After CT girl’s death, lawmakers reconsider homeschool bill. Will it keep kids safe?

Hartford Courant – Wednesday, April 8, 2026
By Livi Stanford

In the wake of a third death of a student who had been withdrawn from public school, lawmakers are revising legislation that would increase oversight for homeschooled families.

There is no data confirming the total number of homeschoolers in Connecticut, which is one of 12 states with little regulation of homeschooling.

Some lawmakers say the bill provides a safety net for children by providing more oversight of homeschool families while other lawmakers say it goes too far to encroach on homeschool students’ rights and does not provide any added safety.

The bill was drafted in the aftermath of the cases of Jacqueline Mimi Torres and Matthew Tirado, Connecticut children who were reportedly withdrawn from public school before their deaths, and a Waterbury man who was allegedly rescued after being starved and held captive for decades after his withdrawal. Homeschool advocates argue that Torres and Tirado were not homeschooled and that DCF, which was involved with the families, should have protected them. Mr. S., as the Waterbury man is known, reportedly was malnourished and the subject of multiple reports to DCF before he was withdrawn.

In the latest case, the state Department of Children and Families and Enfield Police are continuing to investigate the untimely death this month of Eve Rogers, a 12-year-old Enfield girl. On Friday her stepfather was charged with sexual assault after authorities allegedly tied his DNA to a sample taken from the girl’s body. Eve was withdrawn from public school in 2022, according to a letter from her mother, Melanie Federline, sent to the Enfield School District and obtained by the Hartford Courant.

Rep. John Santanella, an Enfield Democrat, said “there is zero regulation or oversight of children who are homeschooled.

“Because of that we have this circumstance where children are taken out of the public view and are put in horrific circumstances and in this case resulted in a terrible thing happening to someone who is my constituent and that is not acceptable,” he said.

Rep Antonio Felipe, a Bridgeport Democrat and member of the Education committee, said “the bill definitely has the potential to improve child safety by ensuring there are check-ins on students who are in families with open DCF cases.”

Some homeschooling parents have said HB 5468 tramples on their rights to educate their children without government oversight.

The bill would require parents to notify the school district in person when withdrawing a child from public schools. It would also require the commissioner of the Department of Children and Families to check if a parent or guardian is the subject of an open case or on the child abuse registry. The legislation would also require parents to submit a portfolio to demonstrate that children are receiving “equivalent instruction” or submit a nationally normed standardized test.

House Speaker Matt Ritter said the bill would put more checks and balances in place.

“We have a lot of laws and I will acknowledge that,” Ritter said. “If there’s a nefarious actor out there who is hell bent on doing something horrible to somebody, sometimes all the laws in the world can’t prevent that.”

Even so, Ritter said, “that doesn’t mean that we don’t try to put more checks and balances in place to at least eliminate some of the risk, and at least give us a better shot.

“And I think what we have seen in a couple of cases is the withdrawal of students from school from people who did have prior substantiated complaints with DCF,” he said. “Just having that check and balance, it may not save every single person in every situation from disturbing events or physical violence, but if it saves one, if it saves two, if it serves as a check, it’s worth implementing.”

The state’s child advocate, Christina Ghio, also says the bill is a good first step and will help provide a safety net by identifying children who are not receiving an education.

“If a child is not receiving an education then that is something that should be reported to the Department of Children and Families as educational neglect, which provides an opportunity for an investigation,” Ghio said.

However, Ritter said that based upon the feedback from the Democratic caucus and the Education Committee, legislators are expected to remove the section requiring parents to submit a portfolio.

“I think based upon that feedback, I think the committee will remove that section and move forward with other parts of the bill,” he said. “I’ve heard different arguments against it: some based upon who would make the determination; what is a subjective standard as opposed to an objective standard? So not sure the rigorous standard applies because someone could just kind of fake it. But I think when you remove that section you have more support from the Democratic caucus.”

Rep. Jennifer Leeper, co-chair of the Education Committee, did not return repeated email requests for comment regarding the bill.

Ghio said it would be unfortunate if the portfolio piece in the legislation was taken out.

“I think the most value would be if we could have the annual assessment where the child is interacting with a teacher to do the assessment,” she said. “If you are ensuring that they are receiving an education, you can also know whether there is anything else going on too.”

Sarah Eagan, executive director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy, said it is important to have some follow up for the child “or you can’t prevent the problem of people lying to remove their child for a range of reasons, avoiding true secret complaints, parent convenience and hiding evidence of abuse and neglect.”

Eagan said the bill is a reasonable start.

“Nobody’s saying homeschooling is a safety concern,” she said. “We are saying that nobody following up is a safety concern.”

While Felipe said the bill had some good provisions, he voted against it because, he said, some parts went a step too far and also were not well explained. The Education Committee passed the legislation by a razor thin vote of 26 to 20 after four Democrats switched their votes from no to yes.

“I voted against the bill after speaking to families who felt left out of both sides of the conversation, families of color who removed their children due to discrimination, othering and general feelings that the system was failing their children specifically,” he said.

State Rep. Anne Dauphinais a Danielson Republican, said she does not believe the bill provides more safety for homeschooled children.

“This isn’t a homeschool problem,” she said. “This is a problem of evil people hurting harmless children and I would argue that I just don’t see how any of this would help them.”

Enfield Rep. Santanella said, as written, HB 5468 “extends too far in overseeing homeschooling families who are acting in good faith.

“That approach risks diluting the bill’s focus and places unnecessary burdens on homeschool families and school districts alike,” he said.

He said the legislature should move quickly to amend the bill.

“That includes closing any loopholes that may allow individuals to evade accountability under the guise of homeschooling, particularly in cases where there has already been interaction with state agencies,” he said. To the homeschool community “… with all due respect and appreciation for their rights as parents to homeschool their children, they have to take some responsibility as members of society and say they can’t allow that institution of homeschooling to have the opportunity or loopholes in it that allow things to happen to our most vulnerable children.”

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