Responding to Hunger with Capacity Building; Coalition Initiative Renewed

The University of Saint Joseph (USJ)  and Urban Alliance received a $30,000 grant from the Farmington Bank Community Foundation to support More than Food, a framework that helps food pantries with more capacity-building resources in addition to short-term food supplies to help address the root causes of hunger.  More than Food, developed by USJ, Urban Alliance and Foodshare, was initially launched with funding from the Farmington Bank Community Foundation in 2014. This latest grant supports the program over the next two years. “More than Food focuses on promoting healthy food in pantries and helping people access other resources to find a job. We’re proud to support a partnership that is trying to find a solution to the hunger problem,” said Chris Traczyk, executive director of the Farmington Bank Community Foundation.  “It’s a comprehensive, collective-impact project.”  Dr. Katie Martin, assistant professor and director of the Public Health Program at USJ, and her research team developed a nutrition stoplight system called Supporting Wellness at Pantries, or “SWAP”, which helps food pantry clients choose healthier foods.

USJ is collaborating with the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport to pilot the SWAP system in six food pantries in CT, which together serve over 5,000 people on average every month. Under the More than Food framework, the grant from the Farmington Bank Community Foundation will help expand this work to offer trainings and implement and evaluate the SWAP system in additional food pantries.

As part of the More than Food framework, Urban Alliance has developed various training series and toolkits to equip food pantry staff and volunteers to offer case management services and resource centers that help connect clients to necessary community programs through its Beyond the Basics initiative. Also, Urban Alliance is developing a training program to help pantries create a welcoming environment that fosters the dignity and respect of each person served.

A website, www.ittakesmorethanfood.org , has been developed to share information about the More than Food framework and provide practical guidance and tools to food pantries to help them offer healthy foods with choice, connect clients to needed services, and create a welcoming culture. The recent grant award will help refine, disseminate, and evaluate materials that will be shared through the website.

The website points to the mission ahead: "When the 'emergency' of hunger has lasted over three decades, and with strong evidence that food insecurity is associated with chronic health problems, it is time to rethink the way we provide food assistance and time to examine the effectiveness of food pantries. Through our work, we are changing the conversation about hunger away from emergency food to a person-centered and strength-based approach to help people set and achieve goals in their life."

“We are very grateful for the continuing support of the Farmington Bank Community Foundation, as well as the collaborative work of our partner organizations in making More than Food a holistic way to address hunger in our area,” said USJ's Martin. Currently there are multiple food pantries in Connecticut, Texas and Rhode Island that are implementing the More than Food framework to address the root causes of hunger.

Number 9: CT Among Nation's Leaders in Innovation

Connecticut is the nations 9th most innovative state, according to a new analysis by the financial website WalletHub.  The state also placed sixth in research & development spending per capita and ninth in venture-capital funding per capita, the review of the 50 states found. Overall, the top 10 most innovative states included District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Utah, Connecticut and New Hampshire.  New Jersey ranked #12 and New York was #16.  At the other end of the spectrum, the least innovative states were Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia.

In individual categories, Connecticut placed:

• 13^th – Share of STEM Professionals
• 14^th – Share of Science & Engineering Graduates Aged 25+
• 15^th – Projected STEM-Job Demand by 2020
• 15^th – Avg. Internet Speed
• 24^th – Share of Technology Companies
• 27^th – Eighth-Grade Math & Science Performance

WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, “Human Capital” and “Innovation Environment,” evaluating those dimensions using 18 relevant metrics.

The Norwalk Hour is reporting that Connecticut Public Television is moving forward with its plan to create an innovation and tech center along Wall Street in the heart of Norwalk. The project would require bonding from the state, with Connecticut Public Broadcasting borrowing another $5 million to $7 million, Hearst Connecticut Media learned last October.

The Connecticut Technology Council's annual Women of Innovation event takes place next week, on March 29.  The Women of Innovation event seeks to create :"a growing network of women in the “trenches” of STEM." Finalists are the scientists, researchers, academics, manufacturers, student leaders, drafters, entrepreneurs, and technicians "who create tomorrow’s advancements through their tireless efforts today," the organization said.  The awards will recognize Academic Innovation and Leadership at the High School and College level, Community Innovation and Leadership, Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership and Research and Innovation Leadership, as well as innovation and leadership at small and large businesses.

