Enfield Town Department Head Fired

ENFIELD, CT — Acting Director of Social Services Damian Humphrey was recently dismissed from that position, according to personnel records obtained by Patch Monday under the Freedom of Information Act. A letter from Director of Human Resources Steve Bielenda, sent to Humphrey on Sept. 19, reads, "Please be advised that this letter serves as notice that the town of Enfield has terminated your employment effective immediately. This action was necessitated after careful review of your recent work performance serving in the position of Acting Director of social Services."

Humphrey, who began working in Enfield as deputy director of social services on May 30, 2017, became acting director on May 6 of this year, following the resignation of Dawn Homer-Bouthiette. He was earning $90,224 a year as acting director.

Copies of disciplinary reports in Humphrey's personnel file indicate various concerns from his superiors, including:

• "...he has been struggling with focus, attention, recall, judgement and productivity..."
• "...not contributing during meetings, appearing bored and too often unable to add depth to the conversation or respond to questions."
• "Damian has missed several important deadlines in the last few weeks and despite his best efforts, has been unable to prepare satisfactory budget options assigned to him, though staff in other DSS Divisions have."

Humphrey also used a concerning amount of sick time in 2018, with an official warning placed into his personnel file on Jan. 29 of this year.

With Humphrey's dismissal, retired social services director Pam Brown returned to the department as acting director on Sept. 23. Brown was director from Jan. 2005 until her retirement in April 2016.

"We are extremely fortunate that Pam has agreed to take a break from her retirement to come help the Town of Enfield ensure a smooth transition in Social Services as we go through the recruitment process of finding the next Director of Social Services," Bielenda wrote in an email to town staff. "Pam’s years of service to her former staff and the community are invaluable to ensure stability in the Department as we commence the interview process for a new Director of Social Services."