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| Dear Friend,
This is my State Capitol update for the week of October 4.
If you prefer to watch rather than read, click the image below to hear about the issues contained in this newsletter. |
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Here’s a list of today’s topics:
- Litchfield County Housing Summit. Click here.
- CHET Dream Big Competition. Click here.
- Changes to Early Childhood Programs. Click here.
- Upcoming Events. Click here.
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Earlier this week the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity (LCCHO) held a Housing Affordability Summit in Salisbury, featuring presentations from towns throughout the region on their many variations on affordable housing projects in process. Preceded by a ribbon-cutting for 10 new affordable homes in Sarum Village III, it was a celebration of all the community-led efforts to provide housing for families in our towns. Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno joined us, as did representatives from several organizations providing funding and support for these projects.
For more information on the many resources the LCCHO can provide, https://www.cthousingopportunity.org/lccho
Additionally, I wanted to share a link to the brand new Northwest Connecticut Affordable Housing and Conservation webpage: cthousingopportunity.org/conservation-collaboration
On this webpage, you will find the short film that debuted at Monday evening's event and details about this collaborative effort and the strategies that have come out of it.
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Attention K-12 students - the annual CHET Dream Big! competition is now underway. To participate, interested students answer a question in the form of an essay, video, or a piece of artwork. Submissions from younger students will focus on what they want do when they grow older, and older students are asked to describe a lesson they’ve learned or a person who has impacted their lives.
The competition is open to all Connecticut K-12 students, and every child has the chance to participate. Please take a moment to visit the website to learn more, and then encourage your child to take part. More than 250 students will receive monetary prizes to be deposited into a CHET account!
Click here to learn more and enter. Good luck!
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Connecticut is making several changes to our early child care and education programs that will result in more children being able to receive access to these programs, while also lowering the associated costs to their parents.
Effective January 1, 2025, family fees for Care 4 Kids – the state program that supports low to moderate-income families with some of the costs of paying for child care – will be capped at 7% of household income, which is down from the current rate of 10%. This means that the fees required to participate in Care 4 Kids will decrease for all participating families. On average, it is estimated that this change will save families about $200 per month.
Additionally, effective October 1, 2024, in an effort to reduce the benefit cliff that families enrolled in Care 4 Kids can face, families participating in this program will be able to remain enrolled until their household income reaches 85% of the state median income, which is an increase from the current limit of 65%. This means that if a parent receives a promotion or pay raise from their employer, it is more likely they can accept the pay increase and not worry that it will prevent their child from continuing to receive this care.
Both of these changes bring Connecticut in alignment with federal requirements and can be implemented using existing federal funds.
An additional 1,500 children will be enrolled in Care 4 Kids, bringing the total number of children served under this program from 21,500 to 23,000, using existing state and federal funding.
In addition to the Care 4 Kids changes, the state is adding 900 new state-funded early care and education spaces for young children through the School Readiness and Child Day Care program by maximizing existing state funds.
These programs are administered by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood.
This added capacity brings the total number of children receiving municipal, state, and federally funded early childhood programs in Connecticut to 62,400, which is well ahead of the Connecticut Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care’s goal of 60,000 children being funded in these programs by fiscal year 2026. With these new investments, 29% of children under 5 years of age will be enrolled in more affordable early childhood education programs in the current fiscal year.
These changes and their impacts on Connecticut’s workforce and its economy are projected to increase the state’s gross domestic product by $351 million and state revenue by $29.7 million. For every dollar invested in adding these child care slots, there is an expected one-year return of approximately $13.50 in total economic benefits. If it is assumed an additional slot enables on additional parent to join the workforce, even at minimum wage, this would add $33,000 in household earnings. |
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| The Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy will host Darlene Kascak, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, the Educational Outreach Ambassador for the Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS). There will be a special program called Etuaptmumk, a Mi’kmaw saying that translates to “Two-Eyed Seeing.”
This event is FREE and open to the public. Coffee and donuts will be provided. Please dress warmly. Click here to register.
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| ICMYI - Northwest Corner Events |
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Crescendo Presents Nature in Vivaldi’s Sounds on October 5 and 6
On October 5 and 6, Crescendo will present the second concert of its 21st season—Nature in Vivaldi's Sounds—featuring Edson Scheid, Rodrigo Tarraza, Carlos Boltes, Scott Hill, and Gonzalo Cortés, and Crescendo's Period Instrument Orchestra, with the addition of Andean instruments.
The concerts will take place on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT, and on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 4:00 pm at Saint James Place, 352 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA. Tickets are available online at www.crescendomusic.org, or on a first come, first served basis at the door, 45 minutes prior to the concert. |
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| It is my honor to represent our district. I look forward to hearing from you about the issues raised in this newsletter, or any other topics you think I should know about. You can email me at maria.horn@cga.ct.gov or call me at (860)-240-8585. Thanks for reading, and I wish you a safe weekend.
Click here to forward to forward this email to a friend. |
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| Sincerely,
Maria Horn
State Representative |
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