Data used to create the ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Science Foundation, National Center for Education Statistics, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Tax Foundation, Consumer Technology Association, Akamai Technologies, U.S. Cluster Mapping Project and National Venture Capital Association.

Achieve Hartford Aims to Push for Progress in Hartford Schools, From Top Down and Bottom Up

In the aftermath of Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s State of the City address and a comprehensive three-part investigative series published by the Hartford Courant examining the city’s decades-long response to the Sheff decision on integration and quality education, Achieve Hartford! is preparing for its second annual fundraising event and intensifying efforts to encourage sustainable education progress in the city. “Compare the mayor’s role in addressing the fiscal crisis, promoting regionalization, union renegotiations, the fight against blight, or key quality of life issues like resolving a flawed 311 system,” the organization said this month. “In each of these areas as well as several others, Mayor Bronin and his leadership team came together publicly and with a clear mandate directed from the top across departments to solve problems, making the combined whole greater than the individual roles and parts.  Now is a time where city leaders are called to step up as education leaders.”

In promoting their second annual “Inspire Hartford” event slated for May 11, organizers are urging attendees to “see innovation in action” and hear “uplifting stories of success.” They add: “learn how innovative ideas and new technology are training the next generation of bright dreamers and big thinkers. Get educated—and be inspired.”

The keynote speaker will be Charles Best, who leads DonorsChoose.org, the pioneering crowdfunding nonprofit where anyone can help a classroom in need. At DonorsChoose.org, public school teachers create classroom project requests and donors can choose the projects they want to support. Best launched the platform in 2000 out of a Bronx public high school where he taught history. Today, more than two thirds of U.S. public schools have at least one teacher who has created a project request on DonorsChoose.org, and 1.8 million people have donated $360 million to classroom projects reaching 16 million students.

Achieve Hartford!, which was formed in 2008, is an independent nonprofit organization founded by business and community leaders “with the belief that strong schools lead to a strong city,” noting that  “Mayors, Boards of Education and Superintendents change over time.”

“We are doing everything we can to lay out a blueprint for systemic change in Hartford that can help guide collective efforts to improve schools, and we look forward to working with the mayor, the next superintendent, and so many others critical to putting education reform in Hartford back on track,” the organization said earlier this month, while noting that Bronin indicated “strengthening our neighborhood schools must be the single most important priority for our new Superintendent, and I pledge to be a full partner.”

Last week, the search for a new Superintendent for the city was narrowed to two candidates: Acting Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez and Capital Region Education Council (CREC) Assistant Superintendent for Operations Tim Sullivan.

Achieve Hartford warned that “If Hartford leaders, stakeholders, and families put the responsibility for fixing Hartford schools solely on the new superintendent, we should not expect either finalist to be successful.  The responsibility must be shared amongst the Board of Education, City Hall, the corporate community, philanthropy, nonprofit partners, and even our robust institutions of higher education.”

The organizations stresses that it works “toward improving education in our city by innovating ways to address some of our toughest issues, activating the community to take ownership of problem solving, and holding our leaders and educators accountable for advancing student achievement.”

Summarizing recent activities, the organization’s website says succinctly, “there is a lot of conversation but, ultimately, not much action.”

“Developing great schools require not only that the school system operate with excellence, but also our entire community,” the organization’s website points out. “It takes a village to educate a child, and it is our job to help stakeholders play their unique set of roles for school improvement now, and long into the future.”

The May 11 fundraising event will take place at the Hartford Hilton.

Local College Students Selected by US State Department for Intensive Foreign Language Training

Four University of Bridgeport students have been awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships, among the most competitive in the field, to spend the summer abroad at intensive language programs. The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program is part of a U.S. government effort to dramatically expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages deemed to be of particular importance. They include but are not limited to: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Chinese, Persian, Russian, and Urdu.

