New London - Two years ago, when the Department of Children and Families suggested posting a social worker at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, Principal Alison Ryan wondered, "Do we really want DCF here?"

Now Ryan and her colleagues say having Richard Days at the school has been "fabulous."

Days, an investigative social worker, responds immediately in an emergency, such as when a child discloses that he or she has been abused or sexually assaulted. He advises faculty members who are unsure whether they should refer a case to the agency, and he has a pipeline to about 100 social workers at the Norwich office should a need arise.

Days steps in when a problem grows beyond the school's reach. When Ryan found a lost 12-year-old girl from another town in the school parking lot on a cold winter day, Days was able to quickly get help for the child, a victim of abuse.

When a student had a hygiene issue earlier this year, Bennie Dover Jackson administrators tapped Days, who talked to the parent. The boy received the guidance he needed.

"He humanizes DCF so parents aren't hearing a voice on the phone but seeing a presence in the room," Vice Principal Roland Dunham said of Days.

The "out-posting" of social workers from the state's child and family agencies in schools, police departments and probate courts is one method the agency is using to become more accessible and transparent in the community.

DCF Commissioner Joette Katz, in her second year on the job, is focusing on improving participation by families.

Earlier this week, the agency rolled out a new initiative, called the Differential Response System, in which it will handle an estimated 40 percent of referrals from the agency's Careline using a less adversarial approach.

The staffers who take the calls will handle the most serious cases in the traditional way. With the DRS cases, rather than confront the parents with an accusation of abuse or neglect, the social workers will tell them somebody has called with a concern and the agency will work with the family to get the help they need.

Locally, an estimated 900 cases a year will be handled through this system.

"I think a lot of the cases we're going to have will involve basic needs," said David Silva, a program supervisor in the department's Norwich office. Before, the department responded the same way to a report that a child was being severely abused as it did to a much smaller problem.

"Now, if we hear that a family may be struggling financially, we will call first and go out and see if we can help," Silva said. The hope is that by partnering with families and having them succeed, there won't be as much recidivism, he said.

If a caller reports a parent is leaving a young child home alone, the focus will not be on proving or disproving an allegation, but on working with the family to solve the problem. The department has contracted with six social services providers throughout the state to handle some of the issues.

The department also has started announcing home visits in lower-risk cases, which Silva said has made a big difference. The families, feeling respected, are more receptive. In the most serious cases, social workers will still show up unannounced.

"We can't lose sight that we are a child protection agency, but research has shown that this type of approach doesn't compromise that," Silva said.

Days, the "out-posted" social worker, still carries a full caseload of 17 families. He said his work days are longer, but the response from the community has made it worthwhile. After investigating abuse and neglect cases for the agency for 14 years, he now feels "much more involved."

"I'll see parents out in the community and they'll come up and talk to me. That would never happen before," he said.

At Bennie Dover Jackson, the kids just see Days as another adult who is there to help, and they know he's good for a couple of bucks when they are holding a fundraiser, Ryan, the principal, said.

Before he was posted at the school, "it was the (abuse and neglect) hot line we had a relationship with," she said.

Days handles cases throughout the region, but when he is assigned to a case involving a student at the middle school, he said he asks the parents for permission to speak with the child at school.

Days also provides mandatory reporting training to school employees who are required by law to report suspected child abuse and neglect. He attends Board of Education meetings, and he took part in New London's Safe City Commission, formed by community leaders attempting to grapple with the fatal stabbing of Matthew Chew.

Days said he has formed an excellent rapport with the city police department's school resource officers and the police administration.

"If police are going on a drug raid and know there are children in the house, they'll call me ahead of time," he said. "We'll go with a plan to get those kids out of there as soon as possible and (placed) with a relative."

Under the Katz administration, the department has increased the number of children who are placed with a relative after being removed from their home and has reduced the number of children placed in out-of-state programs, according to department statistics.

k.florin@theday.com