CT's Water Plan Ready for Public Comment; Recommendations Advance to Legislature in 2018

If you’re interested in Connecticut’s plans to manage a key natural resource – water – and might like to weigh in on what’s being considered, the window of opportunity to speak up has opened. The state’s Water Planning Council (WPC) published a draft version of the State Water Plan last week, on the council’s website (www.ct.gov/water).  They have also opened a public review period to provide Connecticut residents, businesses, and other stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback before the Plan is finalized early next year. Comments will be accepted through November 20.

The draft plan recommends a framework for managing Connecticut’s water into the future and for “achieving balance with our many human and environmental needs as climate trends emerge and new needs develop,” according to officials.  The plan addresses the quality and quantity of water for drinking, ecology, recreation, business, industry, agriculture, energy, and wastewater assimilation.

The WPC members stressed that the input of Connecticut’s citizens is crucial to the development and implementation of the plan to ensure it is fair and effective at balancing the needs of all water users while protecting a valuable resource. The council will hold public hearings on the draft plan across the state during late summer and fall, and they also plan to use technological resources to advertise and educate the public on the plan throughout this period.  Comments on the plan can be filed electronically by the public.

Among the issues included is climate change.  The draft plan states that “Climate change is likely to have a significant effect on potential flooding in Connecticut, and could also result in drier summers in the next 25 years. More work is recommended on coastal impacts, longer term effects (50 – 100 years), and basins at risk of not satisfying all future needs.”

The creation of the State Water Plan was required following the adoption of a state law, Public Act 14-163, which directed the WPC to formulate a plan that will help planners, regulators, and lawmakers make decisions about managing Connecticut’s water in a manner that is consistent throughout the state.

The WPC is comprised of four members: John W. Betkoski (Chair), Vice Chairman, Public Utilities Regulatory Authority; Garrett Eucalitto, Undersecretary, Office of Policy and Management; Betsey Wingfield, Bureau Chief, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; and Lori Mathieu, Drinking Water Section Chief, Department of Public Health.  The group’s draft plan reflects the input of various stakeholders, committee members and public participants.  There is also an advisory board for WPC.

The plan highlights five key messages:

• Plan Function: The Plan is not an answer, but a platform for consistent, informed decision making.
• Maintain Highest Quality Drinking Water: The Plan reaffirms the state’s dedication to the highest standard of drinking water quality in the nation (Class A).
• Balance: Many river basins in Connecticut cannot satisfy all instream and out-of-stream needs all the time. The Plan offers ideas for understanding and improving this balance.
• Conservation: While Connecticut leads the nation in protections of drinking water quality, the State lags in its water conservation ethic. Outreach that builds on utility initiatives is one of the most important recommendations in this Plan.
• Maintain Scientific Data: The plan advocates for the collection and use of scientific data, as well as centralized access to it.

Details of the WPC’s public outreach efforts, information on how to comment, and links to other resources will be available in the coming weeks at www.ct.gov/water. They intend to present a final document to the Governor and various legislative committees in 2018.  The WPC next meets on August 1 at 10 Franklin Square in New Britain.

Connecticut Ranked #2 Among States for Fitness Centers/Gyms

The United States has more fitness centers than any other country in the world, and Connecticut is one of the reasons why.  The state is ranked #2 in the nation, just behind Minnesota, among states with the most gyms/fitness centers, according to data compiled by the website exercise.com.  Rounding out the top 10 are Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. The states were ranked based on the most gyms using these four categories: total number of gyms, state population in 2016, people per gym, and gyms per capita (100,000 people).  Totals were based on the 14 largest gym chains in America. There were more than 36,000 health clubs in the U.S. last year, up from 29,000 a decade ago.

As of 2017, the average yearly number of U.S. gym members is around 58 million, the website points out, with an average gym membership fee of $58 a month. Interestingly, two-thirds of gym members say they don’t actually go to their gym.

According to a Gallup survey of 335,050 adults, only 51.6 percent of Americans report exercising three or more days a week for at least 30 minutes.  Connecticut has nearly 300 gyms/fitness centers.

According to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), total health club/gym/studio visits surpassed 5 billion a year ago.

