PERSPECTIVE: For Families of Special Needs Children, Thoughtful Financial Planning Can Provide A Roadmap

by Valerie Dugan The anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, on July 26, reminds us of the unique challenges families of children with special needs routinely face. One particular source of stress is financial: how will the special needs child be cared for in the event one or both parents pass away?

Wise investment and planning for the future is not only critical, but it also is much more complicated than for other families. Yet, planning carefully for future events can help alleviate some of the anxiety that parents of special needs children may feel. Planning for the care of their child can bring comfort.

Keeping in mind the goal – that is, to create an integrated financial and life strategy that allows the special needs child to maintain a sense of security, dignity and autonomy – here are some guidelines to consider:

1. Government benefits. Remember there are public benefits such as disability benefits, Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. These government benefits may be available to provide food, shelter, health care and other living expenses for special needs children.

2. Limited Conservatorship. Established at age 18, a limited conservatorship can help protect the child from possible fraud and embezzlement. A trusted, qualified individual serves as a watchdog of sorts.

3. Special Needs Trust. This could be used to fund a child’s specific needs, including special therapies and interventions, educational programs, caregivers, equipment, and so on.  A Special Needs Trust could help ensure that the child remains eligible for government benefits, both federal and state. Protected from creditors and litigation, its assets can be managed in a variety of ways; like any trust, it can be funded with stock, real estate, or other assets, but typically is most easily managed with cash and liquid assets. Another instrument to fund the trust is life insurance. Your estate attorney can set up a trust.

4. Life Insurance. Life insurance policies can be transferred to a Special Needs Trust that designates the Trust as owner of the policy; thus, the death benefit of the policy is removed from the parents’ estate. Clearly, there are numerous details that need to be considered; hence an experienced life insurance broker and estate attorney should be involved.

5. Succession Plan. This can be included in the Special Needs Trust for any assets remaining after the death of the special needs child.

6. Letter of Intent. This can help clarify the parents’ wishes for their child’s future care and living arrangements. It can outline such details as the child’s preferences for everything from food to environment.  It is the vehicle through which parents can express wishes for caring for their child and can pass on their legacy. A Letter of Intent is usually not legally binding, but it can guide conservators or other types of guardians.

7. Independent Trustee. An Independent Trustee or Licensed Professional Fiduciary can be retained to ensure that the provisions of any trust are carried out as intended. This person can also provide assistance with tax returns, court filings, trust distributions and other budgeting issues.

8. Gifts and bequests. Many people assume that a direct gift or bequest to their child is sufficient. While it may be straightforward, a special needs child may be incapable of managing the gifted assets. Such a gift, because of income limitations, could also render the child ineligible for government benefits.

Approached thoughtfully and comprehensively, financial planning for special needs children can provide for a lifetime of care. Knowing that their wishes and best intentions will be carried out may assuage some of the anxiety that many parents face.

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Valerie B. Dugan, CFP, is a Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor with the Global Wealth Management Division of Morgan Stanley in Hartford. For more information, contact Valerie at 860-275-0779.

PERSPECTIVE commentaries by contributing writers appear each Sunday on Connecticut by the Numbers.

Pay to Play Worsens Widening Economic Gap Evident in America's Schools, Putnam Says in Hartford

The growing number of public schools that require students to pay a fee to participate in after school activities, such as sports or music, is exacerbating the economic class disparities in America’s schools, and diminishing opportunities for students from families of limited financial means. “Play to play must end,” said social scientist Robert Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard University, and author of the best-selling book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, appearing in Hartford in a special event sponsored by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

Putnam, who rose to cultural prominence in 2000 with his book “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community,” mixed riveting stories of the vastly different life experiences of the nation’s children, depending upon the financial wherewithal of their parents, and the dangers to every aspect of society - rich and poor - of permitting the growing disparities to continue unchecked.

According to his data, 86 percent of students from the highest-income families participate in extracurricular activities — slightly higher than during the 1970s — but participation among the lowest-income families is down about 15 percentage points, to 65 percent.

“No one talked (50 years ago) about soft skills, but voters and school administrators understood that football, chorus, and the debate club taught valuable lessons that should be open to all kids, regardless of their family background,” Putnam writes in the book.

Pay to play policies have been evident in Connecticut, as elsewhere across the country, for some time, as reflected in data compiled by the state Office of Legislative Research (OLR) in 2012.  The OLR report included information from 116 school districts. Of these, “44 charged a participation fee for high school athletics. The fees range from $25 per sport to $1,450 for ice hockey. Twenty nine school districts include a maximum amount that a student, family, or both can be charged during a single school year. Schools without a cap are generally those that charge the lowest fees.”

Following that report, legislation that would have prohibited local and regional boards of education from charging any student activity fees to students who are unable to pay such fees was considered in 2013 but not approved by the state legislature.