Students Ana Rena, Justin Sabo and Fernando Gonzalez have been accepted into the Arabic language study program at a site still yet to be determined in the Middle East.  According to the State Department’s website, Arabic is taught in Amman, Jordan; Meknes, Morocco; Tanfier, Morocco; and Ibri, Oman.

UB student Sung Soon Gavel won a CLS to study Korean at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea.  The CLS Korean Program in Gwangju, Korea provides students opportunities to learn Korean both inside the classroom and in an immersive cultural setting during an intensive 8-week language program set in Korea’s sixth-largest city located just south of Seoul. Students receive a minimum of 20 hours per week of classroom instruction where they learn the four major skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in Korean.

CLS Program institutes at 24 locations around the world cover approximately one academic year of university-level language coursework during an eight- to ten-week program and are designed to meet the needs of students from a variety of language levels and backgrounds.

The scholarships are highly competitive; just 10 percent of students who apply to the program are awarded one. But since 2011, eight University of Bridgeport students, including the four 2017 winners, have won them.

“As an application evaluator for the Critical Language Scholarships, I can confirm that the pool of applicants to the program include some of the nation’s brightest students at leading universities across the country. So having one CLS winner, or even having students make it to the final rounds, would be worthy of celebration. The fact that four were granted awards is a phenomenal testament to our students’ hard work.  They make us very proud,” said Brandon LaFavor, director of UB Education Abroad Resource Center.

Formal classroom language instruction is provided for a minimum of 20 hours per week. Extracurricular activities are designed to supplement the formal curriculum, including regular one-on-one meetings with native speaker language partners for conversational practice, as well as cultural activities and excursions designed to expand students’ understanding of the history, politics, culture and daily life of their host country.

In past years, students from institutions including University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, Quinnipiac University and Central Connecticut State University have also been selected to participate.  Most recently, a UConn student was selected to learn Hindi in India in 2016, and two Wesleyan students were selected last year to learn Russian and Hindi.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is a program of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. CLS is administered by American Councils for International Education.

This year’s group of Critical Language Scholars from UB are all enrolled at the College of Public and International Affairs (CPIA) at the University. The school’s six undergraduate and four graduate programs groom students in fields related to diplomacy, including international security and global development. CPIA alumni have gone on to work for the FBI, the Department of State, Defense Department, United Nations, Council of Europe, as well as global NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) and private industry.

https://youtu.be/WUhZlih7hls

CT Has Nation’s Highest Average Rate of Student Debt, Topping $35,000 Per Borrower

In 2017, more than 44 million Americans are working to repay student debt.  Nowhere in the nation is the challenge and burden of student debt more acute than in Connecticut, which has the highest student-debt-per-borrower average in the United States. At $35,947, Connecticut’s average student loan debt outpaced the nation, where, on average, borrowers are working to repay more than $28,000 after graduation.  That’s according to student loan and refinancing marketplace website LendEDU.com’s recently released study and analysis.  LendEDU has pointed out that 59 percent of college graduates in the state have student loan debt. 

In addition to having the highest student-debt-per-borrower average, according to LendEDU’s analysis, Connecticut has the:

• 12th highest percentage of graduates with debt (68%)
• 29th highest default rate (5.66%)
• 31st highest college enrollment (133,999)

Student loan debt is the second highest form of debt in the U.S., second only to mortgages, according to LendEDU.  In addition, nationwide:

• Over 40% of borrowers have delayed starting a family because of their debt
• Over 60% of borrowers have delayed buying a car because of their debt
• Over 70% of borrowers have delayed saving for retirement because of their debt
• Around 75% of borrowers have delayed buying a home because of their debt

In terms of average student debt, among the states with the highest levels, after Connecticut, are New Hampshire (#49), Pennsylvania (#48), Rhode Island (#47), Delaware (#46),  Massachusetts (#45), New Jersey (#44), Minnesota (#43), Iowa (#42), South Carolina (#41), and New York (#40).

At $42,912, the average student debt per borrower in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District, is not only higher than the state average, but is the highest among Connecticut’s five congressional districts.

