CT’s Cuban-American Population Is Centered in Bridgeport, As Immigration to U.S. From Cuba Grows

The number of Cubans entering the U.S. has picked up dramatically since former President Barack Obama announced a renewal of ties with the island nation in late 2014, a Pew Research Center analysis of government data shows. The U.S. has since opened an embassy in Havana, a move supported by a large majority of Americans, and public support is growing for ending the trade embargo with Cuba, according to Pew surveys. Outside of Florida, the New York metropolitan area – including Connecticut - is home to the most Cuban Americans.  More than 10,600 Cuban-Americans call Connecticut home, according to U.S. Census 2014 data. The city with the largest Cuban population is Bridgeport, with more than 1,000 residents of Cuban heritage, according to published reports.

According to the website ZipAlas, the Connecticut communities with the largest percentage of Cuban residents among local their residents include Bridgeport, Hartford, Stratford, Westport, New Britain, Bolton, Stamford, Weston, New Haven, and West Hartford.

Overall, 56,406 Cubans entered the U.S. via ports of entry in fiscal year 2016, up 31 percent from fiscal 2015 when 43,159 Cubans entered the same way, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection data reported by Pew. Fiscal 2015 saw an even larger surge, as Cuban entries jumped 78 percent over 2014, when 24,278 Cubans entered the U.S.

There are 2 million Hispanics of Cuban ancestry living in the U.S. today, the fourth largest Hispanic origin group behind Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Salvadorans. But population growth for this group is now being driven by Cuban Americans born in the U.S. The share of foreign born among Cubans in the U.S. declined from 68 percent in 2000 to 57 percent as of 2015, Pew reported. The Cuban population in the United States has steadily grown, accelerating from 737,000 in 1990 to 1,144,000 in 2013, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

According to the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS), 923,111 foreign-born Hispanics of Cuban origin lived in Florida, 47,016 in New Jersey, 30,398 in Texas, 28,436 in California, and 24,898 in New York, the Center for Immigration Studies reported.

The Cuban Lyceum of Bridgeport -- Liceo Cubano de Bridgeport- celebrated its 60^th year in 2014, the Connecticut Post reported.  Founded in 1954 on the East Side of Bridgeport, the organization continues as the longest running Hispanic social club in all of New England, according to local leaders. The Lyceum was officially incorporated on July 21, 1954, created to “promote unity, understanding and friendship among all Cuban and others Spanish-speaking people,” and “provide a welcomed place for newly relocated Cubans in the United States,” to continue the traditions of Cuban culture.

Bridgeport Police Chief A.J. Perez was born in Cuba migrated with his family as a youngster to the United States in 1968, according to published reports.  He joined the Bridgeport Police Department in 1983 and became Chief of Police last year, the first Cuban-American police chief in the state’s history.

Legislatures Consider Changes in Transportation Safety in CT, Nationwide

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is tracking legislation on a range of traffic safety subjects that have been introduced in the 50 states and the District of Columbia – and is providing updates on the organization’s website.  The site reflects 14 proposed bills in Connecticut, being considered in the General Assembly session that began last month.   Traffic safety topics being tracked nationwide include: Aggressive Driving, Automated Enforcement/Photo Monitoring, Child Passenger Protection, Distracted Driving, Driver’s Licensing, Impaired Driving, Motorcycle Safety, Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety, School Bus Safety, Seatbelts and Occupant Protection, Senior Drivers Issues, Slow-Medium speed vehicles, Speed Limits, and Teen Driver Issues.

Among the proposals being considered in Connecticut is one that would require three-point seat safety belts for school buses and require passengers of a school bus to wear seat safety belts.  A similar proposal would require three-point seat safety belts for school buses that are model year 2019 or newer.  NCSL reports that 20 state legislatures are considering a variety of school bus safety proposals. 

Three proposals would increase fines for distracted driving offenses, including texting or using a hand-held mobile telephone while driving, and one calls for additional funds to be appropriated to the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to “combat distracted driving.”  Connecticut is one of 14 states that have seen distracted driving bills suggested. 