Last month, education officials in Norwalk proposed requiring student athletes to pay $100 each to participate athletic programs. Published reports indicated that students who participate in high school musicals in the city pay about $200 as a participation fee.

Putnam noted that although many school districts that charge such fees provide for waivers for financial need, those tend not to be used because students would rather drop a sport than be stigmatized as  poor and needy.  And he emphasized that dropping out of participation in after school activities worsens development and lessens chances to break away from a life of diminished opportunities.  The absence of such extra-curricular participation adversely impacts both future circumstances and physiological developmental, Putnam said.

The OLR data indicated that in Trumbull, for example, a family could pay as much as $750 (or $900 including hockey) for students’ participation in sports; in South Windsor the payment was capped at $500 per family, or $800 including hockey.  In Region 10, which includes the towns of Burlington and Harwinton, there was a maximum of $450 per family for participation in sports.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Handbook for 2016-17 includes reference to the organization’s “strong opposition to the local board of education policies which establish a fee system for students who wish to participate in co-curricular or extra-curricular activities, athletic and/or non-athletic.”

Among the organizational policy positions included in the handbook, the Administrators of Health and Physical Education “feel a direct assessment on the individual families of athletes is contrary to the educational philosophy so deeply rooted in our nation, and is wrong because it places an undue tax on selected members of the community.”

“Athletics as an extra-curricular activity is unique in that it provides a possible predictor of student success in later life; and affords adolescent boys and girls an opportunity to establish a physical and social identity along with the intellectual identity they develop while in the classroom,” the Administrators of Health and Physical Education policy statement says.

The handbook section on “pay to play” continues, indicating that “In support of that notion is a pair of studies conducted by the American Testing Service and College Entrance Examining Board. The former completed a study comparing four factors thought to be possible predictors of student success: achievement in extracurricular activities, high grades in high school, and high grades in college as well as high scores on the SAT. It was found that the only factor which could be validly used to predict success in later life was achievement in extra-curricular activities.”

Adds the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents: “Free public education includes the student’s right to participate in activities offered by a school district. The student should not be denied participation because of lack of funds or the refusal to pay a fee.”

Putnam, speaking at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts to a nearly filled Belding Theater audience, recalled attending Yale University in Connecticut, and speaking in Hartford 16 years ago, when Bowling Alone was published.  He stressed that there are fewer mixed-income neighborhoods than there were 50 years ago, and as a result children are less likely to go to school with people of a different social class.  

The top third of US society – whether defined by education or income – are investing more in family life, community networks and civic activities than their parents, while the bottom third are in retreat, as families fracture and both adults and children disengage from mainstream society, he pointed out. That is evident in a range of statistics,  he said, proceeding to share a series of graphs and charts that underscored his thesis.

Putnam identified causes of the widening opportunity gap for the current generation of young people as the collapse of the working class family, a substantial increase in single-parent homes among the poor, economic insecurity among growing cadre of working class people, and a cultural change of people no longer looking out for other people’s kids in a way that happened in the past.  The definition of “our kids,” he said, has narrowed for a community’s children, to the biological children of individual families.

This gap amounts, Putnam emphasizes, is a “crisis” for the American dream of equal opportunity. Advantages pile up for the kids born to the right parents, all but guaranteeing their own success in life – in stark contrast to the fates of those struggling at the bottom.

Among the statistics of concern raised by Putnam: affluent children with low high-school test scores are as likely to get a college degree (30%) as high-scoring kids from poor families (29%).  And he called for a focus less on the costs of community college and more on helping students unfamiliar with the bureaucracy and processes of college work their way through it.  “We need navigators to help these students navigate the process,” he said, making a comparison to health care, where newly diagnosed cancer patients, unfamiliar with the world they have just entered, increasingly have “health care navigators” assigned to them as guides to deal with the uncertainty they face.

Despite the preponderance of evidence showing stark disparities, Putnam says he is optimistic that the trends can be reversed.  “American did it once before, after the turn of the last century,” he explains, and can do so again.  He suggests that the remedy will more likely be driven from the grassroots, in individual communities, than from policies adopted by the federal government.

“We Are Danbury” Media Campaign Launches Drive for Businesses, Residents

Labelled “confidential and proprietary,” the city of Danbury’s “Playbook” for becoming a “City of the Future” is posted on the official website for all to see. That playbook came to mind with the announcement earlier this month that CityCenter Danbury would be launching a media campaign this month to promote the city’s downtown.

The campaign will initially include two 15-second videos and photos posted to various well-travelled websites. Among those featured in the video are Mayor Mark Boughton, the Danbury Titans hockey team, the Palace Danbury, Connecticut Institute for Community and Western Connecticut State University, according to published reports.    Additional videos featuring other businesses are to be featured later, as the campaign continues.

CityCenter Danbury is a partnership promoting Downtown Danbury, bringing together property owners, sponsors, businesses, non-profits, cultural arts, and volunteers.