In the 1^st Congressional District (Rep. John B. Larson) it’s $32,003; in the 2nd (Rep. Joe Courtney), $28,900 the 3^rd (Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro), $38,255; and the 5^th District (Rep. Elizabeth Esty), $20,246.

The portion of graduates with student debt in 4^th District is 70% — tying with the 3rd District for second highest in the state. At 84 percent, the 5th Congressional District has the highest portion of graduates with debt in the state, while the 1st District has the lowest, at 52 percent.

While the student loan default rate in U.S. Rep. Jim Himes’s district (4.99%) is lower than the state average, it is the second highest in the state. The 5th District has the highest student loan default rate, at 11.84 percent, while the 3rd District has the lowest, at 3.73 percent.

The largest college going population is in the New Haven-centered 3^rd Congressional district, with enrollment of 46,440 students, according to the website.  The 4th Congressional District has a total college enrollment of 21,537, just behind the 3rd District (46,440) and 5th District (22,451). The 2nd Congressional District has the smallest enrollment total in the state, at 11,605.

Among the state’s public colleges, the average student debt ranged from UConn’s $25,000 to Central Connecticut State University’s $27,920.  Among all the state’s colleges and universities, among those with the highest average debt levels are Quinnipiac University, Sacred Heart University, and University of New Haven, all in the top 10 nationally with average student debt exceeding $40,000.

Higher Ed Panel on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Seeks to Map Statewide Plan

The charge of the state's Higher Education Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative is to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship within Connecticut’s public and private higher education institutions while fostering collaboration and providing economic value to Connecticut. The Higher Education Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group, in accordance with Public Act 16-3, met in December, and again in mid-February, and aims to complete its work in May to develop a plan to support innovation and entrepreneurship.  Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College president and professor of neuroscience, and Mark E. Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system (CSCU), were selected in December to co-chair the working group that includes public and independent institutions of higher education from throughout the state.

The group, which is staffed by CTNext, will send its strategic roadmap to CTNext’s board of directors for approval. Once the plan is approved, the board will elect an advisory committee made up of public and private school officials and student representatives. This new committee will advise the CTNext board of directors as it deploys $2 million each year for the next five years to projects and initiatives that fit the priorities identified in the strategic road map, according to the CTNext website.

The working group is tasked with developing a master plan for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship at in-state public and independent colleges and universities. The master plan will:

1. address opportunities and risks to innovation and entrepreneurship resulting from existing and emergent conditions affecting entrepreneurial programs and initiatives at institutions of higher education;
2. assess the scope and scale of existing entrepreneurial programs and initiatives at such institutions in the context of best practices at state and national institutions of higher education that are leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship;
3. recommend initiatives that facilitate collaboration and cooperation among institutions of higher education on projects that address and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship at such institutions;
4. provide for the establishment of a state-wide intercollegiate business plan competition; and
5. identify funding priorities for higher education entrepreneurship grants-in-aid pursuant for projects that expand and enhance entrepreneurial programs and initiatives or projects involving partnerships among institutions of higher education.

“As co-chair, I look forward to working closely with colleagues from across Connecticut,” said Berger-Sweeney. “Our strategic planning to support entrepreneurship and innovation is critical to the economic vitality and future of the state.”

“I’m excited to work with all our presidents, both public and private, to find ways to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship at our institutions,” said CSCU President Ojakian. “Our mission is help our students turn their creative ideas into businesses that will grow and thrive in Connecticut.”

During the working group’s December meeting, which ran just over an hour, participants from 27 colleges and universities, including the presidents of most of the institutions, discussed the challenges and opportunities to advance innovation and entrepreneurship on their campuses and in the state.

According to the meeting minutes, there was discussion on how best to allocate $10 million ($2 million/year for 5 years), centered on determining a strategy to leverage the funds.  Participants suggested a focus on partnerships, and urged efforts to “think from the beginning about how to connect people (broadly) to the jobs that will be created,” along with a “commitment to creating a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.”  Education leaders also noted that Connecticut “is relatively more highly regulated than other states in public education,” which could make the effort “more difficult.”

