Homeschoolers Hammer Connecticut with FOIA Requests, Expose Pattern of State Corruption from Sandy Hook to Waterbury

May 11, 2025

Connecticut’s homeschool community is once again making national headlines as leading groups, represented by attorney Deborah Stevenson, have filed a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with state agencies demanding specific information about the tragic case in Waterbury of the young man held captive for years. This action is in response to a long-standing pattern: whenever a high-profile tragedy exposes failures by state agencies responsible for child welfare, blame is assigned anywhere but where it belongs – and homeschoolers take the brunt of the blame game and are forced to seek transparency through FOIA requests-only to repeatedly be met with resistance and stonewalling.

In the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy, Connecticut homeschoolers, alongside the national advocacy group AbleChild, filed FOIA requests for shooter Adam Lanza’s school and Department of Children and Families (DCF) records. Despite Connecticut statutes allowing for the release of such records in the public interest, every agency refused to provide even a single document at the time of the incident and continues to withhold those documents today.

AbleChild responded by suing the state, highlighting systemic secrecy and a lack of accountability. AbleChild continues its mission, exposing the role of behavioral health and pharmaceutical companies in mass shootings nationwide. Just recently AbleChild achieved a major victory in Tennessee, where landmark legislation requires toxicology testing for psychotropic drugs in deceased mass shooters and mandates public disclosure of relevant drug histories.  This law, co-drafted by AbleChild, is already serving as a model for similar legislation under consideration in Wyoming.

A similar scenario unfolded in 2018 after the death of Matthew Tirado, an autistic, non-verbal child who was enrolled in Hartford Public Schools-not homeschooled-when he died of starvation. The public school system and DCF were fully aware of the mother’s mental health issues, abuse, and neglect. Reports were made to DCF, and the school psychiatrist noted the child had not been in school for a year. The mother’s phone was disconnected, and Matthew’s sister came to school with bruises and reported abuse at home. Despite these glaring red flags, the public-school staff failed to request a police welfare check. DCF knocked on the mother’s door five times without response, filed a petition for neglect, and the court closed the case after a 45-second hearing when the mother failed to appear. A few weeks later, Matthew died of starvation. Despite the fact that Matthew Tirado was never homeschooled, state officials blamed homeschooling and called for further regulation. Even after the State’s Child Advocate admitted Tirado was not homeschooled, calls for increased homeschool oversight persisted.

Now, in the 2025 Waterbury case, homeschoolers have filed another FOIA request, targeting the Governor, legislative leaders, education and child welfare officials, and the Connecticut Association of Public-School Superintendents. They are seeking all documents related to the Waterbury victim and proposed homeschooling regulations. The Waterbury victim was enrolled in public school for five full years, with numerous reports of abuse and neglect going unaddressed by both school staff and state agencies. The principal reported the abuse to DCF more than 20 times, and others reported it to police. Police and DCF visited the home twice but left after the stepmother claimed everything was fine. Despite these failures, state officials are once again blaming homeschooling and seeking further regulation. So far, no documents have been provided in response to the latest FOIA request, continuing the state’s pattern of withholding information.

Deborah Stevenson has been a prominent advocate for homeschooling rights and has played a key role in major education battles in Connecticut. Notably, Stevenson served as counsel for the Killingly Board of Education in a high-profile dispute over student mental health services, defending the board’s due process rights and arguing that it had acted lawfully and fulfilled its obligations to students. Stevenson’s is the Founder of National Home Education Legal Defense, LLC and is involved in both homeschooling and public education and underscores her commitment to parental rights and due process.

Connecticut’s homeschool community is now facing its fiercest assault in decades as state officials push for sweeping new controls over how and what parents may teach their children. In the wake of the Waterbury case, state agencies and the Office of the Child Advocate are demanding unprecedented oversight, including forced behavioral health evaluations, mandatory vaccinations for homeschoolers, and annual proof of “equivalent instruction”-measures that go far beyond what most states require. The Child Advocate’s report recommends treating every homeschooling family as suspect, calling for annual evaluations and scrutiny of family records before homeschooling is approved.

This legislative push has mobilized thousands of parents. More than 4,000 recently rallied at the state Capitol in Hartford, protesting what they see as a direct attack on parental rights and educational freedom.

Many fear that lawmakers will bypass public hearings and democratic process, pushing through controversial changes without debate or input from affected families. Homeschool advocates, joined by Republican lawmakers and some Democrats, argue that the state is scapegoating parents to cover up for DCF’s chronic failures. “Shame on you. If you care about these children, get criminals off the street that abuse children, and actually regulate the systematic problem we have in our state government,” said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding. Parents warn that the real risk is not from homeschooling, but from a state bureaucracy that repeatedly fails to protect children in its own custody.

With legislative leaders signaling they may tuck these sweeping changes into a final budget bill without public debate or hearings, Connecticut’s homeschoolers are bracing for a fight over fundamental right. The state’s record of missed warnings and failed interventions is clear. What remains to be seen is whether lawmakers will double down on failed oversight by targeting families, assigning blame when none is apparent or finally confront the systemic dysfunction at the heart of Connecticut’s child welfare crisis.

For Legal Updates and Interviews contact:
Attorney Deborah G. Stevenson
email:   Stevenson@dgstevensonlaw.com

P.O. Box 704
Southbury, CT 06488
Tel. (860) 354-3590
Fax (860) 354-9360
Cell (203) 206-4282

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