“This campaign is to proactively go out and approach businesses to let them know downtown Danbury is the place to be,” P.J. Prunty, executive director of CityCenter Danbury, told the News-Times. “It’s the first time we’ve embarked on a specific campaign like this. We want to get businesses to plant their flag in downtown.”

According to Business Insider earlier this year, population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that Danbury grew more than any city in Connecticut from July 1, 2014 through July 1, 2015 going from 83,891 to 84,657, is a .9% population increase. That outpaced Stamford, Milford, Norwalk and New Haven, Connecticut’s five fastest growing cities.

Prunty said the campaign will specifically target lower Fairfield County and Westchester County, N.Y., to try to lure companies from those areas to downtown Danbury where the rents, city services, cost of living and taxes are lower, the News-Times reported. A targeted campaign on social media will emphasize the housing as well as business options downtown. 

The campaign initiative will include brochures targeting young professionals and entrepreneurs, in an effort to increase their presence – living and working – in the city.  “We’re trying to convey that now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. We’re focusing on business recruitment,” Prunty said.

Some would suggest the effort is an outgrowth from the city’s Playbook, which states its intent to “help the City get started with practical and tangible strategic moves, or “plays,” that the City can begin implementing. Six themes were highlighted in the 17-page guide, completed last year:  governance, transformation of education, innovative service delivery, transparency, sustainability, and re-imagined quality of life.

The playbook, which focuses on changes to the way in which city government does business, also notes that “to be the City of the Future, we must become rich in spirit and culture, everready to overcome all challenges and realize all opportunities facing the 21^st century city.”  The report, prepared by the Connecticut-based consulting firm BlumShapiro, goes on to state that “by going above and beyond, Danbury is the creative and cultural center in the region.”

The playbook is included on the website of the city’s Office of Project Excellence, formed a year ago and led by Stephen Nocera, who previously was chief administrative officer in Stratford. The Office’s most recent Steering Committee meeting, in February (according to minutes posted on the city’s website) included items such as a new communications website, restaurant week and streetlight purchases.

As a member of the National Historic Preservation and the Connecticut Main Street Center, CityCenter follows the four principles of design, organization, promotion and economic restructuring. “We strive to accelerate the renewal of the city’s urban core, with quality of life as the underlying theme: building a lasting constituency for downtown; supporting investors, retailers and tenants while retaining those already downtown and making downtown clean, safe and attractive,” the organization’s website points out.

Danbury is certainly not alone among Connecticut communities – large and small – that are stepping up efforts to attract residents and businesses.

Neighboring New Milford announced plans last year to fund a branding and marketing effort with grant funds, spurred by local businesses seeking to draw more people to their downtown area. Local officials stressed that New Milford has the longest green of any town in Connecticut, along with historic architecture and an eclectic mix of shops and artistic offerings.  The grant was issued through the Connecticut Main Street Center.

In lower Fairfield County, the city of Norwalk launched a rebranding initiative earlier this year.  Using the new slogan “The Sound of Connecticut,” the campaign, according to Mayor Harry Rilling “was necessary to help reposition Norwalk. Our visual brand and identity system will become a recognized symbol of Norwalk’s progressive and connected vibe. We understand and live the brand’s values, goals and promises on a daily basis.” The Mayor added that “our brand strategy will influence and shape the way the community and others think, feel and respond to the City of Norwalk.”

Home Grown Start-Up Business Aims to Help CT Grow

“Simply redeveloping economic development.”  That’s how the leadership of Help Grow CT, a fledgling business dedicated to helping other start-up entrepreneurial enterprises, describe their endeavor.  As a playful video summarizes the serious intent driving the effort, “Several years ago, a group of entrepreneurs utterly frustrated with the bad press their beloved state was receiving, just couldn’t accept Connecticut as being one of the worst places to do business in the country.” Christopher Sacchinelli and a handful of colleagues quietly began the venture a few years ago, having spent some time at a Norwalk accelerator program and with a track-record in business start-ups.  They tweaked and revised their business model and platforms, traveling and researching economic development strategies that have been successful elsewhere, and why. About 50 businesses signed on, and helped refine the effort. 

Six months ago they began a public push to grow the business and this month a new member platform is being launched. The immediate goal is 3,000 small business owners, about one percent of businesses in Connecticut.  The company is about one-third of the way there.

“We knew that there had to be a way we could catalyze change via our own actions,” Sacchinelli said, recalling the drive to start Help Grow CT. “The goal is to help and empower Connecticut businesses.  To make it cheaper and easier to grow a business.”

In surveying the new business landscape, it became clear to Sacchinelli that “the problem that most small business owners were experiencing was high costs, not enough time and low profits.”   What they did as a result was develop a business that provides opportunities for new businesses to band together to succeed as individual enterprises, and by doing so, “help grow CT.”  It is an endeavor that aims to bring other businesses together as a group to drive economies of scale, reduce costs, increase efficiencies and grow profits.  And in doing so, boost Connecticut’s economy and turn around the state’s less-than-stellar reputation.