The college and university leaders also listed an array of assets that exist in Connecticut which could spur their efforts.  Among those cited were:

• Strong medical/bio-science institutions
• Long standing leader in advanced manufacturing
• Lower cost of real estate relative to Cambridge and Silicon Valley
• Leadership in aerospace
• International linkages/partnerships
• Prime location between NYC and Boston

Also mentioned was the fact that Connecticut has “a lot of empty buildings” in “legacy cities ripe for redevelopment.”  Connecticut’s status as a financial capital, and the potential collective political force of higher education leadership were also noted as potential pluses.

Late last year, CTNext issued an RFP for “qualified independent higher education institutions, policy institutes, or research organizations to conduct certain analyses of innovation and entrepreneurship in the state.”  The assignment proposed included: “a baseline assessment of the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship based on certain program measures,” including:

1. the increase or decrease in the state’s (a) start-up businesses, including growth stage start-ups; (b) software developers; and (c) serial entrepreneurs (i.e. those having brought at least one start-up business to venture capital funding by an institutional investor);
2.  job growth within growth-stage businesses;
3. the amount of private venture capital invested in start-up and growth-stage businesses;
4. employee turnover at start-up and growth-stage businesses;
5. the amount of entrepreneurship and innovation research funded by higher education institutions in the state;
6.  the rate at which businesses enter and leave the state; and
7. the degree to which the state’s (a) hiring rate exceeds its job creation rate and (b) employment separation rate exceeds its job loss rate.

CTNext is Connecticut’s innovation ecosystem designed to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate early-stage growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development, and capital to foster innovation and create jobs in Connecticut.  CTNext is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations.

Photos:  Trinity College President  Joanne Berger-Sweeney, CSCU President Mark Ojakian; February meeting of working group.  

Schools of Distinction in Connecticut; 116 Earn Designation

Over 100 schools statewide across Connecticut have been recognized by the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) as 'Schools of Distinction' for the 2015-2016 school year. The state recognized 116 schools for high academic achievement and high growth, including 15 schools within the state's Alliance District program. The state's alliance district program is a targeted investment in Connecticut's 30 lowest-performing districts.

To qualify for the distinction designation, schools cannot have high achievement gaps or high graduation rate gaps, and must also meet participation rate requirements.  'Schools of Distinction' are schools that meet the following criteria, according to the CSDE.

• the top ten percent of schools using the Accountability Index score;
• the top ten percent of schools with the highest growth for all students or for the high-needs group (free or reduced price lunch, English language learners, and students in special education); or
• the top ten percent of schools (among those without growth) with improvement in Accountability Index.

Danbury, Greenwich and Ridgefield have six schools each on the list, the most of any district in the state.

Shelton, Stratford and Trumbull had four schools among those designated, and Glastonbury and Regional School District 12 each had three schools earn a slot on the list.  West Hartford had three schools named, Braeburn, Bugbbee and Whiting Lane..

Two Capital Region Education Council (CREC) schools made the list, The Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School and the University of Hartford Magnet School.  CREC renamed one of its magnet schools in 2014 in honor of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, a former Hartford resident who was among the young victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