Hartford Region Ranks 13th in National Fitness Ratings

The Hartford region ranks as the 13^th “fittest” metropolitan area in the nation, according to a nationwide fitness index developed by the American College of Sports Medicine.  Hartford ranked 9^th a year ago and 11^th in 2015 in the ACSM American Fitness Index, now in its tenth year. The top 10 “fittest” metropolitan areas are Minneapolis, Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, Boston, Denver, Portland, Salt Lake City and San Diego. The top seven cities in the 2017 AFI are between 4-13 percentage points ahead of the rest of the pack, principally related to lower rates of smoking and cardiovascular disease deaths and higher reported physical activity, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and per capita park expenditures in their communities.

The index publication is supported by the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation.  It is a scientific snapshot of the health and fitness status at a metropolitan level using data made up of personal health, community and environmental factors.

The United States Census Bureau defines the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as containing 54 towns of Hartford County, Tolland County, and Middlesex County. The 2015 population estimate for the MSA is 1,211,324 and is ranked as the 47th largest metropolitan area by population in the United States

Fifty regions were rated, with the Hartford MSA the only region in Connecticut.  Boston-Cambridge-Newton ranked 6^th and Providence-Warwick ranked 31^st, among the New England states.

The Hartford region’s total score has ranked among the top 12 metropolitan areas since 2009, until this year. Strengths include a high number of farmers’ markets per resident, a high percent of parkland as city land area, as well as a high number of recreational facilities per resident, including ball diamonds, golf courses, park units and recreation centers.

The region’s personal health rank was 13; its community/environmental indicators rank was 25, leading to an overall ranking of 13th.  The analysis points to “Areas of Excellence,” in the region, including:

• Lower death rate for diabetes
• Higher percentage of parkland as city land area
• More farmers’ markets per capita
• Higher Walk Score® (75% report engaging in physical activity or exercise in the last 30 days)
• More ball diamonds and basketball hoops per capita
• More recreation centers per capita
• More swimming pools per capita

Nationally, there were numerous positive shifts during the last year:

• 0% increase in the percent who met the recommendations for aerobic and strength in the last 30 days
• 5% drop in the percent with diagnosed angina or coronary heart disease
• 9% increase in walkability scores
• 9% increase in the percent who live within a 10-minute walk to a park
• 7% increase in the total park expenditures per capita
• 0% increase in the number of recreation centers per 20,000 residents

“Our ultimate goal is to offer individuals, families and communities trusted resources that can help them assess, plan and implement policies that promote positive health outcomes,” said Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FASCM, who chairs the AFI Advisory Board and is president-elect of ACSM.

The 2017 AFI report also revealed some shortcomings over the past year:

• 7% increase in the rate of diabetes deaths
• 3% reduction in the percent of residents biking or walking to work
• 2% decrease in the percent of individuals eating the recommended number of servings of fruit
• 6% reduction in the number of tennis courts per 10,000 residents

The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 50,000 international, national and regional members are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine. The Anthem Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc. and through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes the inherent commitment of Anthem, Inc. to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem, Inc. and its affiliated health plans serve, including Connecticut.

New Initiative Aims to Provide Vision Impaired Patients Access to Print News

The Connecticut Radio Information System (CRIS) continues to innovate and expand in Connecticut.  Connecticut’s only radio-reading service, which provides audio access to news and information for people who are blind or unable to read due to a print disability or medical condition, has announced a ground-breaking new service in partnership with Hartford’s Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center that will bring patients audio of the latest news, in English and Spanish. Saint Francis will be the first acute care hospital in the nation to provide an alternative to printed Spanish-language magazines and newspapers through an in-house system streamed to each patient TV with audio recordings for patients unable to read or turn pages of a magazine due to their medical condition or treatment.

It will also be the first acute care hospital in Connecticut to offer an alternative to more than 50 English-language magazines and newspapers streamed to each patient room.

Patients will be able to listen to human-narrated audio versions of newspaper and magazine articles featuring human narration – in both English and Spanish – through the hospital’s in-house television system.

CRIS is a 39-year-old nonprofit providing audio access to news and information for people who are blind or unable to read due to a print disability or medical condition / treatment, including those with physical, learning, intellectual or emotional disabilities.

