New Britain is beginning to shift it’s culture to become a trauma-informed city. In other words, it is working to recognize that 25 percent of children under 17 have suffered some form of trauma in their life, and to help them heal and move on rather than punish them for how they have responded.
Julia Werth
Posted inEducation
McHaelen: Despite social changes, LGBT kids continue to have more difficult adolescence
By the time she was 13, Robin McHaelen knew she was a lesbian, but she didn’t come out until she was in her early 30s. In the meantime she attempted suicide more than once, used drugs heavily through high school and college and felt continually depressed. Now the executive director of True Colors Inc. in Hartford, the Connecticut native has dedicated the past 22 years to meeting the needs of the sexual and gender minority youth. She shares her insights in this Sunday Conversation.
Posted inHealth
While waiting for a state health-records exchange, medical society launches one
Frustrated that after 10 years of effort the state of Connecticut has yet to launch a functioning health information exchange allowing physicians, hospitals and other health care providers to share patient medical records, the Connecticut State Medical Society is offering one of its own. Health care providers will have to decide if it Is worthwhile to sign on or wait for the state system to pan out.
Posted inEducation, Health
Budget cuts may erode gains in school mental health services
With no state budget and school beginning in less than a month, many Connecticut districts may have to cut back on recently expanded mental health services or make room for them in their own budgets.
Posted inMoney
Human services cuts take effect after a month without a budget
After a month without an adopted budget, the first round of cuts to human services agencies across state government took effect Tuesday. Much of the lost funding goes to nonprofit organizations the state contracts with to provide services to the mentally ill, the disabled, the poor, and those leaving prison.
Posted inPolitics
Jepsen joins effort to protect transgender service members
Two days after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender individuals will no longer be allowed in the military, 19 attorneys general, including Connecticut’s George Jepsen, publicly opposed the ban with a letter to the Senate and House Armed Services committees.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy calls Trump’s transgender ban ‘ignorant’ and ‘troubling’
Hours after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender individuals would no longer be accepted or allowed in the military, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a largely symbolic executive order strengthening the state’s nondiscrimination policies in the military.
Posted inHealth
Two who should know: Too few resources to meet Litchfield County’s addiction epidemic
The resources for addiction and mental health services have always been limited, especially in rural areas like Litchfield County, but with more and more individuals in need, finding care has become an even more daunting endeavor. Kerri Johnson knows, because she has been there. In this Sunday Conversation, she teams up with John Simoncelli, executive director of Greenwoods Counseling Referrals in Litchfield, to talk about the problem.
Posted inHealth
Proposed cuts in food aid worry those who feed the needy
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would cut funding for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, by about 25 percent over the next 10 years by lowering the income limit for eligibility. His plan also would transfer up to 25 percent of SNAP’s cost to the states. “There is no way the food banks can make up for cuts to SNAP,” said Sarah Santora, community involvement manager for Foodshare.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Malloy enlists disabled in budget fight — gets protest at his office
A day after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy all-but invited the disabled recipients of state services to lobby for a new budget, they did: They targeted him in a demonstration that ended with the arrest of five protesters in his outer office at the Capitol.
Posted inHealth
Advocates say ‘perfect storm’ of possible cuts threatens mental health care
Proposed reductions to Medicaid, coupled with state budget cuts under consideration, concern mental health advocates, who say lowering eligibility for Medicaid without providing other options would result in the cycling of patients in and out of care. When people can’t work, advocates say, they go on public assistance programs, costing the state more than they would have if they had been allowed to stay on Medicaid and remain in treatment.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Himes tells town hall meeting Trump is playing to public’s fears
WESTPORT — Though he began the night expressing hope in the fight against Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, fear worked its way to the forefront later in the evening as several successive speakers asked questions about crisis in government.
Posted inMoney
1,200 youths will lose their summer job unless legislature acts
Between 1,200 and 1,500 young adults in Connecticut will be out of a job this summer if the legislature is unable to approve a budget, or a proposed mini-budget, by Friday.
Posted inEducation
Students may get a central source for transfer information
A bill awaiting Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s signature would create an information hub for students seeking to take advantage of a five-year effort to ease transfers within the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system or to the University of Connecticut.
Posted inHealth
Health care providers endorse call for sales tax increase
Health care providers joined social services advocates Tuesday to again urge broadening the state sales tax and adding other revenue sources rather than making big cuts in the upcoming budget.