“The number one business killer is lack of action.  We focus on solutions,” said Sacchinelli, a Trumbull resident and lifelong entrepreneur born and raised in Norwalk who turned 27 this month.  “Connecticut is my community.  I’m vested in Connecticut.”  A previous venture landed him on the cover of the Fairfield County Business Journal in 2013, soon after graduating college. He has authored a book to encourage young entrepreneurs like himself, and has endeavored to use his expertise to encourage and guide businesses and potential business owners in his home state.

Through Help Grow CT, member companies are able to save up to 30 percent on dozens of exclusives partners, apps and platforms, and participating businesses are said to achieve, on average, 9 percent annual growth.  Individuals, called Growth Analysts, work with businesses to navigate through their specific business needs.

By offering savings on back room operations, such as bookkeeping, Help Grow CT not only allows business start-ups to focus more on their business product or service and less on the paperwork, without sacrificing the important detail that can lead a new enterprise to sink or swim.  They point out that businesses with healthy ledgers are 76 percent more likely to succeed over a 5 year period.

“HelpGrowCT has helped small business owners identify areas in their business where they can cut costs, invest in inefficiencies and grow their profitability,” the company’s website points out, offering support in branding, social marketing, and growth strategy development, responding to what is often new business owners “feeling overwhelmed” as they navigate all that is necessary to propel a new endeavor forward.  “We work with the nitty gritty that can hold a business back,” adds Sacchinelli.

Thus far, the initiative has been self-funded.  As members, who will pay monthly fees for the service, are added, Sacchinelli hopes the venture will be self-sustaining, and ultimately, profitable.  The number of members will largely determine that.  He is also cognizant of the potential social impact of the venture, and aims for it to be a “sustainable, evergreen accelerator program,” that will also deliver value to existing businesses.

In addition to the resources provided directly by Help CT Grow to member businesses, “we can listen to problems and crowd source solutions,” Sacchinelli explains, bringing the power of the network of members to bear on individual business challenges.  “The vast majority of small businesses have some of the same problems.  Together, we can guide a business toward the solution.”  He was encouraged recently by the positive feedback (and new members) from among attendees at the Connecticut Business Expo in Hartford, where he raised the profile of HelpGrowCT with the first visible foray into central Connecticut.

HelpGrowCT is also interested in the opinions of Connecticut's business community as their own business evolves.  A companion website, www.helpgrowct.org, includes a brief online survey for start-ups, business owners, investors, residents and students, aimed at propelling the venture and giving voice to the state's growing entrepreneurial community.   And HelpGrowCT continues to seek talent as it grows, actively seeking "energetic, self-driven community leaders who share our passion" and can apply their skills in journalism, event planning, advisory services, or community advocacy," according to the website.

Never too far from the surface is the drive to turn around Connecticut’s reputation as inhospitable to new businesses.  Says Sacchinelli, “After reading article after article about how Connecticut is a poor place to do business, we’re trying to build something that matters.”

https://youtu.be/tPIrcx3oEz8

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Early Childhood Education Earns Strong Support in Both Political Parties, Poll Finds

As the national political conventions get underway, advocates of early childhood education are pointing to the results of a new national poll to underscore widespread support that transcends political party. In the midst of a polarizing election cycle, 90 percent of voters – including 78 percent of Trump supporters and 97 percent of Clinton supporters – agree that Congress and the next president must make quality early childhood education more accessible and affordable to low- and middle-income families, according to the national survey.

The survey, conducted for the advocacy organization First Five Years, found that by a three-to-one margin, voters prefer the next president be someone who focuses on solutions to the country’s problems, and they’ve identified investment in early childhood education as an important solution.

Key voter groups want the federal government to help states and local communities improve access to quality early childhood education – incuding 85 percent of Hispanics, 79 percent of suburban women, 65 percent of moderate/liberal Republicans, and 58 percent of Republican women, according to the poll released by First Five Years Fund (FFYF).

“Early childhood education isn’t a partisan issue, and the poll demonstrates that Americans of all political stripes are united in their demands to make quality early childhood education more accessible and affordable,” said Kris Perry, Executive Director of the First Five Years Fund. “Candidates looking to connect with voters should be hearing loud and clear that Americans see a need for quality early learning, ranking it a top priority alongside education broadly and good-paying jobs.”

At Connecticut Voices for Children, a highly regarded research and advocacy organization in Connecticut, officials agreed that “early childhood is an issue where Democrats and Republicans can find common ground, where all candidates must devote time and attention, and ultimately where they should invest in the health and well-being of young children, families and the economy.”

In the national poll, over two-thirds of respondents believe children do not start kindergarten with the knowledge and skills they need, driven in part by a lack of affordable and successful early childhood education programs. Americans also want to rethink our education priorities, with the majority calling for more or equal investment in early education over college.