 “The Connecticut Hospital Association applauds Saint Francis Hospital and CRIS Radio for its innovative collaboration, serving as another example of hospitals partnering with key service providers to enhance patient satisfaction and improve the quality of a patient’s experience while being treated at the hospital,” said Carl Schiessl, director of regulatory advocacy for the Connecticut Hospital Association.

CRIS operates with 300 volunteers at its main broadcast center in Windsor and satellite studios located in Danbury, Norwich, Trumbull and West Haven.  CRIS radio recently announced it will open its fifth regional studio in Norwalk next month, to be located inside the gatehouse at the Lockwood-Mathew’s Mansion Museum.  CRIS will share the gatehouse with the Fairfield County Cultural Alliance, which has been in that location for nearly four years.

“Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center is extremely grateful for the generosity of those who made this service possible for our patients,” said Dr. John F. Rodis, president of Saint Francis Hospital. “At Saint Francis we believe in caring for our patients in ways that help them on their journey to wellness. Whether it’s through surgical innovations or enhancements to their healing environment like the CRIS service, we are committed to providing the best patient experience possible.

Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has been an anchor institution in north central Connecticut since 1897. In 2015, Saint Francis became part of Trinity Health of New England, an integrated health care delivery system that is a member of Trinity Health, Livonia, MI, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation.

“Streaming audio versions of newspapers and magazines to each patient room at Saint Francis Hospital is an important milestone for CRIS Radio,” said Paul A. Young, chairman of the CRIS Radio Board of Directors. “It enables our nonprofit to expand access to print information for people unable to read due to their medical treatment or other print disabilities.”

Young also said he is very thankful for the generous funding that brought this project to life. Key funders of CRIS Radio’s hospital streaming project include the John G. Martin Foundation and Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation. The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving supports the nonprofit radio station’s Spanish-language programming, CRIS en Español.

In addition to broadcasting newspaper and magazine articles, CRIS also records classroom materials for teachers, and the CRISKids Audio Library offers more than 800 classroom titles, including 17 children’s magazines, also recorded by CRIS volunteers.  CRIS also streams audio versions of children’s magazines to patient rooms at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Other CRIS programs include CRIS en Español and CRISAccess, featuring Spanish-language newspapers and magazines and audible tours for museums, respectively. An initiative with the Mystic Aquarium, providing audio information about museum exhibits, was launched two years ago. Earlier this year, CRIS Radio's Voice's of World War I project was announced, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the war.

CRIS Radio broadcasts can be heard with a special CRIS radio distributed free of charge, toll-free through the CRIS Telephone Reader, online streaming live or on-demand at the CRIS Radio website, www.crisradio.org, or with a free mobile app on any mobile device, including tablets or smartphones.

UConn Researcher: E-Cigarettes as Harmful as Tobacco

Researchers at the University of Connecticut have revealed evidence that electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, may be as harmful as tobacco cigarettes. Since e-cigarettes came on the market in 2004, there has been considerable debate on their safety, as well as the potential adverse health effects on users. E-cigarettes have risen in popularity in recent years as many consider them a "safer" alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Now, a just-published study by chemists at the University of Connecticut offers new evidence that electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are potentially as harmful as tobacco cigarettes.  The contents of e-cigarettes -- known as e-liquid or e-juice -- contain propylene glycol, glycerine, nicotine and flavorings.

Using a low-cost, 3-D printed testing device, UConn researchers found that e-cigarettes loaded with a nicotine-based liquid are potentially as harmful as unfiltered cigarettes when it comes to causing DNA damage.

“Some people use e-cigarettes heavily because they think there is no harm,” said Karteek Kadimisetty, a postdoctoral researcher in UConn’s chemistry department and the study’s lead author. “We wanted to see exactly what might be happening to DNA, and we had the resources in our lab to do that.”

The researchers found that vapor from non-nicotine e-cigarettes caused as much DNA damage as filtered cigarettes, possibly due to the many chemical additives present in e-cigarette vapors. Cellular mutations caused by DNA damage can lead to cancer.

