Rhode Island Dem Gov Gina Raimondo Admits Regret For DCYF Scandal, Proposes No Action To Address It

After spending months ignoring a disturbing scandal involving Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth, & Families (DCYF) and dodging any responsibility for her refusal to address it, Rhode Island Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo is finally admitting that she regrets her administration’s egregious failure to act on the crisis. In an interview Raimondo participated in over the weekend with the Providence Journal, Raimondo admitted that she regrets not adding 76 hired staffers to the agency sooner, amid reports that DCYF workers’ actions “left young people in their care hospitalized, endangered or exploited.”

The Providence Journal reports:

“And her regret that her administration did not move faster to add the 76 staffers hired by the new director of the troubled Department of Children, Youth & Families: ‘Should we have hired those people sooner? Yes.’”

But Raimondo apparently refused to voice any regret for waiting nearly two years into her term to even begin looking for a permanent DCYF director, leaving the agency under the leadership of individuals who did not meet state-mandated requirements for the Director position. And to make matters worse, Raimondo appeared to give no indication that she intends to take any further action to address the DCYF’s glaring issues.

Instead of doing her job and fixing Rhode Island’s DCYF, Raimondo has been more concerned with bolstering her own image and fighting with local media outlets ahead of her 2018 re-election campaign. Raimondo’s actions send a clear message to the people of her state that working to address their needs comes second to furthering her political future. Rhode Islanders deserve better.