Public systems that are supposed to help young people often end up perpetuating disconnection.  That’s what we learn when we listen to young people who are disconnected from school and employment in Connecticut.

Through its Connecticut Opportunity Project initiative, Dalio Education recently released the final report in its research series on Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis: “Elevating the Voices of Young People,” prepared by Community Science. The power of this study to inform our understanding of how to successfully re-engage the 63,000 young people in Connecticut who are disconnected lies in its design: the data source for the report’s findings and recommendations are the voices and experiences of the young people directly impacted by this crisis.

When we listen, we hear how one young man ended up in juvenile probation because of his school’s response to his absenteeism. In his words, he was in juvenile detention for “truancy, not going to school, not showing up, not being where I was supposed to be at.”

We also hear how young people in need of housing hesitate to seek supports for fear of triggering child welfare system involvement, with one young woman revealing: “When people do the 211 call and say certain things, next thing you know DCF’s involved. When it’s really not even their fault or anything, but they’re not doing anything bad.”

A total of 74 young people between the ages of 14 to 26 were interviewed by Community Science from across seven cities, with an overrepresentation of Black and Hispanic/Latino(a) young people, and more men relative to women, mirroring the demographic trends we see in the population of young people in Connecticut who are experiencing disconnection. Community Science explored young people’s experience in their community, interactions with different public systems (education, criminal justice, child welfare, healthcare, and housing), and hopes and aspirations for the future.

Young people further shaped the study through the creation of a Community Advisory Group (CAG) that was convened regularly to inform the collection and interpretation of data. Nine of the 13 CAG members were young people who had experienced disconnection. They were joined by four professionals who work with or in support of this youth population and served as validators for their perspectives while providing additional context, in terms of the challenges and assets of communities as well as the racial, ethnic, and cultural dynamics that exist in Connecticut. We created a space where people could show up authentically to share their experiences and feedback, to help test the analysis and ensure the key themes emerging from the study resonate with their experiences in their communities. All of the major decisions made by the research team were shaped by input from the CAG, including pivots made based on insights they shared.

From this report, we see that disconnection from education is often a precursor to interaction with other systems, and that once young people are engaged in multiple systems, it can produce an almost self-perpetuating cycle that leads to long-term disconnection, from school and work as well as from other resources, which reinforces the challenges young people are facing.

We also learn about the important role of social capital and how lack of access to it impacts young people, with the limited nature of resources and supports available to young people making it that much more difficult for them to weather the complex challenges they face.

Through improved system coordination coupled with culturally-responsive, trauma-informed practices that prioritize rehabilitation over punitive measures, we can do better by our young people, and help them achieve goals and aspirations they hold that are so much bigger than just themselves, including their children, families, and communities. As one young woman reflected: “Construction would really help me because I really want to build something for the children. I want to build something for the homeless where you don’t have to be on the streets no more. I want to do that in every community that I go to. I want to help every community that I can.”

The goals and aspirations of the young people interviewed for this report are not unlike those that many young people would share – financial security, educational attainment, gainful employment. Their definitions of success also reflect the profound challenges they have had to navigate with determination and hope for a better future. According to one young person: “…success means to me when I’m wealthy enough, my kids or my future generation wouldn’t have to worry about anything. I feel like that’s real success.”

Through these reflections, one key theme that shines through is our young people’s incredible “resilience, resourcefulness, and determination to transcend the limitations imposed upon them by societal norms and structural inequalities,” in the words of the report’s authors.

This report also demonstrates how we can position the young people impacted as the ones not only conveying their needs but also as part of developing the solutions. This approach enables the creation of solutions that are practical, responsive, and fully actualized because they are designed in partnership with those whose needs they are designed to meet. That’s how we address root causes and generate real change.

Samantha Miller is a Portfolio Director for the Connecticut Opportunity Project at Dalio Education

Another group on Wednesday added its voice to the cohort clamoring for lawmakers to take action to push towns to make it easier to build more apartments: landlords.