The findings appear in the journal ACS Sensors, a publication of the American Chemical Society.  ACS Sensors is a peer-reviewed research journal that is devoted to the dissemination of new and original knowledge on all aspects of sensor science that selectively sense chemical or biological species or processes.  Since publication, the research has been widely featured in the news media across the country.

How much DNA damage e-cigarettes cause depends on the amount of vapor the user inhales, the other additives present, whether nicotine or non-nicotine liquid is used, and other factors, according to Kadimisetty.

“From the results of our study, we can conclude that e-cigarettes have as much potential to cause DNA damage as unfiltered regular cigarettes,” Kadimisetty told UConn Today.

How much e-cigarettes contribute to serious health problems and whether they serve as a gateway for future tobacco smokers remains the subject of debate among scientists, legislators and the public. A year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tightened some regulations on e-cigarettes due to concerns that were raised.

Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat up liquid and turn it into an aerosol vapor that can be inhaled. Using e-cigarettes is also called ‘vaping.’ The contents of e-cigarettes, called e-liquid or e-juice, are usually made up of propylene glycol, glycerine, nicotine, and flavorings such as menthol, cherry, vanilla, or mint. Non-nicotine e-cigarettes are also available.

Joining Kadimisetty and Rusling on the study, UConn Today reported, was former UConn Ph.D. student Spundana Malla, now a scientist at Alliance Pharma in Pennsylvania. The study was supported by funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Photo: UConn postdoctoral researcher Karteek Kadimisetty. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Good News, Bad News in State Health-Related Data, Analysis Finds

Connecticut is 11^th best among states in the number of people who had no trouble finding a doctor in 2015, according to State Health Compare. The top 10 states were Minnesota, Kansas, Vermont, Utah, North Dakota, Montana, Maine, Nebraska, Hawaii and Tennessee.  That's the good news. But Connecticut is also 17^th worst among states in the percent of residents with high medical cost burdens, at 23.1 percent. Utah has the highest percentage at 27.5 percent; Maryland the lowest at 15.3 percent, among the 50 states.

According to the data, 70.7 percent of state residents had a general doctor or provider visit during the year, a lower percentage than the national average of 73 percent, and ranking the state 38th in the nation.  The data also reveal that Connecticut is 19^th lowest among states in the percent of state budget devoted to Medicaid, and 28^th lowest in state public health spending per person.

Nearly one in ten Connecticut residents (9.1 percent) spent the night in a hospital during the year, 15^th highest in the nation.

Created by SHADAC, State Health Compare is a new online comparison tool with state-level estimates across 46 measures of health and health care from six federal agency sources. SHADAC is a multidisciplinary health policy research center with a focus on state health policy, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and affiliated with the Health Policy and Management Division of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

Categories in the database include health insurance coverage, cost of care, health behaviors, outcomes, access, utilization, quality of care, public health, and social and economic factors. Metrics include costs of potentially preventable hospitalizations, percent of residents who needed but did not get care due to cost, chronic disease prevalence, weight assessment in schools, and adult cancer screening rates.

Data for most measures is available for multiple years, allowing trend analysis. Within most of the 46 measures, the tool allows visitors to dive deeper into the data by subpopulations such as by age, race/ethnicity, and education level. The tool provides a map, state rank and trend display for each metric. The data can be downloaded and exported.

The data was recently featured in CT Health Notes, a biweekly informational newsletter of the Connecticut Health Policy Project. It includes research summaries, news, event notices, policy proposals and other issues important to Connecticut’s health policy.

Motorcycle Deaths in CT Projected to Remain Steady This Year and Next

The state Department of Transportation expects 47 motorcyclists to die in traffic accidents in this year and next.  According to a Department of Transportation report for Fiscal 2017, there was a fluctuating number of motorcyclist fatalities from 2010 to 2014, with a low of 37 in 2011 and a high of 57 in 2013.  Those numbers are expected to remain constant, department projections indicate. The report said the majority of motorcycle fatal and injury crashes occurred between the hours of noon and 8 p.m. and the crashes most commonly happened on Saturdays and Sundays.  Most fatal and injury crashes occurred in the summer months, and almost all motorcycle operators involved in crashes were male.

