessment and Respite) facility. STAR facilities serve as temporary homes and treatment centers for teenage boys and girls who have been "abused and/or neglected and are in crisis and/or homeless," according to the Community Residences website, http://www.criinc.org/star.html.
Residents' long-term concerns about neighborhood safety and their questions about the amount of control the home's directors have over the teens were heightened recently with the arrest of Charles Wilson, 19, accused of shooting and killing a local convenience store clerk in May. Wilson had lived at the Nutmeg Drive home several years ago, according to Police Chief Marc Montminy.
Beyond safety concerns, local police have said that a major problem is the many calls officers must respond to regarding residents of the home who are absent without permission. In 2010, police responded to 74 calls at 89 Nutmeg Drive. Through June 20 of this year, police have been called to the home 70 times. Of those 144 calls, 120 were for teenagers who were reported missing, Montminy has said.
In the great majority of cases, the boy returned or was brought back the same day. However, when police receive such reports, an officer must gather information from the home staff, file a report in a national database and go back to the home to ensure that the child has returned, Montminy has said.
Besides the missing children reports, police also have been called to 89 Nutmeg Drive and other local DCF-contracted group homes for reports of illegal drugs or larcenies from area residents, Montminy has said.