Legislative proposals also include one that would mandate the use of helmets by motorcycle operators and passengers, and another that would regulate the operation of high-speed and low-speed electric bicycles in the state. Twenty-six states in addition to Connecticut have motorcycle safely proposals under consideration.

Members of the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee will consider proposals that call for modifications to urban street design guidelines, in order to “improve the safety, economic life and vibrancy of urban streets.”

Among the nation’s states, the largest number of legislative proposals relate to impaired driving, followed by motorcycle safety, pedestrian and bike safety, drivers licensing, drivers licensing, and school bus safety.

Forty-seven states have begun their 2017 legislative sessions.

Economic Insecurity A Key Factor in School Shootings Nationwide, Academic Study Finds

There is a connection between economic insecurity and gun violence in the nation’s schools.  That is the conclusion reached in a “rigorous” Northwestern University study of a quarter-century of data which found that when it becomes more difficult for people coming out of school to find jobs, the rate of gun violence at schools increases. The study, “Economic Insecurity and the Rise in Gun Violence at US Schools,” was published this week in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.  It breaks new ground, researchers explain, replacing a “patchwork of contradictory claims” with a clear finding that “multiple indicators of economic distress significantly correlate with increases in the rate of gun violence” at both K-12 and post-secondary schools.

The interdisciplinary study by data scientists Adam R. Pah and Luís Amaral and sociologist John L. Hagan reveals a persistent connection over time between unemployment and the occurrence of school shootings in the country as a whole, across various regions of the country and within affected cities, including Chicago and New York City, the university reported.

“The link between education and work is central to our expectations about economic opportunity and upward mobility in America,” said Hagan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Sociology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “Our study indicates that increases in gun violence in our schools can result from disappointment and despair during periods of increased unemployment, when getting an education does not necessarily lead to finding work.”

The December 2012 school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut is among those routinely cited among a number of mass shootings that have garnered public attention in recent years.  While a number of factors have been said to have contributed to the violence, clear answers have been elusive as to the cause or causes.

The Northwestern researchers used data from 1990 to 2013 on both gun violence in U.S. schools and economic metrics, including unemployment, in an effort to determine factors that may be relevant. They found the rate of gun violence at schools has changed over time. The most recent period studied (2007-2013) has a higher frequency of incidents than the preceding one (1994-2007), contradicting previous work in this area, according to the university.

The researchers focused on all gun violence at schools, not only mass shootings. They used the following criteria for an event to be included in the study: (1) the shooting must involve a firearm being discharged, even if by accident; (2) it must occur on a school campus; and (3) it must involve students or school employees, either as perpetrators, bystanders or victims.  They then evaluated the timing of these events against multiple indicators of economic distress, including unemployment, the foreclosure rate and consumer confidence.

The researchers found that “given the nature of the school-to-work transition, it is predictable that more violence would occur closer to the last link in the chain from education to employment. An implication of our findings is that as economic prospects improve, the frequency of shootings in K12 schools should remain relatively stable, with declines at post-secondary schools.”

The research indicated that gang-related violence and lone mass shooters comprise only small fractions of the gun violence that occurs at U.S. schools. Gang-related violence constitutes 6.6 percent of all incidents.  Among the key findings were that gun violence at schools has not become more deadly over time and that most shootings are targeted, with the shooter intending to harm a specific person.

The report also noted that while Chicago is singled out in the study as one of the six cities with the most incidents from 1990 to 2013, Chicago schools are not any more dangerous than schools in other large cities.

The results suggest that during periods of heightened unemployment, increased gun violence may be a growing risk in American college and university settings, finding that “a breakdown in the school-to-work transition contributes to an increase in gun violence at schools.”

“Once we consider how important schools are to American ideas about economic opportunity and upward mobility, we can better understand why school settings are revealed in our research as focal points of violent responses to increased unemployment,” said Hagan, who also is a research professor at the American Bar Foundation. “Prior research about gun violence in schools has not adequately analyzed these connections.”

The Northwestern study differs from earlier studies on gun violence in U.S. schools by considering accumulated knowledge about the school-to-work transition in American society. In the last 25 years, there have been two elevated periods of gun violence at U.S. schools, the researchers found; 2007-2013 was largely due to events at postsecondary schools while 1992-1994 more often involved events at K-12 schools.

