Mary Welander

The Department of State has an around-the-clock coordinating group communicating with U.S. citizens and providing them assistance through phone calls and an online form. U.S. citizens seeking to be in touch with the U.S. Embassy in Israel can call 1-833-890-9595 or 1-606-641-0131.

For the latest updates from the Department of State, please monitor the messages to U.S. citizens from the U.S. Embassy in Israel here.

The State Department has asked that any U.S. citizens in Israel enroll their contact information in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). You can complete enrollment online here. Enrolling in STEP allows you to receive important information about safety conditions and assists the Embassy, family, and friends in contacting you during an emergency.

The State Department is continuously updating its international travel advisory for Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Those updates can be found on their website here.

My colleagues on the Committee on Children and I demanded answers from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) about a temporary housing facility for teenage girls in Harwinton that is involved in alleged cases of sex trafficking, abuse, and assaults.

There are also several claims of sexual contact between an employee at the home and a young person who was living there. A parent of a 14-year-old girl, who claims she was physically assaulted at the home, is suing the home.

I made it clear to DCF Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes that we must do more work to ensure the safety of our children. Please watch my testimony below.

I am so excited to announce Health.CT.gov, a new website serving as a hub for all of your health and wellness services. You'll find all sorts of great, local resources like:

• Programs specifically tailed for your community
• Insurance and financial resources
• Easy directions to apply for the help you need
• Health services for you and your loved ones
• Healthy Living Tools

Click the image below to check out the new website!

• The chance of getting breast cancer increases as a woman gets older. Breast cancer is extremely rare in women in their teens or early 20s and uncommon in women under age 40. In fact, 94 percent of new cases of breast cancer occur in women over the age of 40.  
• Your risk of breast cancer increases if your mother, sister, or any close relatives on your mother's or father's side of the family have or had either breast or ovarian cancer. The amount of risk depends on the closeness of the relatives, the total number of relatives, and their age when their cancers were diagnosed.
• If you had cancer in one breast, your chance of getting cancer in the other breast is greater.
• Breast cancer is more common in some racial and ethnic groups than in others, though medical experts do not know why. White women are more likely than Hispanic, African American, Asian, or Native American women to get breast cancer. In addition, women with Eastern European (Ashkenazi Jewish) ancestry on either side of their family are at increased risk. African American women are more likely than women of other racial and ethnic groups to die of breast cancer.
• Your chance of getting breast cancer is increased if you never gave birth or if you had your first child later in life (in your 30s or 40s).
• Your chance of getting breast cancer may be greater if you use certain kinds of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause.

We are committed in the legislature to fighting for those affected by breast cancer here in Connecticut and will continue to help doctors and scientists working to find cures, address the needs of patients and their families, and make treatments affordable.
 
If you are a woman over 40, please make sure you receive an annual mammogram and check yourself monthly.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency has upgraded the credit rating of Connecticut’s transportation bonds from AA+ to AAA, the highest credit rating possible.

The upgrade is for Connecticut's Special Tax Obligation (STO), Transportation Infrastructure Purposes Bonds, which are issued for the state's portion of transportation infrastructure improvements, including construction and maintenance of highways, roads, bridges, mass transit projects, waterway access, and more.

Connecticut Examiner: "Harwinton Teen Shelter Incidents Prompt Legislative Response"

News 12 Connecticut: "Lawmakers demand answers about abuse at Harwinton youth home"