2015-2016 Schools of Distinction

• Anna H. Rockwell School, Bethel
• Frank A. Berry School, Bethel
• Bolton High School, Bolton
• Mary R. Tisko School, Branford
• Brass City Charter School, Waterbury
• Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School, Avon
• University of Hartford Magnet School, West Hartford
• Chapman School, Cheshire
• Norton School, Cheshire
• Lewin G. Joel Jr. School, Clinton
• M. Wright Technical High School, Stamford
• Ellsworth Avenue School, Danbury
• Hayestown Avenue School, Danbury
• Mill Ridge Primary School, Danbury
• Morris Street School, Danbury
• Park Avenue School, Danbury
• South Street School, Danbury
• Ox Ridge Elementary School, Darien
• Royle Elementary School, Darien
• Tokeneke Elementary School, Darien
• East Haddam Elementary School, East Haddam
• Dominick H. Ferrara School, East Haven
• East Lyme High School, East Lyme
• Lillie B. Haynes School, East Lyme
• Niantic Center School, East Lyme
• Windermere School, Ellington
• Burr Elementary School, Fairfield
• Timothy Dwight Elementary School, Fairfield
• Jennings School, Fairfield
• Riverfield School, Fairfield
• East Farms School, Farmington
• Noah Wallace School, Farmington
• Union School, Farmington
• West District School, Farmington
• Eastbury School, Glastonbury
• Hopewell School, Glastonbury
• Nayaug Elementary School, Glastonbury
• Wells Road Intermediate School, Granby
• International School at Dundee, Greenwich
• North Mianus School, Greenwich
• North Street School, Greenwich
• Old Greenwich School, Greenwich
• Parkway School, Greenwich
• Riverside School, Greenwich
• Northeast Academy Elementary School, Groton
• B. Butler School, Groton
• Guilford Lakes School, Guilford
• Regional Multicultural Magnet School, New London
• Litchfield Intermediate School, Litchfield
• Southeast Elementary School, Mansfield
• Casimir Pulaski School, Meriden
• Thomas Hooker School, Meriden
• Orange Avenue School, Milford
• Pumpkin Delight School, Milford
• Oakdale School, Montville
• Western School, Naugatuck
• East School, New Canaan
• New Canaan High School, New Canaan
• West School, New Canaan
• Conte/West Hills Magnet School, New Haven
• Anna Reynolds School, Newington
• Hawley Elementary School, Newtown
• Green Acres Elementary School, North Haven
• Ridge Road Elementary School, North Haven
• North Stonington Elementary School, North Stonington
• Wheeler High School, North Stonington
• Samuel Huntington School, Norwich
• Thomas W. Mahan School, Norwich
• Kathleen E. Goodwin School, Old Saybrook
• Moosup Elementary School, Plainfield
• Plainfield Central School, Plainfield
• Plymouth Center School, Plymouth
• Brownstone Intermediate School, Portland
• Redding Elementary School, Redding
• Harwinton Consolidated School, Harwinton
• Booth Free School, Roxbury
• The Burnham School, Bridgewater
• Washington Primary School, Washington Depot
• Burr District Elementary School, Higganum
• Haddam Elementary School, Higganum
• Lyme Consolidated School, Lyme
• Mile Creek School, Old Lyme
• Barlow Mountain Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Branchville Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Farmingville Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Ridgebury Elementary School, Ridgefield

• Scotland Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Veterans Park Elementary School, Ridgefield
• West Hill School, Rocky Hill
• Chatfield-LoPresti School, Seymour
• Booth Hill School, Shelton
• Elizabeth Shelton School, Shelton
• Long Hill School, Shelton
• Sunnyside School, Shelton
• South Windsor School District, Pleasant Valley School
• Eli Whitney School, Stratford
• Nichols School, Stratford
• Second Hill Lane School, Stratford
• Stratford Academy - Johnson House, Stratford
• Booth Hill School, Trumbull
• Jane Ryan School, Trumbull
• Middlebrook School, Trumbull
• Tashua School, Trumbull
• Yalesville School, Wallingford
• Braeburn School, West Hartford
• Bugbee School, West Hartford
• Whiting Lane School, West Hartford
• Edith E. Mackrille School, West Haven
• Seth G. Haley School, West Haven
• Daisy Ingraham School, Westbrook
• Coleytown Elementary School, Westport
• Green's Farms School, Westport
• Alfred W. Hammer School, Wethersfield
• Wilton High School, Wilton
• B. Sweeney School, Windham
• Frisbie School, Wolcott

Disparities Evident As Fairfield County Considers Its Community Wellbeing

Fairfield County’s sizeable immigrant population - twenty percent of Connecticut’s most populous county - grew 89 percent from 1990 to 2014. In some municipalities, foreign-born residents make up as much as a third of the population. That is among the findings in the Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016, which examined regional demographics, economic opportunity, education, health, quality of life, and happiness.  The report includes analysis of the communities, populations, and neighborhoods of Fairfield County, as well as opportunities available and issues facing the area.

