Month: July 2020

WETHERSFIELD, CT – The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, with the approval of Governor Ned Lamont, has added to its list of extended deadlines for Connecticut residents with expiring credentials. Eligible DMV credentials that expire between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 are automatically covered by this extension.

In addition to extending the expiration date of DMV credentials, late fees associated with eligible expired credentials will be waived during the time period of the extension for qualifying credentials.

Deadlines have been extended for the following DMV-related items:

All Licenses, Permits and Identification Cards

• Lengthens the credential extension to 90 days for credentials that expire between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020.

All Registrations Including International Registration Plan (IRP) and Boat Registrations

• For credentials expiring between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, credentials will be extended by 90 days from the expiration date.

Emissions Testing and Retesting

• For test due dates that fall between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, the due date will be extended by 90 days from the emissions expiration date.

Permanent Disability Placard

• Any permanent disability placard that expires at the same time as a credential that is subject to an extension, will be extended by 90 days.

Business Licenses

• For credentials expiring between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, credentials will be extended by 90 days from the expiration date.

Temporary Registrations

• Temporary registrations obtained between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 are extended by 90 days.

Temporary Licenses, IDs, Permits that Contain a Digital Image

• Expiration dates will be extended by 90 days for all temporary (paper) licenses obtained between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020.

Flashing Light Permits

• Expiration dates between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 are extended by 90 days.

School Bus Proficiency Tests

• Extends the validity of school bus proficiency tests that are due between August 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 by 90 days.

 

For answers to questions, updates or more information about these extensions or other previously-issued credential extensions:

• Visit www.ct.gov/dmv
• Call 860-263-5700 (within the Hartford area) or 1-800-842-8222 (outside the Hartford area)

 

The extensions are intended to help safeguard the general public against the spread of coronavirus/COVID-19 and to maintain social distance within offices. For up-to-date guidance on COVID-19 please visit ct.gov/coronavirus.

 

This press release was made possible by:

 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 32 of their senate colleagues in a letter led by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue critical flexibilities that have allowed students to access much-needed meals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. If extended throughout the 2020-2021 school year, children would maintain access regardless of school opening status, and struggling school nutrition programs would benefit from additional financial relief.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools around the country to close their buildings and shift instruction to online and distance-learning models,” the senators wrote. “For many children, school breakfast and lunch may be the only healthy and regular meals they receive.”

 

The senators continued, “The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in millions of parents losing their jobs, and millions more students will be dependent on school-provided meals. School meal program directors must begin procuring food, equipment, and supplies and placing orders now in preparation for the upcoming school year.”

 

To help ensure school meal program directors and staff have the certainty that they need to begin preparing for the upcoming school year, the Senators are urging the USDA to extend a variety of waivers that will help ensure low-income students can access school-provided meals throughout the upcoming school year.

 

Additionally, the senators are calling on the USDA to reimburse schools for the transportation costs for delivering meals to low-income students: “While many school meal programs are managing these costs for the time-being, they cannot continue absorbing them for the foreseeable future. We ask that the USDA make additional funds available to schools to assist with the cost of delivering meals to low-income students until regular school operations are restored.”

 

Former New Hampshire State Senator Nancy Stiles, whose advocacy on this issue helped prompt the letter, said, “As a former school nutrition director, and amid continued concerns about the children being ready to learn, I very much appreciate Senator Hassan’s very complete letter. She also recognizes the additional costs that it puts on the local programs in order to make sure our students are nutritionally fed. These students are our future and are experiencing these very difficult times.”

 

In addition to Senators Murphy, Blumenthal, Hassan and Collins the letter was also signed by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Doug Jones (D-AL), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tom Udall (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

 

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

 

Dear Secretary Perdue:

We write in support of the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) request that United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) extend a number of school meal program waivers for the entire 2020-2021 school year.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools around the country to close their buildings and shift instruction to online and distance-learning models. For many children, school breakfast and lunch may be the only healthy and regular meals they receive. We want to thank USDA for its flexibility granting waivers of school meal program requirements this past school year and this summer. The 2020-2021 school year will likely be marked by similar closures, with many children having to learn from home. The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in millions of parents losing their jobs, and millions more students will be dependent on school-provided meals. School meal program directors must begin procuring food, equipment, and supplies and placing orders now in preparation for the upcoming school year.

