AbleChild Files Emergency Testimony in Connecticut After Exposing Mimi’s Death Under DCF

AbleChild Files Emergency Testimony in Connecticut After Exposing Mimi’s Death Under DCF

Republished with permission from AbleChild. 

AbleChild, a national nonprofit advocating for informed consent and accountability in child serving systems, has filed emergency testimony in Connecticut opposing a shocking new bill being sold in the name of 11 year old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres García. Lawmakers and agency officials are telling the public that more reporting on families who withdraw from public school is the answer to preventing another tragedy like Mimi’s. AbleChild’s testimony shows that story is simply not true.

Mimi did not die in an unknown home the state could not find. She died after a lifetime around DCF, courts, and mandated reporters. Her mother was a product of the very system now being rewarded with more power, and state agencies had already removed and returned Mimi in the past. This was a high risk family, known to the state, not a stable homeschool household “disappearing” from the grid.

When concerns were raised again, the failure was not a lack of paperwork or school notifications. The failure was that DCF believed lies and chose convenience over protection. Instead of insisting on seeing Mimi in person, a DCF worker accepted a video “welfare check” in which a 22 year old woman later admitted she impersonated 11 year old Mimi on a Zoom call at the request of Mimi’s mother. The agency treated that screen image as proof the child was safe. By the time that call happened, Mimi was already dead and her remains would later be found hidden in a container. The problem was not missing data. The problem was that DCF and other systems refused to use the power and information they already had.

Despite these facts, lawmakers are pushing a so called “Mimi bill” that creates a statewide reporting pipeline on every child withdrawn from public school. Under the proposal, when a parent pulls a child from a public school under existing law, the local board must notify the state education bureaucracy within a tight, two day window. That bureaucracy is then required to pass the withdrawal along to the child welfare agency, which will note the change in any existing case file. Leaving public school becomes an automatic data event for the same system that failed to protect Mimi when she was directly in its sights.

Politicians and agency officials are packaging this as a “homeschool fix,” claiming that more reporting on families who exit public school is needed so “another Mimi” does not slip through the cracks. But Mimi’s case did not happen because a typical homeschool or private school family quietly left the system. It happened inside a family already surrounded by DCF, courts, and mandated reporters, where warnings were ignored and a fake Zoom appearance by a 22 year old stand in was accepted as evidence that a child was alive. No extra step where a school notifies another office would have changed any of that. The state already knew this mother, already knew this child, and still let her disappear.

Using Mimi’s death to justify tracking every family who leaves public school is deceptive. It shifts blame away from the agencies that failed and onto ordinary parents who make lawful educational choices, homeschool, private school, or other alternatives. At this point, who even trusts the state to tell this story honestly, and why would any family feel safe “registering” their decision to leave public school with the very machinery that lost track of Mimi?

Mimi’s name should be a summons to transparency and accountability inside DCF, a full timeline of every contact, every report, every opportunity to intervene, independent investigations of agency conduct, consequences for those who signed off on her safety while she was being abused and starved. It should mean fixing the culture and practices of an agency that chose a video screen over real world verification, not tightening control around parents who have done nothing more than withdraw from public school.

AbleChild’s emergency testimony urges the public to look past the slogans and ask a simple question, would this bill have saved Mimi? The answer, based on the record, is no. Mimi was already in the system. Her mother was already in the system. Officials already had the power and information they needed and failed to act. Turning that failure into an excuse to expand surveillance of families who leave public school is not child protection. It is political cover, and every Connecticut resident should call, write, and do whatever they can to oppose Bill 6. The good news is that there are already pages and pages of testimony submitted in opposition, and the public hearing before the Children’s Committee in Connecticut is on Wednesday, March 12, giving every concerned resident a chance to be heard.

Be the Voice for the Voiceless

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.

What you can do.  Sign the Petition calling for federal hearings!

Donate! Every dollar you give is a powerful statement, a resounding declaration that the struggles of these families will no longer be ignored. Your generosity today will echo through generations, ensuring that the rights and well-being of children are fiercely guarded. Don’t let another family navigate this journey alone. Donate now and join us in creating a world where every child’s mind is nurtured, respected, and given the opportunity to thrive.  As a 501(c)3 organization, your donation to AbleChild is not only an investment in the well-being of vulnerable children but also a tax-deductible contribution to a cause that transcends individual lives.

AbleChild 25th Anniversary Event March 2026 visit AbleChild25.com