Christina D. Ghio
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(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is nominating Christina D. Ghio of Cheshire to serve as Connecticut’s child advocate.
Since 2022, Ghio has served as associate child advocate for the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate. Last fall, she temporarily assumed the position of acting child advocate upon the resignation of the agency’s most recent child advocate, Sarah Eagan, who stepped down from the leadership role to pursue a new professional opportunity.
Her nomination comes to Governor Lamont at the recommendation of the Advisory Committee to the Office of the Child Advocate, a state entity consisting of seven members appointed by bipartisan legislative leaders and the governor who are responsible for interviewing candidates for the position of child advocate and providing the governor with a list of recommended candidates. The governor is required under state law to select one of the recommended candidates for nomination.
“As an attorney and child welfare law specialist, Christina has dedicated her career to advocating for the legal rights of the youngest residents of our state, promoting their best interests, and advocating for their welfare and safety,” Governor Lamont said. “I make this appointment at a time when we are all reminded by recent tragedies involving young people in our state of the vital role of this independent office, including its current investigation into the unconscionable circumstances surrounding the untimely death of Jacqueline ‘Mimi’ Torres-Garcia. As always, in addition to their own internal reviews, our state agencies are committed to providing information that will assist the child advocate in identifying recommended changes to laws, policies, and practices that will help prevent such tragedies from occurring again.
“Christina’s years of work at the Office of the Child Advocate, combined with her experience with children’s advocacy and disability rights groups and as a public defender make her extraordinarily qualified to step into this role. I appreciate the work she has already provided Connecticut and her willingness to take on this leadership responsibility, and I look forward to partnering with her on enacting policies that put the needs of children first.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the state’s Child Advocate,” Ghio said. “So many children in Connecticut depend upon state systems to ensure that they are safe, receive an appropriate education, and have access to the mental health care they need. It is the responsibility of the Office of the Child Advocate to shine a light on those systems, to constantly seek to improve them, and to give voice to our most vulnerable children. It is a great privilege to do this work and I am committed to serving the children of the state of Connecticut to the best of my ability.”
Prior to joining the Office of the Child Advocate, from 2010 to 2022 Ghio worked as a solo attorney at the Law Office of Christina D. Ghio, LLC, where she represented parents in matters related to their children including special education, child abuse and neglect, and mental health. Before that, she served from 2006 to 2010 as assistant child advocate for the Office of the Child Advocate, where she focused on policy advocacy and systemic investigations. From 2001 to 2006, she was the director of the Child Abuse Project at the Center for Children’s Advocacy, from 2000 to 2001 she was a staff attorney at the Disability Rights Center in New Hampshire, and from 1996 to 2000 she was an attorney for the New Hampshire Public Defender.
Ghio earned a Bachelor of Arts from Central Connecticut State University and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. She is also certified by the National Association of Council for Children as a child welfare law specialist.
The Office of the Governor will forward Ghio’s nomination to the Connecticut General Assembly for its advice and consent at the start of the next regular legislative session, which begins February 4, 2026. Upon being confirmed by the legislature, she will serve a five-year term.
The position of child advocate is responsible for monitoring and evaluating public and private agencies that are charged with the protection of children and reviewing state agency policies and procedures to ensure they protect children’s rights and promote their best interests.