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2w ago

Connecticut Weighs Child-Welfare Overhaul as Education Department Rejects Homeschool-Withdrawal Reporting

A FERPA dispute now threatens a key reporting plank tied to recent child welfare failures.

Home school families sit in the audience at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford as they listen to Susan Hamilton, interim commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, during the Committee on Children public hearing on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Susan Hamilton, interim commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, answers questions during the Committee on Children public hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)

Overview

  • Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker testified the department cannot share student-withdrawal data for individual case management under FERPA, warning noncompliance could endanger federal funds.
  • Sen. Ceci Maher argues a child-welfare exception permits the disclosure, while DCF’s interim chief says the proposal would only note a withdrawal in existing open cases and is not a DCF-initiated measure.
  • Section 5 of S.B. 6 would route local withdrawal notices to the state education department, then to DCF to check for open files, with no new case opened and only a notation if a case already exists.
  • Homeschool advocates and some lawmakers denounced the plan as unconstitutional overreach and a potential “witch hunt,” prompting a large turnout and written opposition at this week’s hearing.
  • A separate bill, HB 5004, up for a Children’s Committee vote Thursday, would create a child welfare oversight committee, require a public performance dashboard, expand training and safety gear for caseworkers, and mandate outreach when DCF-involved youth are out of state for 14 days.