Schools to Prisons Pipeline
Over time, school districts in Connecticut have developed policies, practices, and philosophies on school discipline that have created an all-too-frequent pathway that is commonly termed the “schools-to-prison pipeline”. The size of this pipeline is considerable: during the 2005-06 Connecticut school year, there were 60,650 students suspended or expelled and 152,849 school days lost due to suspension or expulsion.

Examining Connecticut’s schools-to-prison-pipeline entails looking at the juvenile justice system as a continuum of entry points—from early school-based behavior problems that result in suspensions, expulsions or Disciplinary Alternative placements to more serious law-breaking and probation violations. Research is needed on the common linkages between school discipline and the juvenile justice system to learn what practices or policies may increase the likelihood that students will be ensnared by juvenile justice.

To try to reduce the schools-to-prison pipeline, the Connecticut General Assembly passed Public Act 07-66 in 2007, which mandates in-school suspension for suspensions of less than ten days. However, this law has aroused strong concern and resistance from school districts because of the lack of funds to help support this requirement. Many school districts assert that they neither the physical space to keep students for in-school suspension nor the funds to hire staff or teachers to conduct the in school suspension.
Appleseed will actively work in the 2009 legislative session to preserve the purpose of Public Act 07-66 by financially supporting and structuring a robust and constructive in- school suspension program in Connecticut’s public schools. (more)

Lifting Connecticut’s dental Medicaid reimbursement rates, a step which has shown to be successful in motivating dentists to serve Medicaid children in Michigan, South Carolina and other states, is crucial. That is why Appleseed collaborated in a successful advocacy effort in 2007 to persuade both the state’s Appropriations Committee and budget negotiators to allocate $20 million to remedy shortcomings in the state’s Medicaid program. (more)

1. With the classroom impact of the No Child Left Behind (“NCLB”) law the subject of intense debate, Connecticut Appleseed partnered with the national Appleseed organization and six Appleseed state “Centers” to examine whether parental involvement is improving due to NCLB. This collaboration produced the September, 2006 report: “It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of NCLB.” (more)

2. The Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP, the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Connecticut Appleseed have joined forces to give Connecticut parents a greater voice in their children’s education through the creation of a free guidebook entitled "How to Make Sure Your Child is Not Left Behind" and workshops in Bridgeport, New Haven/Hamden, Hartford and Waterbury to empower parents to exploit every possible advantage under the law to ensure a high-quality public school education for their children. (more)

3. Increasing Parent Access to Basic Education Law Information: Parents aren’t always aware enough about how to work within the legal/bureaucratic process to ensure that their child gets the necessary support; as a result, parents at many times feel frustrated, isolated and unsure of their legal rights. Our Parents’ Access to Information project will provide legally-based but easily accessible informational guides and public parent forums to help parents feel more confident about their ability to navigate through the educational system and work with schools and school districts on their child’s behalf. (more)

Mental Illness and The Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system is often unfair to defendants with mental illness, with key personnel having limited knowledge of the needs of those suffering from these illnesses. To address this problem, Connecticut Appleseed coordinated pro bono legal services that were volunteered to write a handbook directed primarily at attorneys representing such persons to help familiarize them with mental health issues under Connecticut law. In 2007 we distributed the 80-page handbook, entitled “Mental Illness, Your Client and the Criminal Law” to attorneys throughout the state.

Later in 2007 the Connecticut chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) contacted us to say that they saw a tremendous need for a similar handbook – but one directed at parents and other advocates rather than targeted at attorneys. After recruiting pro bono legal assistance from the NYC office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton (“Sheppard Mullin”), Appleseed’s Board voted to develop a new guide that will help parents know how to navigate Connecticut’s criminal justice system as it relates to adults age 18 and up with a mental illness. (more)

Expanding Immigrants’ Access to
Financial Services
Immigrant communities in Connecticut need help avoiding predatory and other high-cost financial services so that they can save, build the credit histories needed to access credit, and accumulate assets.   Too many immigrants cash their paychecks in check-cashing stores that charge high fees and risk getting robbed because they carry lots of cash.  But before immigrants will be integrated into Connecticut’s mainstream financial system, our state’s banks need to understand how to improve their outreach and expand the products and services that they offer to the immigrant community. (more)

Literacy Connects Inmates & Their Children
The educational and emotional toll on the 2 million-plus children with parents in prison is devastating. Many inmate parents are severely depressed due to parent-child separation, do not want their children to know they are in prison and avoid both visitation by and communication with their children. In their absence, their children’s educational and emotional development stagnates or regresses. Indeed, it is the children of the incarcerated who are the innocent victims of our justice system. (more)