News, Updates and Releases

News and Press

• Dec 5 Hearing on DCF
  December 5, 2008

• CCA Reaches Out For Help

• ACLU Report Hard Lessons: School Resource Officer Programs and School Based Arrests in Three Connecticut Towns
  November 16, 2008

• United Way Awards $10,000 to CCA
  New Haven Register
  August 9, 2008

• New Project Helps Hartford's Immigrants and Refugees
  Hartford Courant
  June 25, 2008

• Sheff Needs a Captain
  Hartford Courant
  April 9, 2008

• New Settlement in Sheff Lawsuit
  Hartford Courant
  April 5, 2008

• CT Law Tribune 'State Has Been Shortsighted'
  Advocate says more programs needed to help at-risk youth
  February 18, 2008

• Bill Would Limit School Changes For Foster Children
  February 28 2008

• CCA & Hospital of Central Connecticut Receive Grant to Expand MLPP
  February 14, 2008

• Citation Against DCF Reversed By Court
  Hartford Courant
  December 7, 2007

• Money Should Follow City Kids To Suburbs
  Hartford Courant
  November 7, 2007

• Changing the Judiciary's Relaltionship with a Community, One Child at a Time
  ABA Judges' Journal
  Summer 2007

• Foster Care Population: Minority Kids In Majority
  Hartford Courant
  August 13, 2007

• State Revising Its Response To Sheff
  Hartford Courant
  June 6, 2007

• Complaint: Immigrants Ill-Served In City Schools
  Hartford Courant
  May 31, 2007

• Justice for Troubled Teens
  Hartford Courant
  May 31, 2007

• A Teenage Girl Waits In A Shelter
  Hartford Courant
  May 29, 2007

• The Truancy Epidemic: Officials In City Struggle To Curb Chronic Absenteeism
  Hartford Courant
  May 14, 2007

• Turning 18, And Needing Our Help
  Hartford Courant
  May 5, 2007

• New Option For Troubled Kids
  Hartford Courant
  March 5, 2007

• OCA releases new report:
  Plan for Action for Children with Special Health Care Needs
  Executive Summary

• A Push To Open Juvenile Courts
  Hartford Courant
  January 18, 2007

• Seeking Help For Teen Girls In Prison
  Hartford Courant
  January 1, 2007

• US Census Report
  Released Jan 2007
  A Child's Day

• Grim Graduation Data Pleases Board
  Hartford Courant
  December 20, 2006

• With Every Passing Day
  Hartford Courant
  December 10, 2006
  
  Children who learn in classrooms with white, black, brown and yellow faces are best prepared for the real world where, with luck, they will encounter diversity in the workplace. It is common sense that children who interact with peers from different backgrounds will grow up with fewer prejudices and be more likely to get along in a multicultural society.

• Panel: Despite Sheff v. O’Neill, school segregation has not eased
  by Richard Veilleux - November 28, 2006

  Ellen Ash Peters, the retired chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court and author of the 1996 Sheff v. O'Neill ruling that racial isolation in Hartford's schools was unconstitutional, let more than 100 people attending a symposium on the ruling in on a little secret: The court purposely left it up to the state legislature to implement change.

• SES Tutoring Request Form (PDF)
  The Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program is part of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Through the SES program, parents can get free tutoring services for their children. These services provide extra help in academic subjects, such as reading, language arts, and mathematics, to students who may be struggling in school. These services are typically delivered outside the regular school day-before or after school on weekends or during the summer months. This tutoring must be in line with state academic standards and connected to the school district's instructional program. Eligible families choose an SES provider from a list developed by their state. School districts pay providers directly for services. The SES program encourages states to approve a variety of organizations as SES providers, thus giving students and families the largest possible range of quality options.

• For Local Heroes, A Day To Take A Bow
  November 10 2006
  Martha Stone wins Local Heroes Award

• Impact of Foster Care Placement on Child Development (PDF)
  An important recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, and published in the journal Development and Psychopathology, demonstrates the harmful impact of foster-care placement on child development.
  

• The Superior Court for Juvenile Matters has Posted a Standing Order
  The Superior Court for Juvenile Matters has post a standing order concerning notification "of all court proceedings concerning any child in foster care to foster parents, relative caregivers and pre-adoptive parents of such children". For more information you may go to http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/super/Standorders/Juvenile/fostercare.htm.

• DCF Adolescent Policy Changes and Additions (Word Document)

• Reginald H
  Judge: DCF Misled Court On The Law

  http://www.ctlawtribune.com

  If the state attempts to terminate parental rights, it isn't entitled to eliminate doctor-patient privilege to make its job easier.

  That's the conclusion of Judge Stuart David Bear, who, in an Aug. 25 decision, ordered the state Department Of Children and Families to stop trumpeting stale law regarding privileged treatment files.

• Sheff Guide
  July, 2006
  A visual guide to Sheff vs. O'Neill progress.

• School of Law Graduates Instrumental in Creating National Center for Medical-Legal Collaboration
  Northeastern Law Magazine
  Summer, 2006
  She had to choose between heat and food...

• A Decade of Half Measures
  Hartford Courant
  July 23, 2006
  10 years after a Hartford mother and son forced city schools to integrate, progress has dragged.

