Transgender teen's move to a "cottage" at Niantic Prison called "interim" by DCF

A Cottage. An Apartment. Connecticut DCF has used these terms to placate the community and lead us to believe that Jane is now in a homey place with TVs exercise equipment, fluffy bed and a kitchen all her own.

Please. Jane's been moved from one isolation cell to another solitary cell. Looking at the google map of York I would dare anyone to tell a welcoming place exists within its walls.

“She’s deteriorating,” attorney Aaron J. Romano told The New Haven Register

The girl, 16, who has been identified as Jane Doe to protect her identity, is not charged with any crime. State Department of Children and Families officials say she has to be at York Correctional Institution in East Lyme because she allegedly physically attacked staffers and other residents at juvenile psychiatric treatment centers.

He was dismissive of the decision to move her to what DCF officials have called a “cottage” or “apartment” at York. DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt released a statement describing a bedroom, private bathroom and a “programming/recreation area.”

“She is not in a ‘cottage,’” Romano said. “That word creates the illusion of Mother Goose.”

As for it being an “apartment,” Romano said, “She’s in prison! It’s a disgrace to see DCF again attempting to distance themselves from what they’ve done: putting a child in jail. They’re trying to cover it up with their use of language.”

The move was described as "interim" by DCF.

The May 15 editorial by the Hartford Current wants to know exactly how long is interim?

ll parties to the controversy seem to agree that moving the 16-year-old transgender girl called Jane Doe from the mental health unit of York Correctional Institute, where she had been housed since April 8, to a cottage on the grounds of the prison in Niantic is an interim step.

Her living conditions also seem to have been improved.

But the move to the cottage can be considered positive only if "interim" means a very short time.

Jane Doe can't be allowed to languish at York, either in a cell or a cottage, while lawyers, bureaucrats, politicians and advocates continue to argue.

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Its way past time for Jane to be freed from solitary. Its way past time for her release from prison. Interim has expired.

Get Jane out of prison now.