Cited most often as contributing factors were “driver lost control,” “driving too fast for conditions,” and “road condition/object in road.” In multiple vehicle crashes where the other driver was at fault, the major contributing factor in 47 percent of these crashes was failure to grant the right-of-way, the DOT report indicated. May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

Earlier this month, a Meriden man died in a motorcycle accident and another rider was injured in East Haven, and last week a Manchester man was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash in Manchester and an East Hartford man was killed in rural Washington.  Motorcycle accidents in April in Stonington, Coventry, and Middletown injured riders.  Earlier this year, state legislators discussed a bill proposing to reinstate Connecticut's motorcycle helmet law, which was repealed four decades ago. Currently, the law only requires riders under age 18 to wear helmets. That law was approved in 1989.  For adults driving or riding as a passenger, helmets are optional, as they have been since 1976.  After the February 10 public hearing, the bill has not moved forward.

Only about 42 percent of motorcyclists in Connecticut wear helmets, according to Neil Chaudhary, PhD, leader of a Trumbull team of premier investigators on behavioral traffic safety-related issues at Preusser Research Group, Inc.  In states where helmets are required, there is near 100 percent compliance, he recently told the Newtown Bee, adding professional driver training, offered throughout the state, can help riders to develop stronger defensive driving skills.

The Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center reports the estimated loss to the state from motorcycle related injuries and death is $400 million. The group says helmet use reduced the risk of death by 37% and head injuries by 69%, FOX61 reported.

“Ultimately a motorcycle is more vulnerable because there is no protection like you have in a passenger vehicle. The only protection you have is what you put on yourself,” Dr Chaudhary told the local newspaper.

State Police set a goal in the report to train 5,000 motorcycle operators of all skill levels this year in an effort to reduce the number of deaths and injuries by reducing “operator error.”  The effort includes adopting a newly updated curriculum developed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation for Department of Transportation's Connecticut Rider Education Program (CONREP). This new curriculum, according to the report, “will have a larger focus on rider responsibility and risk awareness.”  In addition, there will be a targeted media campaign, including promoting helmet use by all riders (not just those young riders currently covered under existing law), and “including motorcyclists in the planned emphasis on reducing impaired driving.”  The CONREP website, ride4ever.org provides updated information on education programs. 

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that about 5,000 motorcycle operators and hundreds of motorcycle passengers lose their lives in accidents each year in the United States. These numbers account for about 13 percent of total traffic fatalities, even though motorcycles account for just three percent of all registered vehicles, the Newtown Bee reported.  In addition to the fatalities, about 100,000 operators and passengers are injured each year.

Immigration Is Key to Connecticut's Economic Strength, Report Shows

By 2014, Connecticut was home to almost half a million people who were born abroad.  In Connecticut, like the country as a whole, immigrants are currently punching far above their weight class as entrepreneurs, according to a report issued last year highlighting the impact of immigrants in the state. Foreign-born workers make up 21.3 percent of all entrepreneurs in the state, despite accounting for 13.7 percent of Connecticut’s population. Their firms generated $1.1 billion in business income in 2014, according to the report.

The report, “The Contributions of New Americans in Connecticut,” was prepared by the Partnership for a New American Economy, an organization that “brings together more than 500 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors and business leaders who support sensible immigration reforms that will help create jobs for Americans.”

Immigrants are nothing new in Connecticut.  Even the Land of Steady Habits keeps changing.  In 1990, the state was already home to more than 279,000 immigrants, a group that made up 8.5 percent of Connecticut’s population overall. By 2010, the number of immigrants in this small state had grown to almost 473,000 people. By 2014, Connecticut was home to almost half a million people who were born abroad.

The report research also found:

• Of the 18 Fortune 500 firms based in the state, 50 percent have at least one founder who was an immigrant or the child of an immigrant. For the country as a whole, the equivalent figure is 41.4 percent.
• In Connecticut immigrants held $13.8 billion in spending power in 2014, defined in this brief as the net income available to a family after paying federal, state, and local taxes.
• In Connecticut 69.8 percent of the foreign-born population is working aged, defined in the report as between the ages 25 and 64, while only 50.8 percent of the native-born population is. That 19 percentage point gap has major implications for the state’s workforce.
• Foreign-born residents makeup more than one in three employees in the state’s computer systems design and related services industry. They also account for 32.2 percent of the state’s workers in medical equipment and supplies, contributing to Connecticut’s sizeable medical devices and supplies manufacturing industry, which generated more than $2.1 billion in sales in 2012.
• Despite making up 13.7 percent of the state’s population, foreign-born Connecticut residents made up 23.8 percent of STEM workers in the state in 2014.