The poll also found that voters want America’s leaders to prioritize early education: 72 percent say that ages one to five are the most important for learning. In addition, a majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents want to invest in multiple education opportunities, including home visiting, early learning programs, and preschool services.

The poll was commissioned by the First Five Years Fund in conjunction with a bipartisan polling team of Public Opinion Strategies (R) and Hart Research (D). The sample was distributed proportionately throughout the country and is demographically representative of the electorate. 

According to First Five Years, “Early childhood education for low-income children is one of the best ways to promote upward mobility that pays off for individuals and society. Every child needs effective early childhood education and development from birth to age five; research shows that low-income children are the least likely to get it. Those who experience quality early care and learning have better education, health, social and economic outcomes in life-increasing their productivity and reducing the need for spending later on.”

Connecticut Voices for Children Executive Director Ellen Shemitz said the poll results indicate that there are potentially great rewards for leaders to work on this issue, and not many penalties.  In addition, the results show the public’s willingness to devote money to this issue, and that people are looking to their elected leaders to make these investments, Shemitz pointed out.

Regarding Connecticut’s efforts to encourage and support early childhood education, officials at Connecticut Voices point out that “while we do invest in early childhood care and education more than many states, there is room for improvement to ensure both program quality and program access for children and families who need high-quality programming.”

The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, established in 2014, recently urged public schools to focus on the attendance of kindergarten students, citing the importance of early childhood education for later academic success.

The Office’s website indicated that “study after study confirms the value of high-quality early childhood education for developing the cognitive, social and emotional skills that children need to succeed in kindergarten. But unless children attend these programs on a regular basis, they are not likely to benefit fully.”

The site pointed out that “unless we pay attention to attendance even among young children, we are missing the opportunity to use early educational experiences to build an essential skill: showing up on time, every day to school. A growing body of research and practitioner experience shows that paying attention to attendance for our youngest children is essential.

According to the Early Childhood website, “studies have found that children who are chronically absent in preschool are five times more likely to miss more days of kindergarten. For the 2014-15 school year, 12 percent of CT’s kindergarteners were chronically absent, that is almost 550 kindergarteners who were regularly not in school. Additionally, children who are chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are likely to have poor attendance 5 years later.”

Last month, Connecticut Early Childhood Commissioner Dr. Myra Jones-Taylor testified before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, urging Congress to allocate additional federal dollars to states for implementing key policy changes, first approved in 2014, to child care programs.

The Commissioner testified that the focus on quality, continuity of care, and basic health and safety are long overdue – and that focus should be celebrated. She pointed out, however, that the challenge for Connecticut and many other states is that the changes significantly increase the annual cost of care per child.

LED Street Lights Being Installed in CT Towns Even As Health Concerns Are Raised

The American Medical Association’s new policy stand “against light pollution and public awareness of the adverse health and environmental effects of pervasive nighttime lighting,” comes as municipalities across Connecticut and the nation are replacing longstanding lighting systems with LED lights in an effort to save money and improve safety.  The AMA however, is warning that the rapid pace of change could bring long-term detrimental health and safety effects. The AMA has noted that “it is estimated that white LED lamps have five times greater impact on circadian sleep rhythms than conventional street lamps. Recent large surveys found that brighter residential nighttime lighting is associated with reduced sleep times, dissatisfaction with sleep quality, excessive sleepiness, impaired daytime functioning and obesity.”

The organization noted earlier this month that “approximately 10 percent of existing U.S. street lighting has been converted to solid state LED technology, with efforts underway to accelerate this conversion.” The AMA’s Report of the Council on Science and Public Health on “Human and Environmental Effects of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Community Lighting” cautioned that “white LED street lighting patterns also could contribute to the risk of chronic disease in the populations of cities in which they have been installed. Measurements at street level from white LED street lamps are needed to more accurately assess the potential circadian impact of evening/nighttime exposure to these lights.

The AMA recommendations were developed to “assist in advising communities on selecting among LED lighting options in order to minimize potentially harmful human health and environmental effects”:

• an intensity threshold for optimal LED lighting that minimizes blue-rich light
• all LED lighting should be properly shielded to minimize glare and detrimental human health and environmental effects,
• consideration should be given to utilize the ability of LED lighting to be dimmed for off-peak time periods.

The concerns are not new, but they are receiving greater attention in the wake of the AMA’s formal community guidance and policy position, adopted at the organization’s annual conference in Chicago in mid-June.

Communities in Connecticut that have taken steps to switch to LED lighting include New London, Berlin, Plainville, East Hartford, Rocky Hill, Stamford, Southington, and Cheshire, according to published reports.  An article authored by UConn professor of Community Medicine and Health Care Richard G. Stevens, highlights red flags being raised by the AMA regarding the safety of LED lighting being installed in cities around the country.  The article first appeared on an international website, theconversation.com, and has since appeared on sites including CNN.  Stevens, an expert on the health impact of electric lighting, has raised concerns for more than a decade.