“Our findings highlight the importance of economic opportunity for the next generation and suggest there are proactive actions we could take as a society to help decrease the frequency of gun violence,” concluded Pah, clinical assistant professor of management and organizations at the university's Kellogg School of Management.

Connecticut Book Awards Set to Make a Comeback in 2017

Connecticut Center for the Book at Connecticut Humanities is now accepting submissions for the Connecticut Book Awards, returning after a multi-year absence from the literary landscape in the state.  The awards were last presented in 2011.  They were presented annually beginning in 2002. These awards recognize the best books of 2016 by authors and illustrators who reside in Connecticut.   The 2017 Connecticut Book Awards will honor authors in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. There will also be awards open to authors and illustrators in the category of Books for Young Readers (Juvenile, Young Adult, and Teen).  Book award nominations may be made through April 21, with the formal announcement of recipients later this year.

"There is a void in the Connecticut literary landscape for this kind of recognition of home grown authors. Several other awards and prizes in the state exist, awards such as The Nutmeg Awards, New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Awards, The Windham Campbell Prize, and a small handful of others, but these awards have specific criteria and don’t necessarily focus on Connecticut-based authorship," the Center for the Book website points out. "Without the Connecticut Book Awards, there is no statewide recognition of Connecticut authors who craft words and convey ideas in a compelling way."

Entry fee starts at $40 for a 2,000 copy or less print run. Award winners will receive exposure in Connecticut media outlets and personal appearances in Connecticut locations. For guidelines and to submit, please visit http://bit.ly/CTBook2017

The Center for the Book at Connecticut Humanities promotes the written and spoken word throughout the state and is an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.  "We’re bringing the Connecticut Book Awards back. Because they are important," the website notes emphatically.

Nominated authors must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three successive years or have been born in the state, or the book must be substantially set in Connecticut. Panels of five judges will assess nominated books in each category.

Eligibility Requirements for Book Awards to be made in 2017:

• Author must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three successive years or have been born in the state. Alternatively, the work may be substantially set in Connecticut.
• Titles must have been first published between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.
• All submitted books must have a valid ISBN.
• Authors may enter more than one book per year.
• Anthologies are acceptable. Author(s) must have resided in Connecticut for at least three years of have been born in the state. Alternatively, the works must be substantially set in Connecticut.
• Books by deceased authors will be accepted only if the author was still living at the beginning of the eligibility year (January 1, 2016).

Lembo Develops Plan Aimed at Bringing Drug Costs Within Reach

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, after what was described as “exhaustive research and consultation with representatives across all sectors of the health care industry,” has developed a five-point plan to address “skyrocketing pharmaceutical drug costs.” Lembo’s proposed legislation, which is to be considered by legislators in the five-month session that began earlier this month, aims to be comprehensive in addressing a range of interrelated issues.  Those issues include requiring justifications for sharp price increases, establishing oversight of drug costs that exceed certain thresholds, ensuring that consumers benefit from rebate savings, promoting insurance plans that emphasize affordable co-pays and preventive care, and eliminating incentives that perversely encourage providers to prescribe the most expensive drugs.

“In a divided country,” Lembo said, “when we’re desperate to find common ground, virtually everyone can agree that prescription drug costs are out of control and must be fixed.  This rise in patient cost share, combined with the rising prices of pharmaceuticals is creating a significant financial burden for Connecticut residents,” Lembo added, noting that “consumers are increasingly bearing a greater share of those costs.”

Lembo, who served as Connecticut’s first Healthcare Advocate prior to being elected State Comptroller in 2010, currently administers the state health plan on behalf of approximately 200,000 people.  The plan includes:

• Require pharmaceutical manufacturers to justify launch prices and price increases over a certain threshold

To address rising drug prices that appear to be arbitrary and unjustifiable, Lembo proposes a requirement that when drug manufacturers increase prices beyond certain thresholds, (for example, list prices increase over 50 percent in the last five years or 15 percent in the last year or launch prices 30 percent or more above the average price for other drugs in a therapeutic class) they must provide the state with information about total costs for producing specific drugs and costs for research and development, marketing, different prices charged for the drug, total profit from specific drugs, research and development efforts that have not resulted in any approved drugs, details about discounts and rebates provided and, of course, a justification for the launch price or the price increase in question.

