While many social problems are interconnected year-round, October is a time to confront several of the most serious — from preventing bullying and substance abuse, to raising awareness about domestic or intimate partner violence.
It’s also the month designated for action around youth justice: endeavoring to keep young people on positive paths, out of the juvenile delinquency system that can become a training ground for adult crime. Let’s consider such challenges, toward progress for the next generation and our entire state.
The issues begin with parenting stresses and early childhood, with implications for education, the economy and workforce, as well as public health, safety, and well-being. Poverty and racism are major factors, but suffering occurs across all communities, ethno-racial and socio-economic groups. Housing scarcity and untreated mental illness, exacerbated by alcohol and drugs that can fuel child neglect, are among other related troubles.
We can acknowledge this broad context but narrow the scope to priorities that the 119K Commission is raising around some 119,000 Connecticut residents ages 14-26, “disconnected” from school or work or “at risk” of becoming so. Yet we must also attend to what happens before the age of 14.
“Particularly vulnerable subgroups” and “intensive supports provided by community-based organizations”
Specifically, let’s address what the 2023 Dalio Education report called for: an “increasing focus on particularly vulnerable subgroups,” including “young people involved in child welfare.” (p. 48) Subsequently, Amanda Olberg of the Connecticut Opportunity Project at Dalio Education pointed to “in-school risk factors, such as attending a high-poverty high school or participating in alternative education, as well as out-of-school risk factors, such as previous involvement with the Department of Children and Families [DCF] or Connecticut’s Homeless Response System.” She continued, “young people who are disconnected need intensive supports provided by community-based organizations to help them reconnect to education and employment pathways.”
This reality drives many of us in this community sector, which complements public agencies — from DCF and the courts to schools — central to many young lives. Partnerships, both public-private and among various nonprofits, are a crucial ingredient in not only remediating but also preventing problems, including before children reach adolescence.
Partnerships toward prevention
One example, during this Youth Justice Action Month: Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is teaming with the Tow Youth Justice Institute to present a joint training on “Child Protection and the Juvenile Justice System: The Challenge of ‘Crossover Youth.’” Two such sessions will help volunteer advocates support young people on the “dependency” side of the juvenile court, toward preventing/mitigating their migration to the “delinquency” side, too. Such individuals are said to be “crossover youth” or “dually involved.”
Connecticut’s legislature had such preventative efforts in mind when it created both the Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee and the Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee—each of which is assisted by Tow Institute professionals.
Another example, during what is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Organizations that receive federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding, administered through the State Judicial Branch on a competitive basis, are making this vital mechanism more visible. As a recent article highlighted, there is an emerging VOCA coalition among numerous groups that aid survivors of crime, including sexual violence, child abuse, and neglect. Amid steady and in some cases surging demand for services, federal Crime Victims Fund dollars have been declining for years, putting acute pressure on providers of key services, with women and children affected disproportionately.
At the same time, the needs of boys and men cannot be ignored; indeed, by some measures (e.g., academic attainment) males are lagging, in turn affecting their families and parenting as they mature. Targeted mentoring efforts such as the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Alliance are warranted. With the Obama Foundation, MBK has identified six “milestones to success” that are meaningful, regardless of gender: from school readiness and reading by third grade, to high-school graduation, engagement in post-secondary education or work, and safety from violent crime.
The power of a caring adult
“…The power of that one strong adult relationship is a key ingredient in resilience — a positive, adaptive response in the face of significant adversity. . .”
—The Science of Resilience: Why Some Children Can Thrive Despite Adversity, Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Clearly, cultivating resilience is fundamental to anyone working with children and youth.
Resilience and other “Rs” of Court-Appointed Special Advocacy
As part of a national movement for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, Connecticut CASA’s volunteer advocates do many things, in concert with professionals from social workers and attorneys to educators and health providers. We work with and for children ranging from birth to 18, in both Foster Care and Protective Supervision (when youngsters remain with their families, if safely possible).
Among CASA’s contributions are five “Rs:”
Reporting regularly to judges, to inform decisions about children’s safe, permanent homes and best interests;
Resources/services identified—from birth-to-three, to special education, after-school, health, mental health, and summer jobs;
Relationship-building, through visits at least monthly, and cases that can extend for years;
Resilience promoted, to help children and youth overcome adversity;
Results that have seen this program grow rapidly, from a single court in New Haven in 2021 to seven (7) of the state’s 10 child protection courts by the end of 2023.
Interrupting cycles of trauma; opening paths forward
Trauma is often intergenerational, as “adverse childhood experiences” heighten the likelihood that violence, substances, abuse/neglect, incarceration or untreated mental health conditions will be repeated. In partnership with professionals and families themselves, Connecticut CASA’s aim is to interrupt this cycle, child by child, through caring adults, advocacy, and action.
For such individual interventions to add up to system change, the conditions and timing have to be favorable, collaboration sustained across sectors. Initiatives from the Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care to the 119K Commission reflect momentum in our state —one with the resources and scale to demonstrate nationally how to expand opportunities for all children and youth. Let’s work together, and get it done!
Josiah H. Brown is executive director of Connecticut CASA. He is also a former member of the board of Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven (now the Umbrella Center).