Lawmakers call for urgent change at CT psychiatric hospital for children, calling it a ‘safety crisis’

Hartford Courant – Monday, August 24, 2026
By Livi Stanford

From concerns about daily staffing and security to a deteriorating facility, legislators, staff and administrators agree that the state’s psychiatric hospital for children has not had sufficient investment to ensure the safety of patients and workers.

About 21% of staff at Solnit South, which serves children with severe trauma, mental illness and related behavioral problems, are out on workers’ compensation for injuries sustained on the job. Lawmakers call it a “safety crisis.”

Sen. Heather Somers, a Groton Republican and ranking member of the Public Health Committee, said that the state has known for years that Solnit needed stronger DPH oversight and additional resources.

“We need to stop reacting to injuries and failures after the fact and demand the funding, staffing and independent oversight necessary to protect both patients and the people caring for them,” she said.

Last month, dozens of DCF Solnit South employees joined lawmakers and SEIU 1199 leadership in arguing that the facility is underfunded, leading to “dangerous staffing shortages, a deteriorating facility and a lack of essential programs for the healing of young people in their care,” according to SEIU leadership.

SEIU 1199 called for at least $21 million to “restore and expand staffing, rebuild therapeutic programming and create three specialized public-sector programs to meet the full range of needs of the children of Solnit,” SEIU leadership said in a release.

Darnell Ford, children’s service unit supervisor at Solnit, said he has seen the facility deteriorate over the years.

“I’ve been at this facility for 28 years and I have watched it over time be completely ignored and depleted into a building that is just not sustainable at this time at a level to keep our kids and our staff as safe as they could be,” he said. “We’ve unfortunately had children who have been through such long traumatic situations in their lives that by the time they get to us, it’s almost as if we don’t have the ability to keep them or ourselves safe.”

Ford said comprehensive training and more staffing is needed.

UConn Health and the Department of Children and Families, which oversees the facility, say they are investing in staffing and facility upgrades. SEIU 1199 acknowledged those improvements but said it does not address the crisis.

A state Department of Public Health consent order issued in April when UConn Health acquired the facility, requires the academic medical center to enter into a contract with an independent monitor for one year to provide consulting services and assure the “safety, welfare and well-being of the patients,” and compliance with federal and state law, according to the consent order the Hartford Courant obtained through a Freedom of Information request. Since then, UConn Health contracted with an independent monitor.

Several independent monitor reports, which the Hartford Courant also obtained through a Freedom of Information request, detailed continued staffing shortages, worker injuries and a lack of maintenance in the facility.

Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, a Fairfield Democrat and co-chair of the state’s Public Health Committee, said “Funding, staffing and facility upgrade conversations are happening with more urgency among legislators, stakeholders and the administration.

“It’s clear we need to act,” she said.

The Office of the Child Advocate also continues to investigate the facility.

Christina Ghio, the state’s child advocate, said in an email that OCA has “ongoing serious concerns about the quality of care and treatment of children at Solnit.”

“It must have sufficient staffing, programming, supervision, training and quality assurance to ensure that children receive the high quality mental health treatment they deserve,” she said.

Sen. Martha Marx, a New London Democrat and vice chair of the Public Health Committee, said it baffled her that the state is not acting more urgently to address issues at Solnit.

“We have workers who are working double shifts constantly,” said Marx, who is a nurse. “There should be labor laws against what’s happening to them. And what is happening to the residents at Solnit whose life has already given them the worst possible situations any human can ask for? To not give them the respect and the care they need so desperately, I find that it is just appalling.”

‘These are necessary first steps, but they don’t solve the crisis’
Becky Simonsen, vice president of SEIU 1199NE, said in an email, “DCF has taken steps to address its staffing issues, including new hires and other modest improvements.

“These are necessary first steps, but they do not solve the crisis,” she said. “We still need the staffing, training, programming, and additional specialized units necessary to provide the right level of care and safely move children through the system and the help they desperately need.”

In a joint statement, DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton and Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, CEO and executive vice president for health affairs at UConn Health, said, “We acknowledge that the conditions at Solnit South require improvement, and we are addressing these concerns.

“Already, we have seen meaningful progress as a result of our collaborative efforts, and we are committed to continued improvements in both facility conditions and care quality,” Hamilton and Agwunobi said. “UConn Health and the Department of Children and Families are unwavering in their commitment to delivering the highest quality psychiatric care for children and youth across Connecticut while also prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of the employees who care for them.”

Hamilton and Agwunobi said the young “people we serve are increasingly present with acute and highly complex conditions.

“These realities can result in unpredictable and high-risk responses during treatment, making our mission both critically important and difficult,” they said.

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said it is clear the state has to allocate more resources to Solnit.

“These employees are working under very difficult circumstances and putting their lives at risk being in that environment,” he said. “And I just think our state needs to bring that front and center.”

‘We understand we may not get home to our families, but give us the resources’
For years, Ford said there have been calls to address staffing and provide more training for the facility.

“We are willing to do this work,” he said. “We understand we may not get home to see our families, but give us the resources. So, then when we do have to stay, and when we can get home to our families, we’re better at coming back the next day.”

He said he estimates that 64 out of 300 employees are still out on workers’ compensation with significant injuries. He said that 9 to 15 employees are working 16-hour shifts to address the shortfalls.

Independent monitor reports from June 22 to July 3 show that as a result of staffing issues, administrators paused admission of new patients.

“Staffing is at critical levels with over 100 shifts needing to be filled on the weekends,” the report said.

Staff injuries have also continued to be documented, according to the independent monitor reports detailing issues in the facility from July 5-18.

“Over the past four weeks there have been 22 staff injuries from a combination of assaults by a patient (10) or being injured during a restraint (12),” the report said.

Agwunobi and Hamilton said in their joint statement that they are addressing staff shortages by “accelerating hiring through an automatic hiring process for direct care vacancies … and hiring temporary resources for nursing and additional security while full-time employees are onboarded.”

The independent monitor reports also show an allegation of patient-to-patient abuse was reported with no further details during the middle of June. Further, reports show one security staff member stationed at the main entrance “but is not rounding the facility.”

The reports also say that “staff has voiced concerns about the lack of housekeeping and maintenance.

“There were many work orders submitted to maintenance that have yet to be completed, addressing holes in the roof, broken sidewalks, garbage piled up in the halls, and unkempt grounds with long grass and weeds, limiting outdoor space for patient use,” the report said.

Agwunobi and Hamilton said they are “securing state funding to update hospital dorms, improve safety at nurses’ stations, address ligature risks, and resolve other facility compliance needs.”

The independent monitor also reported multiple incidents where patients kicked open unit doors and broke the coverings on light fixtures, “resulting in shards that could be used for self-harm or as weapons.”

Rep. Corey Paris, a Stamford Democrat and co-chair of the Children’s Committee, said: “Workers deserve a facility that doesn’t send them home with concussions.”

He said workers are taking on a “dangerous feat and we need to be honoring them and protecting them at all costs.”

Ford said, choking up, even with the staff out with significant injuries, “that’s not enough for this agency and the state to change their behavior. That is what concerns me and terrifies me every day.”

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