The findings of a state review would be reported to the legislature and governor to evaluate the appropriateness of the price increases in question.

• Limit the launch price and annual increases of certain high cost drugs

Establish a working group to evaluate the potential of using the information reported above to regulate drug prices in certain egregious instances through the creation of a state-level drug price review board. The authority would review the launch prices of new drugs and annual increases of existing drugs that exceed certain thresholds. The working group should recommend a process for determining if the launch prices or price hikes are justified and recommend possible state actions to take when increases are deemed unjustified.

• Promote the adoption of value-based insurance design

The state Department of Insurance (DOI) and the state health exchange should be required to promote the adoption of plans that use a value-based insurance design. Value-based insurance for prescription drugs generally encourage medication adherence by reducing or eliminating co-payments and deductibles for drugs that help control chronic conditions.  Better managed chronic diseases reduce in-patient hospital stays and emergency room visits by individuals with chronic diseases. The state employee plan has seen significant increases in medication adherence since adopting a lower co-pay structure for maintenance drugs through the state Health Enhancement Plan.

• Allow consumers to benefit from negotiated drug rebates.

Require health plans to base co-insurance and deductible payments on the net price of the drug, post rebate, rather than the list price, allowing the consumer to share in rebate savings negotiated by the pharmacy benefit manager or plan administrator.  For certain highly rebated drugs the list price can be as much as three times more than the final price paid by a health plan after manufacturer rebates.

• Remove incentives for physicians to administer higher cost drugs.

In 2004, Medicare began to reimburse physicians 6 percent of the acquisition cost of drugs for administration. Commercial payers, which often base their reimbursement policies off Medicare, quickly followed suit. The new policy created a perverse incentive in which physicians were paid more for using more expensive drugs even when lower cost equally effective alternatives were available. It also incentivized drug manufacturers to significantly increase prices. As a result, many physician-administered drugs have seen massive price increases since 2004, with many oncology drugs well in excess of $100,000 per regimen. The state should require state-regulated insurance plans to completely delink the reimbursement for physician-administered drugs with the costs of the drugs administered in order to eliminate such perverse incentives.

“This plan emphasizes transparency, accountability and common-sense health care policy that puts quality and wellness for everyone above the corporate profits of big Pharma,” Lembo said in recommending the five-part plan.

Over the past several years, Lembo has been working with state leaders and Connecticut’s congressional delegation to investigate flaws in the pharmaceutical market and implement policies to address the problem.   Last year, he co-hosted a forum at the State Capitol with the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) that brought together physicians, pharmaceutical companies, academicians, patient advocates and other industry experts to address the skyrocketing cost of medications.

Lembo also serves on a working group of the NASHP (National Academy for State Health Policy), which recently issued a report recommending proposed state action, some of which is reflected in Lembo’s legislative proposal.  The Office of the Healthcare Advocate, which Lembo led for six years a decade ago, is an independent agency that helps consumers when they have disputes with their health insurance company. They also educate people about their health care rights and serve as a watchdog over Connecticut’s healthcare marketplace.

CT’s Local Government Workforce Shrinks 7.4% in Past Decade; 10th Largest Reduction in US from Employment Peak

Connecticut’s local municipal workforce has been shrinking for the past decade, and had been reduced 7.4 percent by 2015 when compared with the peak employment year of 2005, according to a new analysis by Governing magazine.  The drop in local government employment is the 10^th largest in the country by percentage of workforce, when peak employment levels were compared with 2015 numbers. “Going on nearly a decade since the start of the recession, localities in many parts of the country have since restored public payrolls to prior levels. But some still employ far fewer workers than they did before the downturn,” Governing reported.

Governing compared each state's pre-2010 peak aggregate totals to the latest 2015 data, excluding the education sector.  In all, the magazine reported, local governments in 26 states had yet to see payroll expenditures return to prior levels when adjusted for inflation. Similarly, local public employment remains below previous highs in most states and is down 3.5 percent nationally from 2008.

