The Children’s Committee held an investigative hearing Wednesday, on alleged child abuse and neglect at the Bridge Family Center’s STAR home in Harwinton. But no one from the Bridge Family Center showed up at the hearing.
Instead, Margaret Hann, Bridge Family Center’s executive director, sent a written testimony read by committee clerk Christian Talarski.
“On July 27, 2023, the Bridge was notified that our intake was closed as of May 31, 2023, and we had been placed on corrective action plan,” Hann wrote. “The increased acuity of the youth we serve, along with a statewide workforce crisis post pandemic has created a perfect storm for nonprofits.”
Records show incidents of sexual assault as far back as 2021, according Vannessa Dorantes, commissioner, Department of Children and Families (DCF). The Bridge is licensed by the DCF to house girls removed from their homes as a result of abuse, neglect or other high-risk circumstances.
State Rep. Liz Linehan, the committee's co-chair, expressed concern over the long history of allegations at the facility for girls.
Linehan, a Democrat, asked Dorantes if the multiple incidents were typical of STAR homes.
“What we saw that were atypical here, were those incidences that involved suspected child abuse or neglect that resulted in the special investigations,” Dorantes said. “So the SIU [Special Investigations Unit] investigations were out of the ordinary and were not normal.”
No youth are currently living at the Harwinton center.