Research for the report also found that in 2016 nearly one in three physicians in Connecticut graduated from a foreign medical school, “a likely sign they were born elsewhere.”  Only six other U.S. states had a higher share of foreign-educated physicians. Immigrant healthcare practitioners also made up 15.3 percent of the state’s nurses in 2014, as well as 29.5 percent of those working as nursing, psychiatric, or home health aides. Both those figures were higher than the national average.

Five Connecticuts: Disparities Persist, Continue to Adversely Impact State's Children

Connecticut is among the wealthiest states in the country, and aggregated statewide economic, health, and education indicators suggest that children and families fare better here than in much of the United States. According to a new report developed by the Connecticut Association of Human Services, the reality on the ground is not what it appears to be. “Race Equity in the Five Connecticuts:  A Kids Count Special Report,” found that Blacks’ and Hispanics’ poverty rates are lower in Connecticut than nationally, and Blacks’ median incomes are higher. However, “as we have seen when looking within communities, historic patterns of inequality observed nationally do indeed persist here.”

The report indicates that as is the case nationally, Blacks and Hispanics in Connecticut are “disproportionately impoverished, and have the highest rates of negative outcomes for most of our indicators. Merely being a resident of one of the most affluent states in the U.S. is not a sufficient buffer against the intransigent inequality that affects our children and families along racial and ethnic lines,” the report explains.

"Not all children in our wealthy state are doing well," summed up Jim Horan, Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Association of Human Services, in releasing the report at a State Capitol complex conference. "All children, regardless of the color of their skin or their zip code, should have the opportunity to succeed. Connecticut can do much more to provide opportunity for all and address the huge inequities we see today, so that all children will prosper and contribute to and share in Connecticut’s growth," he said in the report's Foreword.

“Five Connecticut’s” refers to a breakdown developed by the Connecticut Data Center based upon each town’s median income, population density, and population below 100% of the poverty threshold (Levy, et al, 2004).

• Wealthy Connecticut towns have “exceptionally high-income, low poverty, and moderate population density.”
• Suburban towns have “above average income, low poverty, and moderate population density.”
• Rural towns are those with “average income, below average poverty, and the lowest population density.”
• Urban Periphery towns are marked by “below average income, average poverty, and high population density.”
• Urban Core towns have “the lowest income, highest poverty, and the highest population density.”

The report used data from communities representing each of the five Connecticuts:  Wealthy (New Canaan, W3ilton, Weston, Easton, Fairfield); Urban Periphery (East Hartford and Manchester); Urban core (Hartford); Suburban (Branford, East haven, North Branford, Guilford and Madison); and Rural (Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Chaplin, Eastford, Hampton, Killingly, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Scotland, Sterling, Thompson, Woodstock, and Windham).

“Blacks are more segregated in Connecticut than in Arkansas and Hispanics are more segregated than in Texas,” pointed out Orlando Rodriquez, research associate at the UConn Health Disparities Institute, speaking at a forum on the report at the Legislative Office Building, noting that Connecticut is among the nation’s most segregated states.

Demographically, Connecticut, like the nation, is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. It is estimated that by 2055, America will not have a single racial or ethnic majority.  From 2000 to 2015, as the total population grew by 5%, Connecticut’s Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations combined grew by 42.3%. In 2000, Connecticut’s population was 22.5% Non-White; in 2015, it was 30.8%.

The research also found that “place can correlate somewhat with the degree of the differences observed across these indicators, with outcomes either ameliorated or exacerbated depending on one’s ‘Connecticut’ of residence.”

The general trend, the analysis indicated, “is that White and Asian children and families experience positive outcomes, while their Hispanic and Black counterparts are almost invariably worse off. Even in those areas where Hispanic and Black households have relatively higher median incomes, they often still have worse outcomes than White and Asian households for many non-economic indicators.”