• Special Homes Trouble State
  Hartford Courant
  July 23, 2006
  Lack Of Foster Beds Extends Costly Stays.

• Open Court For Children's Sake
  Hartford Courant
  June 27, 2006
  With no fewer than two task forces at work evaluating public access to the courts, there's some hope for healthy change.

• Youth-Punishment Bills Face Committee Votes
  Hartford Courant
  March 24, 2006
  By Colin Poitras
  Two proposed laws that could dramatically change the way juveniles are punished in Connecticut are poised for a critical vote today before the legislature's judiciary committee.

• CCA featured in CT Law Tribune March 6, 2006

• Speed Up Adoptions
  Hartford Courant Editorial
  March 1, 2006
  If attorneys and state court officials could appreciate the harm that the lack of a permanent home can do to a foster child's psyche, they would probably be more favorably disposed toward a bill that would expedite the time an adoption takes to get through the legal system.

• Bill Would Speed Adoption Process
  Hartford Courant
  February 21, 2006
  By Colin Poitras
  Destiny and Jeisean waited more than four years to be freed from their drug-addled parents and placed on the path to adoption.

• Psychiatric Hospital `In A State Of Crisis'
  Hartford Courant
  February 17, 2006
  By Colin Poitras
  Staff from the state's Riverview psychiatric hospital for adolescents Thursday pleaded to state legislators for a new, secure treatment unit for juvenile delinquent girls, saying it will do much to improve hospital safety and quell recent unrest.

• A Class Struggle - City Inclusion Effort Brings Serious Problems
  Hartford Courant
  February 5, 2006
  By Rachel Gottlieb
  Some nights, 8-year-old Brian Miranda has nightmares and wakes up almost hourly. In the morning, everything is a fight: climbing out of bed, getting dressed, sitting down to breakfast and walking out the door to school.

• New DCF Immigration Policy
  On December 15, 2005, DCF issued a new Policy regarding Immigration Issues.
  
  Policy Manual #31-8-13 can be found on the DCF website under Policies and Regulations, section on Index to New Policies.
  
  The new policy states that “The identification of undocumented persons by Department staff does not require, and shall not result in reporting this information to the Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services.” The policy also states that the Department may contract with an outside immigration specialist after consulting with DCF’s Legal Division.

• Wheeler Clinic held its 36th annual meeting Tuesday, September 27, 2005. The annual meeting focused on the contributions of state, regional and local family and children’s advocates. Wheeler Clinic recognized 7 organizations and individuals who have made significant change in the policies, systems and accessibility of mental health care in our communities, and the “tireless contributions of advocates who empower individuals and families by giving them a clear voice in a complex mental health care system.”
  
  One of the individuals recognized for her contribution is Martha Stone, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy, for her work in improving the systems that serve children at risk in Connecticut.
  
  David Berkowitz, executive director of Wheeler Clinic, went on to say, “These individuals and organizations build support networks, train, educate and help ensure that recovery is more than just a word. Wheeler Clinic is pleased to partner with these groups in their efforts to effectively bring passionate yet focused messages to state and local decision makers.”
  

• Gladys Nieves, Senior Staff Attorney with the Medical-Legal Partnership Project of the Center for Children's Advocacy, was recognized by Progreso Latino for her leadership and its impact on the Latino community. (PDF)

• CCA's Medical Legal Partership: Doctors And Lawyers Work Together To Solve
  Problems That Harm Health (PDF)

• Center for Children's Advocacy staff contributed to the recent publication of Clearinghouse Review's "Our Commitment to Youth" a special issue on youth and poverty, published by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. The issue includes articles from legal advocates throughout the United States.
  
  
  
  CCA staff co-authored an article entitled, "Providing Holistic Legal Services to Children in Their Communities." Although children living in poverty need service-delivery systems that give care in a responsive and integrated manner, service delivery traditionally has been compartmentalized. CCA provides holistic legal services to children in their communities; and, improves the quality of legal representation of children through innovative interdisciplinary models and training programs.
  
  To purchase a copy of the publication, visit www.povertylaw.org.

• Legislation Will Improve Representation for Abused and Neglected Children
  Christina D. Ghio, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Children’s Advocacy, for Connecticut Lawyer
  August/September 2005

• Questions Arise On Juvenile Facility
  Hartford Courant
  August 11, 2005
  By Colin Poitras
  Two of the state's leading child welfare advocates are questioning the need for a proposed 12-bed treatment center for girls in the juvenile justice system.

• Study Says Connecticut Has Highest Rate of Date Violence
  Waterbury Republican-American
  July 28, 2005
  By Tori Katz
  Study Says Connecticut Has Highest Rate of Date Violence By Tori Katz

• Teen's Prison Suicide Draws Outrage: As Probes Begin, Advocates Contend Again: Youths Don't Belong In Adult System
  Hartford Courant
  July 26, 2005
  By Colin Poitras, Diane Struzzi and Hilda Munoz

• Our Broken Home
  The Hartford Courant, Northeast Magazine
  Nov 23, 2003
  by Martha Stone
  Our Broken Home: Everyone likes to blame the DCF. But the rest of us have failed the children, too. By Center for Children's Advocacy Executive Director Martha Stone.

Recent Updates to KidsCounsel.org

• For Updates on KidsCounsel.org Click Here