Connecticut law enforcement missed an opportunity to solve the abduction of Carlina White five years ago when her suspected kidnap mom, Ann Pettway, was receiving public assistance, officials said yesterday.

The Department of Children and Families opened a file in 2005 involving the girl and Pettway, the woman who was raising her, and provided housing, educational and training assistance.

Spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said the agency reached out to law enforcement and “communicated directly regarding the question of the identity of the girls’ biological parents at the time.”

He did not say which law-enforcement agency was involved or why officials had questions about the girl’s identity.

White, 23, who learned this month that she was snatched as a baby from Harlem Hospital, was raised under the name Nejdra Nance by Pettway, who faces a federal kidnap charge.