The steepest declines in local government payrolls, when 2015 data was compared with the peak pre-recession year, came in Delaware (-20.5% from 2007), Michigan (-18.2% from 2003), Arizona (-17.1% from 2008), Rhode Island (-16.5% from 2003), Massachusetts (-14.4% from 2008), Nevada (-14.1% from 2009), Florida (-11.0% from 2008), Indiana (-8.8% from 2008), New Jersey (-8.3% from 2009) and Connecticut (-7.4% from 2005).

Where localities chose to make payroll cuts has varied, according to the analysis, but a number of patterns were pointed out, based on Census data.  When national employment estimates were compared with 2008 levels, non-sworn police employees sustained the single largest reduction of any major category of workers, the analysis indicated. Governing suggested the reductions were likely a result of police departments trimming civilian staff to maintain the size of police forces on the streets. Nationally, the number of police and firefighters were down 2.6 percent from 2008 while all other areas of local government, excluding education and hospitals, experienced a larger 4.5 percent decline.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico recorded the biggest increases in noneducation payrolls since the recession began in 2008-2009.  Half the states showed an increase in local government payrolls, and despite the generally slow recovery across many regions of the country, U.S. local government payroll spending overall showed a slight three  percent nationwide uptick between 2014 and 2015, according to the analysis.

National Effort to "Revive Civility" is Underway, Looking Ahead to Next Elections

The National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), launched in the aftermath of the shooting targeting Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Arizona in 2011, has launched a new initiative – Revive Civility. “Incivility in America has reached epidemic proportions,” organizers point out. “Every day rudeness, disrespect and hostility sideline collaboration and compromise. Sound bites replace sound journalism. Extremes on both ends of the political spectrum stymie productive dialogue. The public, initially worn and weary, is increasingly enraged about how the lack of civility has left government helpless in the face of our nation's most pressing problems.”

The initiative includes proposed Standards of Conduct, toolkits for citizens, and suggested text messages  that emphasize how ”civility strengthens our democracy.”

Pointing out that “research found that most people think mocking or making fun of a political opponent, making disrespectful or demeaning statements, refusing to listen to arguments of different points of view, or making exaggerated statements that misrepresent the truth are all uncivil behaviors.”

In 2017, “reviving civility is more important than ever” and NICD plans to continue to champion “respectful interactions” in media, legislatures, and the public.  The organization will also educate “the next generation on the importance of civility and ways in which respectful dialogue and interaction between a variety of viewpoints can be created in your own life.”

The 2016 campaign, NICD points out, “brought political incivility directly into living rooms across America,” pointing out that candidates used “disrespectful remarks, name calling,” insulted various members of minority groups, and “the tone of the campaigns has also led to physical violence. Uncivil words have led to uncivil actions and are the direct result of the nature of the rhetoric expressed by those competing to lead in public office.”

NICD points out that:

• 2 in 3 voters say the 2016 election has been less civil than other elections.
• 6 in 10 agree with the statement "The 2016 election will go down as one of the most negative elections."
• 4 in 10 voters say Americans are very or somewhat civil to each other today.
• 7 in 10 Americans say civility has decreased over the past few years.

The honorary chairs of NICD, a nonprofit organization, are former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  Among the honorary co-chairs is former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Financial Cost to Connecticut Smokers Among Highest in the Nation

The financial cost of smoking in Connecticut is higher than just about anywhere in the United States.  The total cost over a lifetime per smoker is $2,183,204, the third highest in the nation, and the annual cost per year per smoker of $42,808, is also third highest in the nation, just behind New York and Massachusetts. The lifetime health care cost per smoker, $274,272 in Connecticut, is higher than every state but one, (Massachusetts), and the out-of-pocket cost per smoking individual of $170,513 for smokers living in Connecticut is third highest in the nation.

The data was compiled by the financial website WalletHub, where analysts calculated the potential monetary losses — including the cumulative cost of a cigarette pack per day over several decades, health-care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. 

Emphasizing that “the negative physical and financial effects of smoking can be significant,” WalletHub noted that Connecticut’s rankings placed it as among the most costly in every category.