The Illuminating Engineering Society, founded in 1906 and based in New York, noted in a position statement that “exposure to optical radiation affects human physiology and behavior, both directly (acute effects including melatonin suppression, elevated cortisol production, increased core temperature) and indirectly (resetting the internal circadian body clock). There is no confirmation that typical exposures to exterior lighting after sunset lead to cancer or other life‐threatening conditions.” The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) is described as “the recognized technical authority on illumination.” The IES website indicates that the organization was “not represented in the deliberations leading to [the AMA document]. We intend to contact the AMA and work with them to ensure that any lighting related recommendations include some discussion with the IES.”

ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, has published a report entitled (in English): " Lighting systems using light-emitting diodes: health issues to be considered," which focuses squarely on potential problems caused by LED lighting.  The LEDs Magazine website indicates that the full report is available in French only, but the report summary (in English) says that risks have been identified concerning the use of certain LED lamps, raising potential health concerns for the general population and professionals.

"The issues of most concern identified by the Agency concern the eye due to the toxic effect of blue light and the risk of glare," says the report, adding that the blue light necessary to obtain white LEDs causes "toxic stress" to the retina.

Back in 2011, a comprehensive report by Carnegie Mellon University’s Remaking Cities Institute (RCI) on the city of Pittsburgh’s transition to LED street lighting indicated that “Glare is an issue with LED street lighting. The RCI research team’s literature review and interviews with manufacturers and municipal agencies in cities with LED replacement projects indicate that the emphasis is being placed almost entirely on energy savings, to the exclusion of visual quality issues. The substantial glare caused by LEDs is not typically included as a measurable criteria in evaluation processes, and when it is, the tools of measurement are inadequate. As a result, glare persists as an issue.”

That report also noted that “the public is informed that LEDs save energy told that they are better in quality (often false) and that more accurate in color (often false).” In addition, the 113-page report indicated that “While the use of bright lights is believed to reduce accidents, it actually creates dangerous conditions for drivers, especially when night vision is affected by sharp differences in illumination. Bright lights are particularly hazardous for older persons because the human eye’s accommodation reflex slows with age.”

Regarding health concerns that have been raised, the report indicates that “Bright white light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that regulates tumors. Blue light wavelengths are to blame, because they ‘reset’ the circadian clocks of humans, animals, and plants even at very low levels of blue light. This might account for the significantly higher rates (30-60%) of breast and colorectal cancer in night shift workers.”

Some have compared the growing controversy regarding LED lighting to the ongoing debate in towns around the country regarding the use of crumb rubber from recycled tires as fill for sports turf fields.  Federal, state, and municipal governments have weighed in on the discussion, but even as health concerns continue to be raised, fields using the materials continue to be installed and used by youth in Connecticut and across the country.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently launched a research project aimed at providing better answers on that safety question.

PERSPECTIVE: The Midnight Art of Pavement Markings

by Jennifer Paquin The long and short of line painting is – the world needs it! It keeps chaos at bay. Imagine going to a mall that does not have pavement markings, especially during the holiday season. Pavement markings help prevent accidents and, at the scene of an accident, are often used to determine fault. The markings are for your safety: they protect you and, most importantly, they guide you to where you want to go.

If you’ve ever traveled on a newly paved road or parking area before the markings have been painted, you quickly realize how dangerous life would be without them.

While you are sleeping somewhere soft and warm – workers in this profession are painting lines on parking lot pavement that will tell you where to park, turn, and stop when you pull into school, or a store, or the dentist’s office, tomorrow morning.

This is the world of highway and pavement “marking,” also known as line painting or line striping. It is one of the few services performed in the dead of the night, so that parking stalls, arrows, fire lanes and those cross-hatches will seem to have magically appeared when you arrive at work or hit the road the next day.

A typical night has many challenges, and on occasion, unexpected surprises. First we position our trailer in a safe, central location, which allows for quick and easy access to paint cans and necessary tools. Then, we wait. And wait. For the parking lot, or at least a section of it, to empty out. This could take minutes or hours, depending on how cooperative people are, intentionally or unknowingly.

And yes, there is always that one car. No one knows who it belongs to or how long it has been there – or how long it might remain unmoved. Patience is a requisite. This is especially true when you realize that you have finished painting an entire lot, loaded everything back into the trailer to head home, and then along comes the person who owns that one car.   

If the job is to repaint over old lines, the work begins with cleaning each line with a broom and a leaf blower. Next, we measure lines that are completely faded out, mark them with yellow crayon, and snap each line with blue chalk from a snap-line. This process, which can take hours, has a rinse, repeat cycle to it. If the weather is windy, the chalk dust will fly everywhere except on the line.

If the job calls for a brand new layout (as with new pavement for a new business) then additional time must be factored in. The measuring is more precise and close attention must be paid to the contractor’s blueprint. Strong math skills, along with precision and patience, are necessary in this profession if the job is to be done right.

