Top CT Department of Children and Families official stepping down. Gov. Ned Lamont nominates successor

Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes is leaving her role at the department, Gov. Ned Lamont announced during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Dorantes, who has led DCF since 2019, is stepping down to pursue another opportunity in the private sector. She will be replaced by Jodi Hill-Lilly, DCF’s current deputy commissioner of administration, the department announced Wednesday.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz on Wednesday called Dorantes’ departure “a bittersweet moment” for the state and said Dorantes has been a “remarkable leader.” Bysiewicz and Gov. Lamont the state is lucky to welcome in a new commissioner who has worked side-by-side with Dorantes for so many years.

Dorantes, who will now join the leadership team at Casey Family Programs, a national child welfare organization, has been with DCF for more than three decades.

“31 years ago I began what would be the journey of a lifetime,” the outgoing commissioner said at a press conference at Wheeler Family Health and Wellness Center in Hartford on Wednesday afternoon, where her departure was announced.

Dorantes began her career with DCF as a social worker, a title she said she has kept at the center of both her professional and personal life.

“Social work is who I am, not what I do,” she said Wednesday. To embody that notion, she said she has always strived to treat each and every interaction — whether it be with lawmakers, colleagues, children and families — “with care, empathy and intentionality.”

According to DCF, Dorantes reduced the number of children in care and custody by 30% during her time as commissioner. More than 2,324 children were permanently adopted under her leadership, another 3,117 children were reunited with their families and nearly 1,800 more underwent transfers of guardianship, the department said.

“Many, many more of the kids were able to stay with family, if not their immediately family, then their extended family,” Gov. Lamont said of her impact on families in the state.

Dorantes has held a national appointment as the chair of the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators and statewide serves as vice-chair of the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls with Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz and as co-chair of the Connecticut Drug and Alcohol Policy Council.

In that role, Bysiewicz said Dorantes has been a champion for women and girls.

“In addition to her passion for helping children and families she is passionate about uplifting girls and women, because if you lift up girls and women you lift up communities and our state,” Bysiewicz.

The Lt. Governor said she was excited to usher in “another great female leader” to step into Dorantes’ shoes.

In her DCF career, Dorantes was also appointed to be the first chair of the Kid’s Cabinet, a multi-agency advisory panel to support the health and well-being of young people. That cabinet, Lamont said Wednesday, continues to make a difference in the lives of children across Connecticut.

In recognizing her legacy, the department noted that Dorantes led DCF through the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought forth additional challenges for children and families including increased behavioral issues and pauses in adoption hearings with court closures.

She received the Children’s Community Programs Foster Parent Advocate of the Year Award in 2023, was voted one of the “Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut” by the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP branches in 2021 and was selected to be on the list of 100 Women of Color for the Class of 2020, DCF said.

Dorantes said that when she took on the job as commissioner, she made a vow to herself that she would not be the last Black woman to hold the title. And now, she is not.

Hill-Lilly is currently responsible for the department’s administrative functions including human resources, fiscal services and workforce development. She has more than 31 years of experience in direct service and management experience in child protective services and has worked side by side with Dorantes for years, according to DCF.

Hill-Lilly said Wednesday that Dorantes has been a consistent and caring leader during difficult seasons of change, from the pandemic to the so-called great resignation that spurred major staffing changes within the department.

Hill-Lilly said she vividly remembers the moment Dorantes asked her to be her deputy: “She said ‘Are you ready to ride?’ I said, ‘Let’s ride,’” she said.

“And it has been a ride,” Hill-Lilly said. But through all the bumps and curves in the road, Hill-Lilly said, Dorantes’ leadership has instilled confidence in their team.

“I mean this with every fiber of my being, I have never met a more dedicate, compassionate, brilliant, more humble leaders in all my 57 years of life,” she said Wednesday. “She is the real deal. Behind closed doors she is the same person you see in public.”

After a long embrace, the upcoming commissioner told Dorantes “I honor you, I respect you, I adore you.”

“It’s going to be a hard act to follow, but as I stand here I am committed to her, I am committed to you all in this room, and the governor, and most importantly to the kids and families who deserve to live healthy and strong lives,” she said.

In her deputy role, Hill-Lilly has been leading the development and implementation of race and culture policies, training and culture and currently leads the DCF’s initiative on racial justice, the department said.

She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in social work. For more than a decade, she has served as a national consultant, trainer and speaker for a number of initiatives including the minority professional leadership development, making Baltimore a trauma-informed system and training on adoption competencies, according to DCF.

“Strengthening the lives of children and families has been at the core of Mrs. Hill-Lilly’s work experience,” DCF said in a statement. “Supporting and teaching child welfare staff to do this work is a true passion and a rewarding experience for Mrs. Hill-Lilly.”

After years of consulting with different agencies and organizations in best practices for child welfare across the state, Hill-Lilly said she is confident the Connecticut’s department is a shining example of success.

“I would put DCF against any child welfare system in these United States,” she said.

But despite those success, she said, there is more work to do. Work that requires collaborating with partners in the legislature, other departments and communities across the state.

“DCF alone cannot do this, we need everybody in the room to protect our children,” she said.

“Our kids and families need all of our leadership, it truly takes a village.”

Under her leadership, she said, DCF will be open to change and keep lines of communication open between lawmakers, other state departments, community leaders and the public.

“We will remain teachable, we will remain transparent, and we will remain in service to all of you, particularly our kids and families,” she vowed. She set goals to deepen partnerships in communities, improve data systems, develop communication strategies. She said she also plans to approach mental health as a crisis and address surges in substance use and homelessness, along with systemic poverty.

Many families that come through DCF, she said, are facing poverty rather than being examples “bad parenting.”

Most cases social workers encounter don’t involve physical abuse, broken bones or murders, she said, but stem from a lack of fundamental needs that families need to thrive.

After 30 years working with DCF, Hill-Lilly said she knows the work is hard. But she hopes her partners within DCF, and throughout the state, are ready to answer the call.

“DCF is a calling, not a job,” she said.

“Through our work and through this calling of ours we have a hope, and we have an obligation to install hope in the hopelessness,” she said.

She said she is ready for the challenge, drawing the crowd to their feet in a booming applause as she ended her announcement with the pledge: “Whatever it takes, I’m all in. Are ya’ll with me?”