Connecticut
Connecticut Marks 25 Years Of Safe Havens Act, Renews Focus On Awareness | CT News Junkie
HARTFORD, CT — Twenty-five years after Connecticut enacted a law designed to protect newborns and mothers in crisis, lawmakers, advocates, and medical professionals gathered Thursday at the Legislative Office Building to reflect on its impact and call for renewed public awareness.
The state’s Safe Havens Act for Newborns, enacted in 2000, allows a parent to voluntarily and anonymously surrender an infant who is 30 days old or younger at any hospital emergency room, with no questions asked and no fear of prosecution for abandonment, provided there are no signs of abuse or neglect.
Lori Stewart, legislative liaison for the Catholic Conference of Public Affairs and host of the event, called the bill a unifier.
“No matter where you land or fall in the political, social, economic spectrum, we can all more or less come to a point where we believe that a mother in distress and a newborn baby at risk are worth a fighting chance at a potential positive outcome,” she said.
Carl Schiessel, speaking for the Connecticut Hospital Association, said 37 emergency departments across the state are designated Safe Haven sites. At each location there are signs designating the site as a safe haven and licensed clinicians are trained to provide immediate, compassionate care to both the baby and the parent.
“This law has been a success,” he said. “We need more people to know this.”
The law was inspired by a tragedy that, according to Stewart, “rocked the state.”
In January 1988, a newborn was found dead from exposure in a Meriden parking lot. His identity was unknown, and first responders named him David Paul — “David” meaning “God’s beloved” and “Paul” meaning “Little Man.”
For decades, the baby’s name was all they had. But in 2020, Meriden police, with help from forensic genealogists, identified the child’s mother. She told investigators she had given birth alone and called in an anonymous tip. She reportedly later told police that had the safe haven law existed at the time, she would have used it.
Moved by the case, former Rep. Pam Sawyer, R-Bolton and the late legislator Anne Carbone, R-Southington, helped craft legislation modeled after a Texas law. Connecticut’s version offered a penalty-free option for mothers and limited surrender sites to hospitals — rather than firehouses or police stations — to ensure access to medical care at all hours.
“We have too many unmanned firehouses, especially in rural towns,” Sawyer said. “Hospitals are open, staffed, and ready.”
Sawyer emphasized the need to make the law understandable and accessible, especially to younger audiences.
“We knew that the best thing that we could do was to make the law so simple that it could be shared on a school bus,” she said. “Because that may be something that someone needs to hear, and if they get that info, they are going to realize that there are 24-hour emergency rooms and (the staff will not) ask any questions.”
Once a baby is surrendered, hospital staff notify the Department of Children and Families, which takes immediate custody. The parent receives a packet outlining their rights and options. If they change their mind within 30 days, they can begin the process of reunification through DCF — a process that has occurred in a small number of cases.
“This law ensures there’s a safe place when there seems to be no safe place in their world,” said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague. “It’s not just about the infant—it’s about showing care for the parent, too.”
Rep. Leslie Zupkus, R-Prospect. spoke about the law’s personal impact.
“I have two adopted daughters from similar situations,” she said. “I always tell them their biological mother loved them very much and wanted a better life for them.”
The event also highlighted the story of Panna Krom, a high school student and daughter of Cambodian refugees who gave birth alone in 2006 at age 17. Krom concealed the birth and her newborn died. She was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Her case drew the attention of Doug Hood, a retired Yale New Haven neurologist, who spoke about how he met Krom when he was volunteering at a women’s prison, Hood took interest in her case and later connected with her parents. Hood eventually advocated for her clemency when he learned that there were many similar cases across the state.
Hood chronicled the case in his 2023 book, Daughter of Song: A Cambodian Refugee Family, Their Daughter, Crime, and Injustice.
“She wasn’t a premeditated or even an intentional killer,” Hood wrote in his book.
The law’s reach has also been bolstered by community advocates like Tiffany Quinn, who became involved in 2014 after hearing news of another infant death in East Hartford.
“This was truly a work of all of our hearts, and this came from a place of public service from the heart for what we believe is right and needed,” she said. Quinn helped launch a working group focused on public education and outreach.
Speakers honored the late Governor M. Jodi Rell, an advocate of the law.
Rell oversaw a statewide awareness campaign that included translated outreach materials, signage at hospital entrances, and public service commercials. Her son, Michael Rell, attended the event in her memory.
Rep. Tim Ackert, R-Coventry summed up the law’s legacy in simple terms.
“We always hear about ‘legislation that saves lives’ — this one does,” he said. According to Ackert, at least 59 newborns have been safely surrendered since the law took effect.