The machine needs to be loaded with paint and the paint gun positioned based on what type of work will be done first. The process of filling the paint machine usually goes smoothly; however the paint must be strained through a colander to ensure that no lumps will block the machine pump. Lumps can shut down the whole operation from minutes to hours while the pump is taken apart to locate, and then relieve, the blockage.

Paint color is determined by the business owner or the town. Yellow is preferred for visibility, especially during the winter months. The paint gun position is a trial and error process with an array of different sized gun tips available. For example, when painting stencils such as the Handicapped symbol, a larger tip is used. A large fabric tarp is placed on the ground to pre-test the width of the spray. The objective is for the paint gun to spray a four inch wide line.

Then come the “stalls.” There are three types: Standard, Hollywood, and Handicapped. (Yes, it is really called “Hollywood” in the industry.) A Standard stall consists of two lines, nine feet wide by eighteen feet long; a Hollywood stall consists of two rectangular boxes, one on each side of the stall, to allow more room when opening vehicle doors; and the Handicapped stall size and layout is determined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the town.

Constant alertness is needed on a job site. Cars and pedestrians can appear quickly, seemingly out of nowhere, so both painter and assistant need to watch and listen attentively, especially when the paint machine is running. Reflective vests and pants are a safety must, and a flashlight should be hooked onto your clothing as well, to be ready at all times.

Interruptions will occur throughout the night. People ask questions about what we are doing; onlookers are fascinated by the process; and cars can slip in and park without notice on larger jobs.

There is a lot of running around; it is in the nature of the job. Often, people come by to ask for directions, and as the night goes on, the questions can get strange. My favorite question has been, “Where is the nearest grocery store?” – as we were painting the grocery store’s parking lot! Another common question, “How long does it take for the paint to dry?” Answer:  It depends on temperature and weather conditions. On dry, hot days, it takes about fifteen minutes or less; but, when the temperature drops, drying time can take up to two hours.

When the sun starts to rise and the job is completed, we usually get a few early birds entering the lot before the paint has fully dried. Some people are annoyed about being re-directed to a different parking area, especially if they are late to their destination. Sometimes we have no choice but to reluctantly let them go, as they drive through the orange cones, because they have already driven over the paint that needed just a little more time to completely dry.

And now, as the clock reads 6:00 a.m., and the dawn awakens a new day, we are heading home. Another hundred-plus stall parking lot awaits us tomorrow.

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Jennifer Paquin is a seasoned legal marketing and business development professional, residing in Tolland County. She is currently writing her first novel and can be found frequently assisting her husband with his line painting business, A&A Line Painting.

PERSPECTIVE commentaries by contributing writers appear each Sunday on Connecticut by the Numbers.

Officials Seek to Turn State Schools “Red, White and Blue” Starting This Fall

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and Education Commissioner Dianna R. Wentzell have launched what they’re calling the Red, White, and Blue Schools Initiative. The Initiative is a partnership between the State Department of Education and the Office of the Secretary of the State that will reward schools that develop programs that foster strong civic engagement among students. The program is available to all K-12 schools in Connecticut and will begin this fall with the start of the 2016-17 school year.

Each year, a theme will be announced and schools will be encouraged to teach the theme through interdisciplinary activities, whole-school events, extracurricular clubs/activities, student-centered learning and community outreach.

The theme for the first year will be “The Electoral Process,” since the year will include the presidential election, inauguration of the nation’s next president, and the beginning of the next session of Congress, as well as elections for all of Connecticut’s legislative and U.S. House seats and one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats.

“It is critical that we equip young people with the knowledge and perspective it will take to be informed, active citizens in a global society,” Commissioner Wentzell said. “The Red, White, and Blue Schools Initiative encourages schools to think outside the box about ways to engage students more actively in community and government.”

“A presidential election gives us so many opportunities to learn about democracy. Students can learn how voters are registered and polling locations are set up as well as how the votes are counted. What better time to learn about our democracy than an election year?” Secretary of the State Merrill said.  The Republican and Democratic parties will be selecting their presidential nominees this month, at national conventions held in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Schools that want to participate in the program will have to meet certain criteria to be considered a Red, White, and Blue School. Requirements include integrating lessons about civic engagement into social studies classes and at least two other subjects and holding a whole-school event focused on student engagement, such as a mock election or a student-led candidate forum.

A fact sheet on the new initiative indicates that community outreach will be part of the program, urging that schools “work with local community organizations, business or government entities to increase student knowledge of implications and effects of elections on the community.”

Participating schools will be encouraged to take innovative approaches to teaching civics in the classroom and to consider involving extracurricular activities that promote civic and community engagement.

The new initiative was announced at the Timothy Edwards Middle School in South Windsor in June.  The program timeline calls for schools to complete their electoral process projects by January 2017, with the submission deadline for project material in March and school designations and award winners announced in May.  A website for the program is also planned.

