Help Increase Federal Child Care Funding!

Amidst the federal budget negotiations, there is an opportunity to increase child care funding. Please add your name to our letter that will be sent to the Connecticut Congressional delegation. We need your sign-on by this Friday, January 26. To read the letter and sign on, please click HERE. You are encouraged to share with other organizations that might be interested. If you have any questions, please call Merrill at860-978-2767.

CHIP Receives Six-Year Extension

Families using CHIP in Connecticut and around the country can breathe a sigh of relief. As part of negotiations on a temporary federal government spending bill, the CHIP program has been reauthorized for six years. That means the nine million children, including 17,000 in Connecticut, will continue receiving care. CT Mirror has MORE, including one of the reasons why both CT Senators voted against the temporary spending bill - that Community Health Care Centers, where many children on HUSKY B go for care, were not funded. 

CT Voices for Children's Budget Webinar and Upcoming Budget Forum

On Wednesday, January 17, CT Voices for Children will host "The State Economy, the State Budget, and the State of Our Children" webinar, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

The budget passed by the General Assembly in October was much more than a budget document. In addition to severe cuts, the General Assembly also imposed sweeping changes to the state's constitutional spending cap, along with several new budget restrictions. These rules could dramatically weaken Connecticut's ability to make children and families a priority, and hamper the strategic investments to long-term economic growth.

The coming legislative session will be crucial. These four new fiscal restrictions (bond cap, spending cap, volatility cap and bond lock) have the potential to make all efforts moot. Unless they are addressed, fixed costs will crowd out spending for children and families, with the legislature constrained to only austerity budgeting.

In the webinar, Ellen Shemitz, Executive Director of CT Voices for Children, and Ray Noonan, Associate Policy Fellow, will explore these pressing budgetary issues before the state legislature this session. On the agenda:

• The state of Connecticut's economy, and why it matters for the state budget.
• The state of Connecticut's budget, with an overview on revenues and liabilities
• The state of our children, and how the state has shifted away from its priorities.
• The new fiscal restrictions in the budget, and how they might impede future growth.
• How to chart a path towards fact-based, equitable solutions.

The webinar will be broadcast live at the CT Voices website and YouTube page. You can register right through the website link.

In addition, CT Voices for Children will hold its 17th Annual Budget Forum, on Tuesday, January 30, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the Old Judiciary Room of the State Capitol. To register, click HERE.

As CT Voices for Children gears up for what is sure to be another difficult fiscal year, the forum will explore some of the most pressing budgetary issues before the state legislature this session, including:

• New fiscal restrictions
• The declining Children's Budget
• Surging pension costs
• Fundamental tax reforms

Infant/Toddler Data Available for Two New Regions

Not only does the CT Early Childhood Alliance have data available on Hartford and New Haven regions, but we've now added data for New Britain and Waterbury regions. If you have a meeting you would like the data presented at, please contact Samantha Dynowski to set it up. Click on our graphic to bring you to the data page: