Connecticut Child Welfare Set for Collapse Under Governor Lamont’s Child Advocate Pick
Republished with permission from AbleChild.
Connecticut Governor’s recent appointment of Christina Ghio as Child Advocate is more of the same and arrives at a critical moment of reckoning for the state’s child welfare system—a system plagued not only by tragic deaths but also by the widespread psychiatric drugging of children in state care.
From fragile infants placed on dangerous cocktails of psychotropic medications to youth aging out of foster care with multiple psychiatric disorders completely dependent on the state’s failed psychiatric treatments—cradle to grave—Connecticut faces a relentless cycle of systemic failure and neglect.
The grim reality is that many children enter state custody as infants, subjected to multiple psychotropic drugs under policies administered by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and overseen by the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Committee (BHPOC), which holds a vital but severely conflicted role protecting state vendors due to corruption. The drugging of children continues unchecked as they grow, often leaving them mentally and physically scarred, only to “age out” of the system with multiple psychiatric disorders and completely dependent on the state’s failed psychiatric treatments.
The recent death of 12-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia starkly exposed these failures. Despite repeated agency involvement, including investigations by DCF, Mimi’s severe neglect, malnourishment, and eventual death were not prevented. Rather than address these failures, DCF initially attempted to blame homeschooling as the root cause of why Mimi went missing. This claim was decisively disproved by AbleChild’s widely cited national articles alongside the homeschooling law firm of Deborah Stevenson’s National Home Education Legal Defense, who revealed inconsistencies in the timeline. Only after this scrutiny did DCF admit that during a remote contact session, an imposter clearly duped the state vendor or agency that was conducting the video call, posing as the child—Jacqueline Torres-Garcia. This shocking fraud and lack of oversight highlights the agency’s broken systems and lack of basic safeguards.
The newly appointed Child Advocate, Christina Ghio, previously worked for the Center for Children’s Advocacy, Connecticut’s largest children’s legal rights organization, which operates with an annual budget of nearly $3 million and staff of 25. Despite this significant operational scale and its long-standing collaboration with the Behavioral Health Oversight Committee, the nonprofit made public comments on Mimi’s death that revealed a troubling disconnect from the committee’s vital role. Josh Michtom, a senior attorney at the Center for Children’s Advocacy claims “We need well-supported offices, mental health care and an oversight body, and I don’t think we have any of those things right now.” Are you kidding? What is the behavioral health oversight partnership that allocates millions in mental health funding? Its failure to push for accountability or systemic reform after decades of working “hand in hand” with oversight bodies illustrates a pattern of passive advocacy that has become woven into the dysfunction it claims to oppose.
This choice of Ghio as Child Advocate is not a fresh start; it is a continuation of the same old system, tightly connected to a nonprofit that has been part of the problem within DCF.
Governor Lamont praised Ghio’s legal expertise and dedication, recognizing the vital role she faces amid ongoing investigations into Connecticut’s child welfare failures. However, it comes amid data revealing that Connecticut spends through Medicaid nearly $6 million annually on psychiatric drugs for children, including infants. Despite this massive spending and extensive behavioral health contracts exceeding $100 million annually, serious problems persist, underscoring the critical need for real reform—a challenge for Ghio’s office.
The legacy of unchecked psychotropic drugging, agency negligence, and passive advocacy groups demands more than rhetoric—it demands fearless, transformative leadership that dismantles the entrenched, dysfunctional systems harming Connecticut’s children. The stakes could not be higher.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has repeatedly proven it cannot reform itself no matter who is placed in charge. The federal government has also taken action recommending Connecticut DCF should be placed on a performance improvement plan. This isn’t the first time the federal government had to step in regarding Connecticut’s treatment of children in state care. In March of 2022, a federal judge released Connecticut DCF agency from three decades of court oversight concluding that “Connecticut once again can be entrusted with the care of its most vulnerable children.” according to the CT Mirror.
Many believe that Connecticut has become a failed state, deeply mired in corruption, lack of accountability, and entrenched dysfunction. The children who must depend on these services remain trapped in a system that consistently fails them, and many would argue that the Governor’s choice for Child Advocate is too much of the same.
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AbleChild is a 501(3) C nonprofit organization that has recently co-written landmark legislation in Tennessee, setting a national precedent for transparency and accountability in the intersection of mental health, pharmaceutical practices, and public safety.
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