“Place remains tightly intertwined with opportunity, compounding the effects we observe along racial lines,” the report indicated.

“While more affluent suburban towns offer safer neighborhoods and greater social and economic opportunity to residents,67 these neighborhoods and towns tend to have less affordable housing and perhaps less economic opportunity for employees of limited credentials. Finances tie less affluent families to areas of low opportunity, contributing to a cycle of poor outcomes.”

Officials said the report is intended to be the beginning of a “more nuanced and continuous conversation about the role of place in social and economic equity in the State of Connecticut,” to assist in the development of “policies that work earnestly to close the racial and ethnic gaps among our families and children.”

In 2000, Connecticut’s population totaled 3,405,565, with 2,638,845 non-Hispanic Whites, 309,843 Blacks, 320,323 Hispanics, 9,639 Native Americans, and 82,313 Asians. In 2015, the estimated total population was 3,593,222, with 2,478,119 non-Hispanic Whites, 346,206 non-Hispanic Blacks, 526,508 Hispanics, 8,908 Native Americans of any ethnicity, and 149,368 non-Hispanic Asians.

Minorities, Children with Autism at Greater Risk of Drowning; Legislative Response Launched

“I understand all too well the dangers that water can represent,” said Karen Cohn, founder of the Zac Foundation, pointing out that drowning is the second leading cause of death for children under age 14.  “Many of these deaths could have been prevented.” Cohn’s 6-year-old son drowned in 2007 after his arm became stuck in the suction of the drain in their backyard pool.  Although he was a strong swimmer, “swimming skills are not enough to combat an entrapment,” she said.  The foundation named for her son is dedicated to educating parents about water safety, which goes beyond swimming skills.  The ZAC Foundation held its first water safety awareness camp, called ZAC Camp in Greenwich in April 2011. “We can save lives,” Cohn stressed.

Cohn was among advocates and legislators who held a State Capitol news conference to announce the creation of a legislative task force to bring awareness to the issue of childhood drownings.  Steven Hernández,, Executive Director of the Commission on Women, Children and Seniors, said the goal of the effort was “to prevent tragedies like these,” adding that “we need a multi-pronged response to a multi-pronged problem.”

The initiative was launched during National Water Safety Month, held each year in May, driven by statistics including:

• Almost 800 children die the U.S. every year from accidental drowning;
• 54% of these deaths are among children ages 0-4;
• African-American and Latino children are more than twice as likely to die from drowning, compared to Caucasian children; and
• According to the National Autism Association, accidental drowning led to 90% of the deaths of children with autism ages 14 and younger.

The statistics about children’s drowning deaths have not changed over time, implying that current strategies for prevention are not enough, officials said. Increasing children’s access to swim lessons, encouraging schools to teach water safety skills to students and giving parents easy-to-use and engaging tools to talk to their children about how to be safe around water are just a few actions that can have a big effect in reducing drowning rates, officials stressed.

An issue brief on the subject, prepared by Jennifer L. Masone of the Institute for Educational Leaders, and Principal, Wolfpit Elementary School in Norwalk, indicated that “from 2004-2014, 62 children from birth to 19 died from unintentional drowning. Of those, 35% were white and 34% were minority while the general population averaged 75% white and 25% minority. These data do not include children who experienced other short or long term effects.

The State Department of Public Health corroborates this information with its summation that for 2000-2004, “The Non-Hispanic Black population experienced a drowning rate twice that of the Non-Hispanic White population, and 33% higher than the Hispanic population.”

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said the issue needs to be “seen as a community solution through education.”   He said “this is an issue we can solve,” saluting the effort to bring interested parties together to work collectively.

In addition to establishing the task force, proponents of the initiative highlighted their support for HB 6260, which would require police officers to be trained to handle incidents involving juveniles with autism.  The measure has passed the House and is awaiting Senate action. Rep. Liz Linehan, who introduced that bill, said, “Children with autism are at an increased risk of drowning because they have a tendency to wander away from adult supervision and to seek out bodies of water.”

Rep. Cathy Abercrombie said “accidental drownings in Connecticut are a serious problem that deserves our full attention and one thing we can stress is the need for more education for parents and people overseeing children, especially now as we approach summer.”

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