Health Equity

• CCA provides individual advocacy for children suffering from family trauma and health-harming environmental stressors that disproportionately impact children of color
• We provide training and education for pediatric and family medicine providers to address the complexities of poverty-related health-harming legal issues
• CCA collaborates with health-equity advocates to identify systemic issues that will lead to improved healthcare outcomes. Priority areas include legislative reform and advocacy, communication with state agencies to address inequities in care, enforcement of state and federal protections

We partner with pediatric and family medicine providers in low-income communities to improve access to care and reduce social and environmental factors such as substandard housing, inadequate income, disability rights, access to education, health care, and mental health care, that adversely affect children’s health.

Our community-based locations allow families to easily access medical-legal services. We are on-site at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Yale New Haven Health, and the Yale Child Study Center.

Individual Advocacy: Leo’s Story

9-year-old Leo and his family lost everything in a flood. They had to stay in a motel, and Leo’s mom couldn’t work due to his ongoing treatment. Their CCA attorney negotiated with the City to extend their stay in the motel, pay for relocation expenses, and got them a new home. With stable housing, Leo’s mental health improved significantly

Systemic Advocacy

CCA successfully expanded HUSKY coverage in Connecticut to include undocumented children, providing health insurance for low-income children under 12. Their continued efforts will now expand coverage to children and youth aged 13 to 15, effective July 2024, reducing financial hardship for families and increasing access to healthcare.

MLPP Successes:

Research and Development: Reducing Childhood Asthma via Medical-Legal Partnerships

This article in the Journal of Asthma on the impact of MLPs on childhood asthma rates. The article uses CCA’s collaborative MLP with Yale New Haven Health as a case study for how MLPs can be effective in mitigating asthma. Read more.

Legislative Reform:
Addressing Lack of Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The Center for Children’s Advocacy with the Office of the Child Advocate and Disability Rights CT jointly signed a letter requesting that state officials address the autism spectrum disorder provider shortage and waiting lists issue for those children and youth insured in the state’s HUSKY program. Read more.

HIV Prevention for Minors (PrEP)

CCA Deputy Director Jay Sicklick and MLP attorney Alice Rosenthal worked with Dr. Krystn Wagner of the Fair Haven Community Health Center on legislation, effective July 1, 2019, that increases access to preventative interventions for minors at risk of exposure to HIV. Read more.

Medicaid for Immigrant Children and Youth Without Legal Status

CCA launched a significant multiyear advocacy initiative in 2018 to broaden the coverage of HUSKY to include undocumented children in Connecticut. CCA’s persistent advocacy resulted in the expansion of HUSKY to provide health insurance to low-income children below 12 years old, regardless of their immigration status. This year, CCA’s continued efforts have further expanded the coverage to include children and youth aged 13 to 15, which will take effect on July 1, 2024. Children and youth are not only allowed to enroll in the program — they also can keep the coverage through age 19. Read more.

Settlement Agreement:
US Department of Justice and Tender Care Learning Centers

June, 2020 – Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the US Department of Justice directed Bradford Child Care Services (DBA Tender Care Learning Centers) to accommodate children with epilepsy at all of its US facilities (over 20 throughout Connecticut and Pennsylvania). Tender Care must comply with the ADA and not discriminate on the basis of disability, must submit written policies and procedures to the US Department of Justice for approval, train staff to administer emergency treatment as needed, communicate the policy change to parents, publish and disseminate their Disability Nondiscrimination Policy, and report compliance annually. The Complaint was brought by CCA attorney Bonnie Roswig, on behalf of a Cheshire parent whose son was discriminated against by Tender Care. Read the Agreement here.

CCA Prevails for School Children with Diabetes
Settlement Agreements: US Dept of Justice Directs ADA Compliance for Districts of Glastonbury, East Lyme, Wethersfield, and Stamford

KinderCare Complaint Settlement: Daycare Access for Children with Diabetes

September 2017 – KinderCare Education of Portland, Oregon, entered into a settlement agreement to resolve allegations that KinderCare’s child care programs and other services were not accessible to children with Type 1 diabetes who are dependent on insulin injections, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). KinderCare operates approximately 1,800 facilities in the U.S., and the settlement agreement applies to all KinderCare facilities.

The complaint was filed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut by the Center for Children’s Advocacy alleging violations of Title III of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations of any place of public accommodation. Under the agreement, KinderCare is obligated to revise policies, procedures, and training, and perform ongoing assessments of the need for reasonable accommodations. For more information, email broswig@cca-ct.org.   Hartford Courant 9-27-18

HUD Complaint Settlement: Transportation Access for Special Ed Students

Center for Children’s Advocacy filed a Complaint with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Civil Rights in 2016 based on the refusal of a Wethersfield condo association to allow a special education school bus on to their property to transport a child with autism and diabetes. The HUD settlement agreement ensured that, among other remedies, the child’s school bus be allowed on the property, condo staff be trained as to their obligations under the Fair Housing Act, all tenants be informed in writing of the condo association’s obligations, signs be posted on the condo grounds. For more information, contact broswig@cca-ct.org.