CCA’s January Newsletter

A Message from CCA’s Executive Director, Sarah Eagan

CCA stands with our communities, with vulnerable children and families, with immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals, and all others seeking support, refuge, acceptance, opportunity, and justice. Right now, we are providing legal help on matters such as guardianship for undocumented parents who may be separated from their children and advocating with state agencies to ensure safety in health care settings and schools for LGBTQ+ children and immigrant children.

In challenging times, it is our values that must undergird our actions, and we must speak out and on behalf of those values alongside our colleagues and community members. We are monitoring developments on the federal level and strategizing with our partners on legal advocacy to protect children and families. Although there are threats to CCA’s funding, we are working hard to find the resources so we can continue our advocacy. Vulnerable children can count on us.

For information about immigrant children’s legal rights, contact attorney Sabrina Tavi.

For information about LGBTQ children’s legal rights, contact attorney Mallory Sanchez.

For information about CCA’s systemic advocacy strategy and funding challenges, contact Executive Director Sarah Eagan.

CCA’s 2025 Legislative Priorities

After 27 years, CCA’s determination to fight for the legal rights of Connecticut’s most vulnerable children is stronger than ever. Our work with children and families and providers gives us the unique perspective of identifying issues that at-risk children and youth face in their daily lives. This year we will use that knowledge to advocate for systemic changes to support vulnerable kids throughout the state.

Access to Healthcare

CCA will work to address the crisis of children stuck in hospital Emergency Departments, in-patient hospital settings, or who are languishing on waiting lists unable to access the behavioral health care they need. Improving investment in services and infrastructure for our children’s behavioral health system is a top priority.

CCA will continue our advocacy for children with developmental disabilities and seek state reforms to ensure that community-based autism clinics are adequately funded and licensed. Right now, too many children wait for care and are served in settings that are not licensed or inspected by the state.

Building on our multi-year campaign in partnership with the Husky 4 Immigrants coalition and our healthcare partners, CCA will champion efforts to expand HUSKY for undocumented youth through age 16 to 18. For more information, contact the Director of CCA’s Disability Rights, Medical-Legal Partnership Project, Bonnie Roswig or the Center’s Executive Director, Sarah Eagan.
 

Child Welfare

Building off CCA’s work to ensure older youth in foster care can retain access to their attorneys if they remain with DCF after turning 18, we are seeking to ensure that older youth who suffer abuse or neglect can find safety and support in state care, when needed. For more information, contact the Director of CCA’s Child Welfare Advocacy Project, Josh Michtom. 

Education

In collaboration with its partners, CCA will advocate for legislation designed to increase educational success and equity. These legislative initiatives include:

• Preventing school suspensions for children in PreK through Second grade, and mandating these young children receive developmentally appropriate interventions and support.

 • Requiring meaningful oversight by the State Department of Education of educational services for students with disabilities, including public reporting regarding corrective actions and interventions undertaken by the State.

For more information, contact the Director of CCA’s Yale Child Study Center, Medical-Legal Partnership Project, Kathryn Scheinberg Meyer.

Youth Homelessness

CCA is working to ensure that state agencies report to an Interagency Council on Homelessness regarding their involvement with, and outcomes for, older youth in their care.  These data will inform policies and resource allocation to ensure we target youth who are particularly vulnerable to “aging out” of state care to homelessness. For more information  contact Deputy Director and Director of CCA’s Right Direction: Homeless Youth Advocacy Project, Stacey Violante Cote.

Juvenile Justice

CCA’s attorneys are advocating for improved services to help justice-involved youth re-enter their communities with the appropriate support to help them be successful. CCA continues to Co-Chair the Reentry Subcommittee of the Connecticut Legislature’s Juvenile Justice and Policy Oversight Committee, advocating for needed services for youth and families, including vocational, employment and basic need supports. For more information contact CCA Founder and Special Counsel, Martha Stone.

Protecting the Most Vulnerable in Our Community

CCA is working with partners across the state to support initiatives for equitable education funding, strengthening protection for immigrant children, and reducing evictions of vulnerable families from their homes. 

CCA is also working to protect children from harmful policies, including efforts to roll back protections for immigrant and LGBTQ youth. We are steadfast in our advocacy for the most vulnerable children in our community. 

CCA’s Advocacy for Students in Bridgeport

“My 3rd grader went several years with, at best, intermittent intervention from a speech therapist. This absence of a needed service, that was her legal right according to her IEP, was a severe blow to her opportunity for language development in arguably the most important stage of development for a child. She is non-verbal and continues to struggle with communication of any kind, stunting her ability to connect socially and emotionally with her peers as well. Because my child does not have disruptive behaviors, she was permitted to sit in a classroom setting that was not appropriate to meet her needs, silently, receiving very little instruction, for most of last year. I retained a [CCA] attorney and since then, the district has recommended a placement more suited to address her needs and allow her to access her education,” mother of CCA client.

Sharing CCA’s Vision for the Future

This fall, we began a year-long series of visits to our corporate partners to introduce our new Executive Director, Sarah Eagan, and strengthen support for CCA’s advocacy. These visits allowed our corporate partners and allies to learn more about Sarah’s vision for CCA, our impact and priorities for this year and opportunities for personally engaging with our work.

Sarah began the series visiting the team at Koskoff, Koskoff and Bieder in Bridgeport who are championing partners of CCA’s work. Their leadership team has enhanced the firm’s sponsorship of CCA with assistance to increase CCA’s visibility and fundraising successes across Fairfield County. Next, Sarah hosted a series of working lunches with Silver, Golub & Teitell in Stamford where we expanded our alliance to ensure our advocacy across Fairfield County impacts even more at-risk children and youth and their families.

Finally, in December, we built upon the M&T Foundation’s partnership in our Supporting Success Project, which helps low-income children and youth in Fairfield County access services and supports critical to educational achievement and healthy development, by welcoming M&T Bank’s Regional Team to our Hartford offices to meet Sarah and learn more about CCA’s in-community work across Hartford County and opportunities for staff engagement. We will continue to ensure Sarah’s vision for a Connecticut where all children including the most marginalized have the opportunity to flourish is shared even more broadly over the coming year as we continue fighting for the rights of Connecticut’s most at-risk children.

Fighting for Connecticut’s Kids

A Black History Month Breakfast featuring Keynote Speaker Chief Justice Raheem Mullins

Friday, February 21, 2025 from 8:30-10:00am

Michael J. Adanti Student Center Ballroom at Southern Connecticut State University

Full details available here

Timed with Black History Month, CCA and Southern Connecticut State University are jointly hosting a breakfast event, Fighting for Connecticut’s Kids, to highlight the accomplishments of Black Americans and to underscore what can be accomplished when we listen to youth and children in all our communities.  We will also raise awareness of the needs and challenges facing youth through the voices of our Speak Up! Youth Group because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

This event aims to underscore what is–and can be–accomplished when we include the voices of youth and children in our communities and to share how CCA is playing a vital role in addressing racial and ethnic disparities within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. We will be joined by partners and allies from organizations embedded across the New Haven community.

CCA is honored to welcome Chief Justice Raheem Mullins as our Keynote Speaker this year. We are also delighted to be working in partnership with Dr. Kelvin Rutledge, Interim Vice President for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Southern Connecticut State University and to announce Wiggin & Dana LLP as a Presenting Sponsor. The event will start with a breakfast reception at 8:30am and then the morning’s program will begin at 9:15am.

Seating is limited so please reserve your seat today! 

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