At a press conference in Newington, the Connecticut Apartment Association asked lawmakers to take steps to increase the number of multi-family units in the state, especially near public transit, make the permitting process easier for builders and enact measures to help developers more easily turn commercial properties into apartments.

This is the start of a more public push than in years’ past by landlords to put their political weight behind housing development. Landlord groups have typically gotten support from Republican lawmakers and pro-business legislators.

“We are here to engage the discussion now because there’s no easy fix and the old approaches must change. This is what we’ve been talking about with legislative leaders and will continue to do so leading up to the January legislative session,” said apartment association member and New Haven landlord Dondré Roberts. “Our message is simple and direct: Connecticut needs to make it easier to develop and build multi-family housing affordably now.”

Connecticut’s housing crisis has been a problem for legislators for years. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Connecticut has a shortage of over 98,000 housing units that are affordable and available for low-income renters. 

State legislators have been pushing for housing reforms for the past couple of legislative sessions. Roberts said his group supports legislation like House Bill 5474, which passed last session and includes measures to provide incentives for middle housing development, require written notice of rent increases and develop ordinances for short-term rental properties, among other actions.

“Last year, H.B. 5474, which tackles the missing middle of duplexes, triplexes and housing that’s between single-family and multi-family communities like this one, is a great start and they need to keep going,” Roberts said.

Although members said they supported the bill, they did not testify publicly on it. The bill changed substantially between the public hearing and final votes, and members said Wednesday they’re working toward more support this session.

“It’s time,” Roberts said, of the need for more action. “Just as someone who lives in the state … it’s tough out there, especially when you are looking for housing that sometimes doesn’t exist for your budget.”

The landlords’ support may create tension within the coalition of people supporting zoning and land use changes. Typically, those in favor of zoning reform have aligned themselves with tenants’ rights groups.

But the apartment association has opposed bills pro-housing coalition members have supported and on Wednesday it called for lawmakers to stop focusing on landlord-tenant issues and get to what they called the root of the problem — the lack of housing.

“The legislature needs to turn away from the landlord-tenant battles like rent caps and forever leases that held us back last year,” Roberts said. “Those proposals were rejected. They took everyone’s eye off the ball, stalled progress, and they don’t add a single unit of housing.”

Lawmakers in past sessions have considered proposals to cap rent increases and to stop no-fault evictions, or evictions that occur when leases end. Neither proposal has gotten through the House or Senate.

Broadly, the apartment association members said they wanted to make it easier to build more housing of many types, including higher-density developments. They said lawmakers should explore methods such as tax incentives, among other solutions.

They pointed to data that shows the vast majority of Connecticut’s residential land is zoned for single-family housing and said that needs to change.

Landlords said they also wanted to see ways to make it easier to convert vacant commercial properties into apartments. The strategy has been used across the country in cities like Providence, where a shopping mall was transformed into apartments.

A major concern for the apartment association and other groups is the development process for housing around Connecticut. Kevin Santini, a principal at the family-owned property management and construction company Santini Homes, said developers struggle in Connecticut because of the extensive permitting process.

“If you go into a piece of land that isn’t zoned for multi-family, it’s very daunting and very unattractive to go in and try to go through the processes that you need to go through,” Santini said.

He emphasizes the need for predictability with infrastructure. 

“You can’t make the process take two to three years, especially if you’re rezoning a parcel by that time,” Santini said. “It’s years and it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars if not seven figures.”

Roberts said the group supports incentive-based solutions rather than mandates for towns. That issue is one of the biggest debates in the conversation about zoning reform and housing development in Connecticut.

Top lawmakers and housing experts have said leaving control in the hands of local government isn’t working. But Gov. Ned Lamont and many opponents of statewide zoning reform have argued for incentive-based, locally driven solutions.

Santini said the responsibility for building the housing will lie with developers.

“To make positive changes, politics can’t be involved,” Santini said. “And I know that’s crazy to say, and maybe even naive, but we have to do what’s best for the state of Connecticut, and we have to put our agendas aside. And right now, the state needs us. The state needs builders.”

