| |  | | JULY 2022 NEWSLETTER 25 years ago this month, the Center for Children's Advocacy was founded. Since 1997, we've grown from an office based above a boiler room at UConn Law School, to a stand-alone non-profit organization that serves over 1,000 low-income children in Connecticut every year. Over the next year, we're going to be reflecting on our progress in the last quarter-century, as well as where we go from here. Here's to 25 great years and many more to come! |
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| Spring For Kids 2022 Celebrates Our Champions of Children On June 9, we celebrated another year of Spring For Kids at the Yard Goats Club in Hartford. Attendees were welcomed to the event with a moving performance by students from the Ana Grace Academy of the Arts. Later, CCA presented our 2022 Champion of Children Awards to the following recipients: - Dr. Thomas Murray, Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Disease), Yale School of Medicine
- Thea Montañez, Chief Operating Officer, City of Hartford
- Three Young People at Manson Youth Institution
(Dayshawn, Joseph, and John) CCA would like to thank everyone who registered for, donated to, or sponsored Spring for Kids 2022, as well as those who participated in our Bid for Kids Auction. |
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| |  | CCA Youth Advocacy Group Speaks With Legislators, Featured in News In June, CCA's SpeakUp youth advocacy group hosted an event at Semilla Cafe + Studio where they met with Sen. Gary Winfield, co-chair of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, and gave powerful presentations on what it's like to be impacted by the justice system. The SpeakUp group's photojournalism project, as well as testimonials from the group, were included as part of Connecticut Public TV's latest "Cutline" documentary. SpeakUp is a unique CCA initiative which helps youth involved with Connecticut’s juvenile justice or child welfare systems learn self advocacy skills and speak up to secure the services and supports that are critical to their safety and success. The WNPR article below, which covered the SpeakUp event, details how young people are looking to change systems that have impacted their lives. |
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 | CCA Hosts Legislative Wrap-Up, Brings Together Experts in Children's Issues Our latest webinar brought together legislators, CCA attorneys, and experts in the fields of education and mental health to discuss important bills passed in Connecticut during the 2022 legislative session. This webinar featured the following panelists: -
Rep. Robyn Porter, Connecticut State Representative (Hamden, New Haven) -
Andrew Feinstein, Esq., Feinstein Education Law Group, LLC -
Melanie Wilde-Lane, CT Association of School-Based Health Centers -
Yann Poncin, MD, Yale Child Study Center -
George Sinclair, CT School and State Finance Project -
With moderator Kathryn Meyer, Esq., Center for Children's Advocacy |
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| | CCA Restorative Justice Programs Featured at Connecticut Legislature's JJPOC On June 16, CCA led a presentation to the Connecticut General Assembly's Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee (JJPOC) on the practice of Restorative Justice (RJ) and how it can be used to lower recidivism and create a better justice system. Restorative Justice is an approach to justice which centers collaboration, rehabilitation, and healing over punitive practices. For the last six years, CCA has worked with facilities across Connecticut to establish RJ programs within those facilities. CCA currently provides technical assistance and coaching restorative justice programs in over 20 DOC and DCF facilities across Connecticut, with most of this expansion coming in the last year. You can watch the recording of this presentation via the link below. The entire 90-minute recording is dedicated to restorative justice, but the CCA-led presentation begins at 33:13. |
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 |  | CCA Executive Director Martha Stone and Restorative Justice Coordinator LaToya Fernandez led this presentation on the benefits of RJ programs, and how they can continue to be applied to create a better justice system across Connecticut. |
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| | Thank You to Our Colleagues! Thank you to the New Haven Legal Assistance Association for honoring CCA as one of the winners of the 2022 Equal Access to Justice Awards. We were honored to accept this award in recognition of CCA's work, not only in New Haven but across the state of Connecticut. In New Haven, the Center's operates offices for our Medical-Legal Partnership programs in Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Yale Child Study Center. |
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| | | CCA is excited to welcome to our team several new staff and board members. Please join us in giving them a warm welcome! - Carol Beebe-Mestel joins CCA as the organization's Finance Director. In her role, she will oversee the organization's accounting and financial systems. Welcome, Carol!
- Jasmin Ramos has joined the Center as a Paralegal for the Medical-Legal Partnership at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Jasmin will assist with intake and helping clients who contact the Center's MLP office in New Haven. Welcome to the team, Jasmin!
- Maggie Prendergast has joined CCA as its Director of Development. Her role will involve cultivating and maintaining relationships with donors and other stakeholders in order to maintain and grow CCA's organizational capacity.
- Angelique Torres has joined the Center as a Staff Attorney for the Immigrant Children's Justice Project. Based out of the Center's Bridgeport office, she will assist immigrant children and youth in securing Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and secure education as an English Language Learner (ELL) in Connecticut.
- Brooke Souza has joined CCA's Board of Directors, where she will help to guide and promote the long-term vision of the Center. She currently works as Director of Philanthropy for World Bicycle Relief. Welcome, Brooke!
- Finally, Ginny Kim has also joined CCA's Board of Directors. She currently works as an Assistant General Counsel and Chief Compliance & Diversity Officer for the Connecticut Office of the Treasurer. Welcome, Ginny!
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| | Contact Center for Children's Advocacy
65 Elizabeth St. | Hartford, Connecticut 06105
860-570-5327 | cshaddox@cca-ct.org |
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