Could lawmakers pass law requiring face-to-face contact with kids in DCF investigations? 

Дата публикации: 10-02-2026 18:14:19

With two high-profile child abuse cases in the last year, some lawmakers have been calling for change.   
NBC Connecticut Investigates recently spoke exclusively with a former child welfare worker who said the state made some “critical mistakes” in the case of Mimi Torres-Garcia, a girl whose body was found in New Britain back in October.   
A review of her case by DCF documented a now-infamous video call where a woman in her 20s fooled a DCF social worker into thinking she was Mimi. 
The longtime former DCF employee who spoke with us still works in the child welfare field and agreed to talk if we protected his identity.   
He said the longstanding DCF policy, or at least protocol, has been that welfare checks like Mimi’s get conducted face-to-face.   
DCF told NBC Connecticut Investigates that face-to-face contact with all children in the home is expected, but this was an exceptional situation because Mimi’s mother reported she was out of state.   
We spoke with members of the Children’s Committee at the legislature about what could happen next.   
Should face-to-face visits be written into law or be a regulation?   
Two members of the legislature’s children’s committee said they would consider it.   
“If we have to pass a law to make that happen, we can do it,” said ranking member Rep. Jason Perillo (R-Stratford).
Committee co-chair Rep. Corey Paris (D-Stamford) said of requiring face-to-face contact:  “I do agree with that.   I think there are many members of my party and of course the Republican party this is a bipartisan issue. We just wanna protect our kids.”   
Two other leaders on the committee said it’s a gray area.   
“There are components that are greater than the sum of the parts. There needs to be the holistic view of looking at what does this case need? And in this particular instance, this case needed eyes on a child,”  said co-chair Sen. Ceci Maher (D-Darien).
Ranking member Representative Anne Dauphinais added, “I would want to, first of all, understand and know the facts of what the current protocol is, and then listen to testimony about the benefits of doing a one-on-one face-to-face with anybody living in that household, versus not.”   
If the Children’s Committee were to put language into law requiring DCF face-to-face visits with children during investigations, it would likely be a part of a larger bill it presents during this legislative session.   

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