Over a lifetime, the financial opportunity cost for smokers living in Connecticut was $1.436,335 and the income loss per smoker was calculated at $286,950.  Other costs per smoker, such as not being able to qualify for homeowner’s insurance discounts for non-smokers, were $15,133.  In each instance, the costs in Connecticut were among the three highest among the 50 states and District of Columbia.

Annual income loss for Connecticut smokers is calculated at $5,626.  Only Maryland, Alaska, New Jersey and D.C. were higher, according to the analysis. Attributable factors included absenteeism, workplace bias or lower productivity due to smoking-induced health problems.  The website also noted that according to a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, smokers earn 20 percent less than nonsmokers, 8 percent of which is attributed to smoking and 12 percent to other factors.

For the calculations, WalletHub assumed an adult who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day beginning at age 18, when a person can legally purchase tobacco products in the U.S., and a lifespan thereafter of 51 years, taking into account that 69 is the average age at which a smoker dies. Data used in developing the ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Insurance Information Institute, NYsmokefree.com, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), Kaiser Family Foundation and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.

In 2016, the American Lung Association gave Connecticut an “F” grade in its spending of tobacco prevention and control funds.  The ALA points out that 40 states and Washington D.C. spend less than half of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends on their state tobacco prevention programs.  Overall, states spend less than two cents of every dollar they get from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes to fight tobacco use.  Each day, more than 2,600 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and about 600 kids become new, regular smokers, according to nationwide data from ALA.

A report on Connecticut's spending on tobacco prevention just over a year ago found that the state was being outspent over 67 times by tobacco companies' marketing efforts - due in large part to the state spending only a small portion of tobacco settlement funds on anti-smoking efforts.

The report, “Broken Promises to our Children: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 17 Years Later," said the state was spending $1.2 million in FY 2016 to fight tobacco use. That's compared to an estimated marketing investment of $80.4 million by tobacco companies in Connecticut that year. The national average shows a margin of 20.1 to 1.  At that time, Connecticut ranked 38th in spending on a percentage basis.  The state has consistently spend less than the CDC has recommended.

The annual report was developed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), a coalition that includes the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, and the Truth Initiative.

A year later, the next report ranked Connecticut last, as Connecticut’s projected spending on smoke cessation and tobacco prevention efforts for FY 2017 dropped to zero.  The report found that 13.5 percent of adult state residents are smokers, and 10.3 percent of high school students smoke.  Just under 5,000 deaths each year are caused by smoking in Connecticut, and 27 percent of cancer deaths are attributable to smoking.  Connecticut’s cigarette excise tax, $3.90 per pack, is the second highest in the nation. It was estimated that the state would collect $519.7 million in revenue this year from the 1998 state tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend none of it on tobacco prevention programs.

Was Holocaust News in Connecticut As It Happened? Historians Seek to Find Out

What could Americans have known – in Connecticut and across the country - about the Nazi threat from reading their local newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s? The Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO) is looking for some research help to find out. CLHO is participating in History Unfolded, a project of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. It asks students, teachers, and history buffs throughout the United States what was possible for Americans to have known about the Holocaust as it was happening and how Americans responded. “

Participants look in local newspapers for news and opinion about 31 different Holocaust-era events that took place in the United States and Europe, and submit articles they find to a national database, as well as information about newspapers that did not cover events. History Unfolded raises questions for scholars and will inform the Museum’s initiative on Americans and the Holocaust.

CLHO and Connecticuthistory.org are teaming up to introduce this project to Connecticut. On January 26, 2017, (the day before the United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day) “citizen historians like you can register to join ‘Team Connecticut’ as we explore Holocaust history.”  Research volunteers will learn how to use primary sources in historical research, and challenge assumptions about American knowledge of, and responses to, the Holocaust.

Officials stress that no experience is needed to participate. Individuals may get involved on their own using online newspaper archives, at local libraries or participating museums, or in groups working as members of a research team.

Data from History Unfolded: U.S. Newspapers and the Holocaust will be used for two main purposes: to inform the upcoming exhibition on Americans and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and to enhance scholarly research about the American press and the Holocaust. Information captured in the general database will be available as a research source for generations to come.