PHOTO: State Education Commissioner Dianna R. Wentzell, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill

CT is Most Expensive Energy State in the Nation, Analysis Says

With an average monthly energy bill of $404 per consumer, Connecticut is the most energy expensive state in the nation, according to a new analysis. Using a formula that accounts for residential energy sources including electricity, natural gas, motor fuel and home heating oil, analysts at WalletHub compared the average monthly energy bills in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Connecticut ranked at the top of the list, with other New England states close behind.  The 10 most expensive states in the analysis, after Connecticut, were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Georgia, North Dakota, Maine, New Hampshire, Indiana and Mississippi.  Among the least expensive energy states for consumers were Oregon, Colorado and Washington, where the average monthly energy bill was $218.

The monthly consumer costs in Connecticut average $155 for electricity, $104 for home heating oil, $100 for motor fuel and $44 for natural gas.

Connecticut ranked third in the price of home heating oil and second highest in the nation for home heating oil consumption per consumer, for an overall ranking as highest in the nation for home heating oil costs.

Regarding electricity consumption, as a relatively small state, Connecticut ranked 37^th.  However, for the price of electricity it ranked third, for an overall ranking of seventh when the two stats were combined for the overall Monthly Electricity Cost category.

"Connecticut ranked as the most energy expensive state mainly due to its high retail prices for energy,” analyst Jill Gonzalez told CT by the Numbers.  “The state has the third highest retail price for electricity and heating oil at $0.20 per kWh and almost $4 per gallon, respectively. Natural gas isn't cheap either, ranking 14th highest, at $14 per thousand cubic feet. These prices paired with high heating consumption in the winter months put Connecticut on top of these rankings."

The website notes that energy costs account for between 5 and 22 percent of families’ total after-tax income, with the poorest Americans, or 25 million households, paying the highest of that range.

Sources used to create the rankings, according to WalletHub, were collected from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The report was issued this month, as July typically produces the highest energy bills for consumers.

Student Loans Grow; Home Ownership Pushed Back 5 Years, on Average

An analysis on the cost of student loans and home-buying nationwide finds that it takes graduates with the average student loan debt of $28,950 about 5 years longer to save a 20 percent home down payment. Thereafter, these graduates have almost $50,000 less in home equity 15 years after graduation compared to debt-free graduates, according to an analysis by GoodCall, The Real Cost of Student Loans. In Connecticut, where 62 percent of students graduate with debt averaging $29,750, above the national average, and home prices tend to be higher than in most states, the challenge is particularly acute.  Delaware has the highest average student loan balances, at $33,808. Utah has the lowest, with $18,921, according to data compiled by the Institute for College Access & Success and included in the report.

Nationally, average debt for new bachelor’s degree recipients rose at more than double the rate of inflation from 2004 to 2014, but in some states it grew even faster.  In Connecticut, the percentage of graduating students with debt rose from 57 percent in 2004 to 62 percent in 2014; the average amount of debt increased by 57 percent (20^th highest increase among the states), from $18,906 to $29,750.

Homeownership has generally fallen over the past decade, and for college graduates with student loan debt, the downward trend is even more marked, according to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the report indicates. What is clear, the report notes, is that after college, graduates with student debt must use part of their income to pay down loans. This means less income is available for saving compared to debt-free graduates.

It also means that graduates with student loan debt will have to save at a higher rate than their debt-free counterparts to buy a home sooner. This points to another challenge student loan borrowers face: making tough decisions over whether to pay student loans off as quickly as possible or save for big purchases like a home, the report explains.

Waiting longer to buy a home can mean missing out on accruing home equity, an important part of building wealth and financial security over the long term. Home equity is how much of the home’s current value is owned by the homeowner. This is calculated by taking the current market value, which typically grows year over year, and subtracting any remaining mortgage payments.

A recent Harvard study noted in the report revealed the consequences for wealth building that these financial decisions can have over the long-term, where college-educated households with student loan debt were found to have significantly less in assets, cash savings, and net wealth compared to college-educated households without student loans.

Among the report’s key findings regarding the home buying timeline:

• A 23-year-old debt-free college graduate today will be ready to buy a home with a 20 percent down payment in 2021 at age 28. That’s five years earlier than the 33-year-old average home buyer today.
• Graduates with $12,000 in student loan debt can expect to save until 2022 before they’re able to put a 20% down payment on a median price home.
• A 23-year-old graduate with $28,950 in student loan debt today will be saving until 2026 before she can make a 20% down payment on a home, at age 33 – the current average age for home buying.
• Graduates with $50,000 in student loans will be saving until age 36 in 2029 before they’ll have enough for a 20 percent home down payment.

The report also highlights the impact of student loans on the age at which people decide to get married, their job choices, starting salaries and retirement savings – and the impact those choices have on their ability to pay off student loans.