April 8, 2019

They say that there are two most important days in our lives, the day that we are born and the day that we find out why. Many people are never fortunate enough to experience that second day. I was born on June 5, 1980, and I started working for Oak Hill, the state’s largest private provider of services for people with disabilities, on April 30, 2001. I was 20 years old, and I had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting myself involved in.

Decades of research continue to confirm the obvious; poverty is bad for children. As evidenced by a 2015 report from the Urban Institute, the more time children spend living in poverty, the worse their outcomes are across nearly every domain. Compared to their peers who are never poor, the nearly 40 percent of children who experience poverty at some point during their childhood fare worse in educational achievement and employment, teen births, and even involvement with the criminal justice system.  When we fail to alleviate generational poverty we prevent our children﹘and our society as a whole﹘from reaching their fullest potential.

To close observers of state politics, Gov.  Ned Lamont’s budget proposal was no surprise. More cuts in vital services and investments, but no tax increases for the wealthy. The General Assembly will undoubtedly produce a rather different document, but for now the governor’s budget is still the only game in town. However, progressives might look to Washington for inspiration.

Is it right to force a 25-year old man or woman to share intimate health details with his or her parents or spouse, for instance, when he or she is being treated for a sexually transmitted disease, substance use, or depression?