As of January 9, 2017, 920 participants from across the country had submitted more than 6,300 articles from their local newspapers. The articles were published in newspapers located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and represent news articles, editorials, letters to the editor, political cartoons, and advertisements. Individuals are urged to check with their local museum, historical society, or library to see if they will be hosting a research group. A classroom or school, a temple or church, a museum or library, or other community organizations can participate. Individuals can also participate.  Organizations can email Liz Shapiro at liz@clho.org or Gregg Mangan, at gmangan@cthumanities.org for additional information.  For more about the national project, visit the project at https://newspapers.ushmm.org/

State’s First Law Incubators Set to Launch in Hartford, Bridgeport

Connecticut’s first law incubators are due to open early this year at the Center for Family Justice, a Bridgeport-based nonprofit, and at UConn School of Law,  being established to provide affordable legal services to people who need them and help lawyers establish solo practices. The Connecticut Community Law Center, an initiative of the law school and the Hartford County Bar Association, aims to help people who have traditionally been underserved by the justice system: low- and moderate-income clients who don’t qualify for legal aid but can’t afford standard legal fees, the UConn School of Law announced this month.

“Too many people face legal problems concerning essential human needs without proper representation because they fall into the growing access-to-justice gap, between the very poor who qualify for legal aid and those with the financial means to pay a private lawyer,” said attorney Mark Schreier, who was appointed director of the Connecticut Community Law Center. “Standing alone and without professional guidance, those individuals enter our justice system at a tremendous disadvantage.”

The incubator is set to open in February in William F. Starr Hall on the UConn Law campus in Hartford. In addition to the services of the director, the law school will provide office space and support – including training, guidance, and legal research resources – for up to six solo practitioners. The Hartford County Bar Association and the law school faculty will provide mentors, and Greater Hartford Legal Aid will help with training and referrals.

The subsidized working environment will allow participating lawyers to provide legal services at a modest cost that is lower than standard legal fees, with each lawyer setting the fee on a case by case basis. Schreier said he expects cases to involve a wide range of legal problems, including family, consumer, probate, housing, bankruptcy, employment, immigration, and other general civil matters.

In Bridgeport, the Center for Family Justice, a Bridgeport-based nonprofit that provides services to trauma survivors affected by domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse, will house the incubator.

The Center is working with Connecticut law schools to help build the center’s legal apparatus, Fairfield County Business Journal reported, with several professors from Quinnipiac University on the steering committee to help develop the parameters of the program.  Four attorneys are being sought.

Lawyers in the incubator program at the Center will provide the legal advices services and representation needed by victims of domestic violence, including restraining orders, divorce proceedings, child custody and support, housing and immigration issues.  An Open House was held in September to interest local attorneys in participating.

“A legal incubator is like a business incubator,” Jennifer Ferrante, who joined the Center for Family Justice staff as the coordinator for the new service, told the Journal.  At the center’s office at 753 Fairfield Ave., “We are going to be housing four attorneys here on site,” she said. Two of the first attorneys who applied and were accepted in the program are recent law school graduates.

The American Bar Association counts more than 60 lawyer incubators around the country, three-fourths of them established since 2014. The Connecticut Community Law Center and the Justice Legal Center at the Center for Family Justice in Bridgeport, will be the first in Connecticut.

Participating lawyers will spend 18 to 24 months at the Connecticut Community Law Center before moving on with their practices. The training and experience they receive will not only help them jump-start their practices, it will spread seeds of innovation in the delivery of legal services at an affordable cost, UConn Law Dean Timothy Fisher said.

Clients who qualify for services at the Hartford incubator will be those whose incomes exceed the limits for legal aid but fall within three times the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this would mean a maximum household income of $72,900. Clients wishing to apply for services may do so beginning in February, when information will be available at the center’s website: cclc.law.uconn.edu.

“I think it will give the low- and moderate-income community a real chance in getting their legal needs met and ending their cycles in abuse and poverty,” Ferrante said of the new Bridgeport center.

Planning for the legal incubator has been ongoing since 2009. Although the Center for Family Justice is focused on serving six Fairfield County municipalities – Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull – it also welcomes those seeking help from elsewhere in the state, officials said.