Since 1980, the size of the population living in neighborhoods that are considered most affluent – defined as those with an average family income more than 2.5 times higher than the state level - has tripled within Fairfield County. Meanwhile, the number of people living in poor neighborhoods is 3.5 times its 1980 size. The number of people in middle-income neighborhoods has decreased by sixteen percent.

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, a major funder of the report, partnered with DataHaven, area hospitals, and government agencies to help launch a more robust and comprehensive resource that could serve as a part of the hospitals’ and health departments’ Community Health Needs Assessments as well as a broader county-wide indicators program.

“Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is committed to addressing the most pressing issues facing Fairfield County, but to do that we first need to be able to identify and understand those issues,” stated Nancy M. von Euler, Vice President, Programs, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. “The data in the Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016 will help us to develop priorities for collective action to build a stronger, healthier Fairfield County where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their zip code.”

The report states that "Despite its overall affluence, Fairfield County is among the nation’s most unequal metropolitan areas. Inequities in well-being appear when evidence is stratified by income, age, race, gender, and zip code. These differences are often most apparent after considering data that were collected specifically for the age groups and neighborhoods that are most impacted."

Among the findings, between 2014 and 2025, adults ages 65 and over are Fairfield County’s only age group projected to grow significantly, with a thirty-seven percent increase. Disparities in the County were also evident:

• High and rising childcare costs are often prohibitively expensive for low and middle-income families. While Fairfield County has nearly enough spaces for all 3- to 4-year-olds to attend preschool, there are only enough regulated childcare slots for fifteen percent of the county’s children ages 0 to 2, and enough subsidized slots to cover only twenty-two percent of these youngest children in low-income households.

• The issue of dental care arose as an indicator of well-being, particularly among younger adults and families. The Index shows that for every 10,000 residents living in Fairfield County, 12 residents visit an emergency room to receive treatment for preventable dental conditions in any given year, whereas on the East Side of Bridgeport, 178 residents do.

• Fairfield County residents are healthy when compared to national benchmarks. However, many conditions and risk factors—such as asthma, food insecurity, exposure to community violence, and the early onset of diabetes—are disproportionately prevalent in lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Sections of Bridgeport in particular fall very far behind the surrounding area in many of these measures.

• Disparities in access to reliable transportation persist between racial and income groups. A majority of Fairfield County workers, regardless of income, commute to another town for work. Many low-income (annual wages under $40,000) workers leave Bridgeport for work, while large shares of high-income workers commute to New York City.

“The process of developing this report allowed local partners and community members to identify links between the well-being of residents and the places where they live. Looking beyond typical measures like income levels or unemployment rates, the Community Wellbeing Index reveals a much more uneven distribution of opportunities in areas such as neighborhood walkability, economic development, public health, and education,” said Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven and a lead author of the report. “The impact that these barriers to opportunity have on overall well-being and happiness will serve as a call to action for many groups working to improve Fairfield County’s diverse neighborhoods and towns.”

The Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016 was based on a variety of federal and statewide data sources. Partners of DataHaven’s Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016 include Fairfield County’s Community Foundation; Bridgeport Hospital; Danbury Hospital; Greenwich Hospital; Norwalk Hospital; St. Vincent’s Medical Center; and Stamford Hospital.

CT Ranks 5th in U.S. in Dental Health, Best in New England

The neighboring states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and North Dakota have the best dental health in the nation, but Connecticut and Massachusetts break the mid-west logjam, ranking fifth and sixth in a new survey of nearly two dozen dental-health related categories by the financial website WalletHub. Connecticut ranked second in a series of oral health categories and 17^th in a group of dental habits and care categories, according to the survey, resulting in the 5th place finish overall.  Connecticut and Massachusetts ranked one-two in the highest percentage of adults who visited a dentist in the past year, and Connecticut placed third, after New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, in the highest percentage of adolescents who visited a dentist in the past year.

Connecticut also topped the list in two additional categories:  Lowest Percentage of Adults Who Experienced Pain in the Past Year Due to Oral Condition and Lowest Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among Adolescents.  The state also ranked in a tie for third for having the lowest percentage of elderly population with no natural teeth.

