| |  | | SEPTEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER - BACK TO SCHOOL! As children and youth return to school, CCA is working to ensure students have access to appropriate education and are surrounded by conditions that help them succeed in school. |
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| CCA Scores a Win for Children’s Basic Needs For children to be successful in school, their basic needs must be met. CCA just had another victory in the fight to make sure no child is living in a home without utility service. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority granted CCA’s objection to the utility companies’ efforts to end the COVID moratorium on utility terminations and restart shutting off utilities of low-income families with back bills as of September 1, 2022. Utility shutoffs for this population now cannot commence until May 2, 2023. Families with low incomes (up to 60% of state median income) are eligible for utility protection and affordable payment programs – for information on how to protect a family’s utility services, click here or contact CCA Attorney Bonnie Roswig at broswig@cca-ct.org. Read the CT Examiner article about the moratorium extension and the CT Insider opinion about CT utilities thriving as customers struggle to keep lights on. |
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| | Children Have the Right to Go To School Recent months have brought reports of Connecticut teacher shortages, bus driver shortages, and enrollment delays because of overcrowded schools. Schools should not be responding to these problems by disenrolling students. Students have the right to attend school if they are under 21 and do not have a high school diploma. For more information on what youth can do if their school is trying to push them out, see CCA’s brochure, Push Out. Learn more about our Educational Success Project. |
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| | Children Have the Right to Be Safe in School Chrystal was a good student who was terrified to go to school. She was experiencing extreme bullying by her classmates in school and on social media. Her mom did everything she could to make it safe for Chrystal to go to school, but the school did not act to stop the bullying, and instead threatened to give Chrystal failing grades and report her mother to DCF for educational neglect. CCA attorney provided legal representation to Chrystal and got her a transfer to a different school where she is safe. For information about school bullying and children’s rights, see CCA’s brochure, Bullying. |
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| | Youth SpeakUp News The Youth Speak Up program has been very active. SpeakUp is CCA's group of youth advocates who work together to identify systemic problems that impact youth in their communities and engage in advocacy campaigns to promote systemic reforms. Youth led recruitment efforts over the summer to expand the size of the group, and the group has grown from 4 to 19 youth. They have been participating in an education advocacy training series provided by CCA attorneys that will continue into the fall. This month, the youth will begin participating in the State Legislature’s Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee (JJPOC) Subcommittees’ meetings to ensure youth voice is included in decision-making about systemic reforms regarding juvenile justice issues such as alternatives to incarceration and school suspensions and expulsions. Our SpeakUp youth are committed to empowering other youth; this fall, they will create written and video content to educate other youth in their communities about legal issues like job discrimination, housing discrimination, and youth rights during a police pedestrian stop. For more information, contact LaToya Fernandez, Director of SpeakUp Project, at lfernandez@cca-ct.org. |
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| | Upcoming Seminars, Webinars and Trainings CCA Attorney, Stacey Violante Cote, will be co-presenting to Bridgeport Public Schools’ Social Work Department regarding a pilot model to address the needs of minors experiencing housing instability/homelessness. On September 21st, in collaboration with CCA’s partners in homeless services, including Family & Children’s Agency, Kids In Crisis and The Housing Collective, CCA will talk about the launch of Community Care Teams in Bridgeport. This is a case conferencing model developed in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders including young people, state agencies and providers. If you know of a young person in Fairfield County who is experiencing housing instability/homelessness and who could benefit from additional supports, please contact Lorraine Reid, CAN Manager for Minors, (Lreid@fcagency.org). On October 21, 2022, CCA Attorney, Stacey Violante Cote, will be presenting at CT Youth Service Association’s 50th Annual Conference. Attorney Violante Cote’s presentation is entitled, “Teen Legal Rights: A Primer for Practitioners.” The session will focus mainly on the legal rights of minors experiencing housing instability/homelessness and what the law does and doesn’t allow them to do on their own. Click here for more information about the conference and a registration link. |
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| | | CCA is delighted that Alan Ruiz, an Associate in Day Pitney’s Hartford offices, has joined CCA’s Board. We are looking forward to his service in guiding and promoting the long-term vision of the Center. We are also thrilled to announce two new attorneys: - Karrol-Ann Brown has joined the team in CCA’s Bridgeport offices as the Director of our Racial Justice Project. In this role, Karrol-Ann will lead the Center’s legislative and administrative advocacy, litigation, and collaborative work with communities and agencies to identify and reform policies and practices that result in racial inequity.
- Sarah Mervine is joining CCA in our New Haven office as the Director of Yale New Haven Hospital Medical-Legal Partnership Project. In this role, Sarah will provide interdisciplinary legal intervention and work with community partners to address healthcare disparities for children at risk.
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