Advocates promised to protect their communities amid Trump’s stated plans for mass deportations — while saying the future remains uncertain.
Laura Tillman
Laura Tillman is CT Mirror’s Human Services Reporter. She shares responsibility for covering housing, child protection, mental health and addiction, developmental disabilities, and other vulnerable populations. Laura began her career in journalism at the Brownsville Herald in 2007, covering the U.S.–Mexico border, and worked as a statehouse reporter for the Associated Press in Mississippi. She was most recently a producer of the national security podcast “In the Room with Peter Bergen” and is the author of two nonfiction books: The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts (2016) and The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo Garcia (2023), which was just awarded the 2024 James Beard Award for literary writing. Her freelance work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. Laura holds a degree in International Studies from Vassar College and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Goucher College.
Posted inHuman Services
Child sex assault case in Bethany sounds alarm on town-run camps
A CT law allows town camps for children to operate with no state oversight. Now, some legislators say, more regulation is needed.
Posted inPolitics
CT voters approve no-excuse absentee voting
The ballot measure will allow lawmakers to introduce legislation to bring ‘no-excuse’ mail-in voting to CT, joining the majority of states.
Posted inPolitics
What matters to CT voters, in their own words
We asked people around CT which issues resonate most this election season. Their answers offer a kaleidoscopic look at our state.
Posted inHuman Services
Anger at DMHAS as employees demand agency fill staffing shortages
The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has made limited hiring progress and the vacancies are dangerous, union members say.
Posted inCrossing Connecticut
How chef Jacques Pépin found, and shaped, CT’s food community
Jacques Pepin, known for his cookbooks and TV shows, moved to CT in the mid-’70s. That decision has had a big impact on CT’s food community.
Posted inEducation
As CT school shooting threats rise, officials focus on prevention, support
Officials say CT’s rise in reported threats to schools may show that efforts to teach people to ‘see something, say something’ have worked.
Posted inEducation
New complaint blames CT DOE for issues at High Road Schools
The complaint argues CT’s Department of Education isn’t properly monitoring schools for kids with disabilities, including High Road Schools.
Posted inHealth
Youth suicides are up in CT, and officials are broadening response
A new screening tool at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is part of a broadened push to respond to the youth mental health crisis in CT.
Posted inHuman Services
In Greenwich, a gold-standard food pantry. But others struggle
CT food pantries rely on private funds to supplement government aid. Many don’t have well-resourced communities of potential donors to tap.
Posted inHealth
CT suicide hotline’s successes celebrated after 2 years in service
CT officials applauded the 2-year mark of the 988 suicide hotline, even as the rising number of calls points to a broad mental health crisis.
Posted inGovernment
Child Advocate Sarah Eagan resigns
Connecticut’s Child Advocate Sarah Eagan announced her resignation Thursday after more than a decade in the position.