“That’s more people than were in the room today,” he said.
For more information about the Safe Havens Act, or for confidential local support and resources, contact the Department of Children and Families Careline at 1-800-842-2288 or dial 2-1-1 for confidential local support and resources.
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Connecticut
Sierra Club Connecticut, State Representatives Host Black Lungs Matter: Juneteenth Press Event – CleanTechnica
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Hartford Advocates and Community Members Gathered to Remember, Honor Path to Freedom
HARTFORD, Ct. — Today, Sierra Club Connecticut and State Representatives Minnie Gonzalez, Maryam Khan, and Jilian Gilchrist hosted Black Lungs Matter, a Juneteenth Press Conference, at the Connecticut Legislative Office Building.
The event highlighted the disproportionate impact of air pollution on Black residents in Connecticut and the broken promises that have contributed to this impact. Speakers included state representatives, public health and civil rights experts, plus local voices from Sierra Club Connecticut and the Connecticut Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice.
The groups are concerned that Governor Lamont is no longer moving ahead with eliminating all carbon emissions from state building heating and cooling systems, as he pledged in Executive Order 21-3. The Trump Administration has also cancelled at least $50 million in federal grants for environmental justice projects across New England, a substantial portion of which was slated to come to Connecticut environmental justice organizations.
Environmental injustice refers to the fact that environmental hazards, such as air and water pollution, and the health harms that they cause, are disproportionately experienced by people of color and low income people. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, income, ethnicity, tribal affiliation or disability, in the environmental decision making which affects them.
“Just like the enslaved people in Texas were some of the last to gain their freedom, the asthmatic children of Hartford are likely to be the last to breathe clean air,” said Dr. Mark Mitchell, founder of the Connecticut Environmental Justice Leadership Collaborative. “The Governor should keep his clean air promise to Hartford, and help fight back against the environmental injustice of the Trump Administration.”
“As a Puerto Rican woman, I stand in solidarity with Black communities fighting for the right to breathe clean air and live healthy lives,” said Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, who represents the residents that are most exposed to the pollution from Capitol Area Systems.
“As a representative of Hartford, I am deeply committed to ensuring that every child in our city breathes clean air,” said Rep. Maryam Khan. “On this Juneteenth, we recognize the painful legacy of environmental injustice that has disproportionately harmed Black communities. Today, I stand with the Sierra Club in demanding action to tackle air pollution in Hartford. No child’s future should be stolen by the air they breathe.”
“Connecticut has made commitments to Environmental Justice,” said Sharon Lewis, an Environmental Justice Advocate. “Juneteenth reminds us that commitments matter only when they reach the people they were intended to serve.”
“We cannot allow the environmental justice goals and objectives in this city to be ignored,” said Attorney Cynthia Jennings. “Any investment of our tax dollars must be used to improve the health and safety of residents in every Hartford community.”
“Let’s remind the Governor that Black Americans deserve to breathe clean air in Hartford,” said Sierra Club Connecticut Organizer Alycia Jenkins. “Once justice is won for Black Americans, justice will be won for all.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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NEW CANAAN, Conn. — An elderly driver was rescued from his vehicle after he accidentally crashed into a swimming pool in on Tuesday.
It happened just after 10:30 a.m. at the Steve Benko Pool at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut.
The Tesla plowed through a fence and set of trees before plunging into the water. Police say he was trying to park at the time.
The community pool was closed when it happened, so no one was swimming or in the path of the vehicle.
Lifeguards and first responders entered the pool to help the driver out of the vehicle.
Lifeguard Mike D’Urso, 18, described what happened.
“Me and my coworker were setting up the umbrellas when we heard a loud crash and we turned around and there was a car right in the middle of the pool,” D’Urso said.
D’Urso said the man was conscious and alert, but the vehicle began to take on water.
“The car began to sink a couple minutes in, and my concern was that the water would rise above his head and wouldn’t be able to breathe,” D’Urso said.
D’Urso and EMS workers pulled the victim out through the passenger side window. The driver said he wasn’t injured, but he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
The pool will have to be drained, cleaned and refilled. Officials hope to have it reopened by the weekend.
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One person is dead after a double shooting in Hartford, police said.
ShotSpotter notified police of shots fired around 7 p.m. on Magnolia Street.
When officers got to the scene, they found a woman unresponsive in the driver’s seat of a vehicle.
Police identified the victim as 46-year-old Diana Tirado of New Britain. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
There was another woman in her 30s with a gunshot wound on the sidewalk. She was taken to the hospital, where she is listed in stable condition. Her identity has not been released.
Police have not identified a suspect at this time.
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