Membership Invoices Sent Out

CT Early Childhood Alliance membership invoices have all been sent out. If you have been a member organization and did not receive one, please email Merrill Gay at [email protected] to let him know. If you are not a member organization, but would like to be one, you can become a member. What does membership give you? A louder, collective voice at the State Capitol, monthly membership meetings that offer valuable information and guest speakers, a vote for the Alliance officers and steering committee at our October meeting, weekly email updates, and more.  

CERCLE to Host Mayoral Primary Forum

If you live or work in New Haven, you might be interested in an upcoming mayoral primary forum, featuring the two Democratic candidates - Mayor Toni Harp and Democratic challenger, Justin Elicker. The conversation for the evening will focus on the future of early childhood care and education for New Haven's children and families of color.

The event will take place on Wednesday, August 28, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at All Our Kin, 414A Chapel Street, New Haven. Light refreshments will be served and Spanish translation is available. Child care will be provided at Hope Child Development Center at 81 Olive Street in New Haven. Space is limited. To RSVP, please call 203-865-4673 by Tuesday, August 27. 

The event is hosted by CERCLE, in partnership with HOPE for New Haven, All Our Kin, CT Early Childhood Alliance, and CSEA-SEIU Local 2001.

3.1 Million People Could Lose SNAP

Last week, the Trump administration published a new proposed rule targeting women, children, and families in need. This time the administration wants to bypass Congress and cut billions from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by restricting broad-based categorical eligibility, a flexibility the majority of states use to extend SNAP to working families with incomes just over the income eligibility cut-off, who often have significant expenses like child care and housing. This threatens SNAP benefits for over 3 million people. It also jeopardizes access to free school meals for hundreds of thousands of children.  

You can submit comments to the government's Regulations page. There are currently 1,000 public comments. Let's add to it and make our voices heard. Here is a comment template that you can customize. The deadline to submit comments is Monday, September 23. According to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Connecticut is one of 40 states that uses broad-based categorical eligibility. 

Further resources can be found HERE.