Members of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican community — one of the largest in the U.S. — are condemning comments made at a weekend rally for former President Donald Trump, where a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Various state lawmakers called the comments hateful and racist.

Connecticut’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus said in a statement that it “unequivocally rejects the hateful and divisive rhetoric that was on display at Madison Square Garden.”

“Unfortunately, the MAGA movement’s racism and xenophobia reached a fever pitch on Sunday during a crude rally at Madison Square Garden,” the group said. “The statements of the former president and his supporters do not constitute politics. They are not arguments made in service of some discernible policy goal, nor are they intended to unify our country for the benefit of American citizens. They are simply hateful. They are racist. They serve to dehumanize and belittle our communities. And they stand in stark opposition to the values taught by the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths — in addition to countless others.”

The group also noted: “Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States. They serve in our armed forces, they pay taxes and they are our neighbors. They are not garbage.”

Connecticut is home to about 300,000 residents of Puerto Rican descent. The state has the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans per capita of any state in the U.S. — about 8% of Connecticut residents are Puerto Rican. In Connecticut, Puerto Ricans make up the largest Latino group.

State Rep. Juan Candelaria, who is Puerto Rican, said he was offended the disrespect was displayed on a national platform. He said Trump should apologize for the comedian’s comments.

“If you listen to what’s supposed to be called a joke, which we don’t see that as a joke at all … basically referring that all Puerto Ricans are trash, dehumanizing Puerto Ricans in a national format,” Candelaria said in an interview with Connecticut Public.

Connecticut state Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, (D-Hartford) joined Candelaria (D-New Haven) in issuing a statement on behalf of the Puerto Rican and Latino Caucus in response to the remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at the rally in New York City.

“It’s disheartening to see any public figure, especially a comedian with influence, resort to harmful remarks about Puerto Rico and Latin Americans,” they said. “Humor, at its best, challenges and entertains, but it should never cross into disrespect. However, some jokes go beyond satire and cannot be accepted without addressing them, especially if said at a political rally for our nation’s highest office.”

They also noted: “Despite challenges like limited political representation, Puerto Ricans continue to exemplify loyalty and courage, embodying a deep commitment to freedom and democracy.”

Parade leaders: Comments are an ‘insult’

In Hartford, leaders of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade said they condemned the “outrageous, racist and misinformed statement about Puerto Rico.”

Sammy Vega Jr., one of the parade organizers, was watching the Trump rally on TV with his 15-year-old daughter. Vega said he used the opportunity to teach her the importance of educating others on their culture and being politically active.

“Enough is enough,” Vega told Connecticut Public. “That’s why we’re going to use our knowledge and power to educate the public and to come out and vote.”

Vega says Puerto Ricans have contributed greatly to the U.S. and should be respected.

“We are U.S. citizens that have given a lot to the United States,” Vega said. “We have produced many doctors, engineers, police officers — you name it, professionals.”

In their statement, Hartford parade leaders said that people choose to “speak with ignorance about Puerto Rico, spewing garbage statements. This insult will not diminish who we are or what we represent but should remind us the critical importance of voting on November 5th.”

Trump’s campaign reacts

Puerto Rican communities across New England and the rest of the U.S. were also blasting the remarks made at the rally. In Massachusetts, leaders described the comments as offensive and hateful. About 300,000 people in Massachusetts are of Puerto Rican descent. In Holyoke, about half of the city’s population is of Puerto Rican descent.

In a rare move late Sunday, the Trump campaign distanced itself from the Hinchcliffe’s remarks on Puerto Rico.

Trump’s vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, was asked about the insult during an appearance in Wausau, Wisconsin.

“Maybe it’s a stupid racist joke, as you said. Maybe it’s not. I haven’t seen it. I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the joke,” Vance said. “But I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released an ad that will run online in battleground states targeting Puerto Rican voters and highlighting the comedian’s remarks. Nearly 1 million Puerto Ricans live in battleground states.

The rally comments landed Harris a show of support from Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny and prompted reactions from Republicans in Florida and in Puerto Rico.

This story was first published Oct. 29, 2024 by Connecticut Public.