Data used to create the ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy Grid, American Dental Association, Health Resources & Services Administration, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and Oral Health America, according to WalletHub.

With the state’s ranking in the background, the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI) will host a session on health equity during Oral Health Day at the State Capitol on Wednesday, March 8, from 10 am to 3 pm in the Legislative Office Building.

Connecticut oral health-related organizations will on hand throughout the day to raise awareness and educate decision-makers and the public about policies to improve the oral health of Connecticut residents. The organization’s focus this year is on preserving Medicaid coverage for adults and children, allowing children to remain on their parents' dental insurance until age 26, and integrating oral health into health systems.

Other legislative initiatives include a proposal to increase the number of adults aged 19 to 26 years covered by dental insurance to provide continuity of dental care into adulthood, and another to decrease the incidence of oral and other cancers by decreasing tobacco use by Connecticut residents. By raising the Legal Age For Purchase and Use of Tobacco Products.

COHI leads and collaborates in statewide oral health advocacy efforts; promotes the necessity of oral health to overall health; serves as an expert resource on oral health policy; and publicizes oral health policy analysis and recommendations.

Also at the Capitol, the Department of Public Health is proposing a mandate for dental hygienists to have at least one contact hour in cultural competency prior to the renewal of their license, as part of the commitment to health equity.

Collegiate Greek Life Leaders Descend on Hartford, Again

Hotel rooms were relatively scarce in downtown Hartford this past weekend as the Northeast Greek Leadership Association attracted about 1,000 college students involved in leading their campus fraternities and sororities to the Capitol City for the regional organization’s annual conference. The NGLA filled rooms at the Marriot and Hilton downtown, with overflow rooms at the Holiday Inn for the conference held at the Connecticut Convention Center, February 23 – 26.  The conference has become somewhat of a tradition in Hartford, held in the city in alternate years.

NGLA provides educational training and leadership development for collegiate fraternity and sorority members from college campuses across the northeast, and “builds community among students from a variety of fraternal experiences, challenges members to align their actions with fraternal values, and empowers advocates to transform and improve their communities,” the organization’s website points out.

“Hartford has always graciously welcomed our conference and its 1000+ conference attendees from across the northeast. We are thrilled to be back at the Convention Center,” said Emily Perlow, Chairman of the association’s Board of Directors. 

This year’s program highlights included education on motivating members, values based decision making, diversity and inclusion, and sexual assault prevention. Students, campus based professionals, national fraternity and sorority professionals and volunteers, as well as vendors and speakers attend the event, which offers a range of educational opportunities for participants.

The program also includes an Advisors Academy, which was recognized as an Outstanding Educational Program by the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors. There also is programming specifically for culturally based fraternities and sororities and local fraternities and sororities. In addition, opportunities to “sit with brothers and sisters from the region at the affiliation luncheon.”  The weekend culminates with a closing banquet during which NGLA Awards are presented, recognizing outstanding achievement.

Among the sessions held during the conference: Curiosity, Courage and Cake: Surviving Mental Illness Through Sisterhood; Know Better/Do Better: A Frank Talk About Campus Racism; and Retaking Our Story: Reframing the Sexual Assault Conversation.  Speakers providing insight for the student leaders address topics including: Be An Action Hero: The 4 Traits of High Impact Leaders; Why We Need to Talk with Our Members About Race and Every Student Needs to Know About Alcohol.

NGLA, which formed in 2011 with the merger of two fraternal organizations in the region, states as its vision:

• Fraternities and sororities in the northeast provide co-curricular learning experiences that prove to be essential in furthering the mission of their host institution
• Fraternities and sororities in the northeast are high performing and are looked to as a model of best practices
• Fraternities and sororities members in the northeast can articulate their founding principles, strive to live these principles, and challenge peers whose behavior is inconsistent with these principles.
• NGLA is known to members on every campus as a valuable resource that provides a demonstrated return on investment.

There were just over one thousand attendees at last year’s conference in Pittsburgh, PA.  The conference returns to Pittsburgh next year, and then will be back in Hartford in 2019.