 

We were pleased that USDA extended a number of waivers for school meal program regulatory requirements until the end of the 2020-2021 school year, including the meal pattern requirement, the parent/guardian pickup requirement, the congregate feeding requirement, and the mealtime requirement. However, to help ensure school meal program directors and staff have the certainty they need to begin preparing for the upcoming school year, we urge you to also extend the following waivers nationwide until the end of the 2020-2021 school year:

 

•        Unexpected School Closures Waiver

•        Afterschool Activity Waiver

•        Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Parent Pick-Up Waiver

•        Waiver of Child Nutrition Monitoring

•        Waiver of Food Management Company Contract Duration Requirements

•        Waiver of Local School Wellness Assessments

•        Area Eligibility Waiver

•        Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) Waivers

 

Additionally, it has come to our attention that under the current regulations, the transportation costs for delivering meals to low-income students are not reimbursed by the USDA. While many school meal programs are managing these costs for the time-being, they cannot continue absorbing them for the foreseeable future. We ask that the USDA make additional funds available to schools to assist with the cost of delivering meals to low-income students until regular school operations are restored. 

During such an unprecedented crisis, we must ensure that schoolchildren have enough to eat. We thank USDA for all its work so far that helped keep children fed, and we ask that you continue doing everything you can to do the same for the upcoming school year.

 

This press release is made possible by:

 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), both members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would prohibit federal funds for police in schools, diverting existing resources towards the use of counselors, social workers, and other services and supports to help marginalized students and improve educational outcomes. Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act

would also provide a standalone grant program for districts to replace police personnel with counselors, social workers and other health providers. U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced the companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation is supported by the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Center for Law and Social Policy, SPLC Action Fund, Human Rights Campaign, National Urban League, the Justice Collaborative, Girls Inc. Advancement Project, Open Society Policy Center, the Center for Popular Democracy, National Women’s Law Center, Center for Disability Rights, Drug Policy Alliance, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Disability Rights Network, the Daniel Initiative, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, the Criminalization of Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, the National Center for Youth Law, Education Law Center (PA), PolicyLink, the Boston Teachers Union, the Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston, National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), and GLSEN.

 

“Police shouldn’t be in schools. There are plenty of better ways to ensure that our schools are safe places to learn, and Congress needs to understand how police in schools ends up with the wrong kids getting arrested for minor disciplinary actions and resources being drained from more effective programs. And we know that Black and Latino kids are disproportionately affected, as they are referred and arrested at drastically higher rates than their white peers. If we are going to begin to tackle systemic racism in this country, we must start by addressing the racial inequities in our education system, and getting police out of classrooms is a necessary first step,” said Murphy. “In Connecticut, in the wake of a horrific school shooting, many schools hired police officers to enhance the peace of mind of parents. But now we have plenty of evidence to show that there are far better ways to ensure kids’ safety, and that these police officers are contributing to a civil rights crisis that we must address.”

 

“Every student should be able to learn in a setting free from fear,” said Pressley. “But for too many young people—particularly Black and brown students, immigrant students, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students and other historically marginalized students—the very presence of police officers in schools increases the likelihood that they will be criminalized and put on a path to confinement for everyday childhood behavior. Instead of criminalizing our students and funding an ever growing police presence in our public schools, it’s time to finally invest in the critical staff like counselors, nurses and social workers who actually make our schools safer. The Counseling Not Criminalization Act is bold legislation that will disrupt the school to confinement pathway by prohibiting federal funds from being used to over-police and criminalize our students and instead encourages schools to invest in the trauma informed personnel and health care staff necessary to equip all students to learn and thrive.”  

 

“Counselors, nurses, social workers, and educators belong in schools. Police do not,” said Warren. “Our bill will bring us one step closer to ending the militarization of our public schools that disproportionately hurts Black and Brown students, ending the school-to-prison pipeline, and ensuring we give every child the resources they need to feel safe and thrive.”

 

“Schools should be places of learning, not law enforcement. As a mother of three beautiful Black children and a Minneapolis public schools graduate, I have seen firsthand how Black and brown children are disproportionately punished, reprimanded, suspended and expelled in our schools,” said Omar. “In Minneapolis, black students are 41% of the student population, but make up three quarters of all suspensions. At one middle school in my district, African American students were 338% more likely to be suspended than their white peers last year. If we’re going to tackle systemic racism, we need to start at childhood. That means getting police out of schools. I am proud to lead this bill with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Ayanna Pressley—and look forward to our partnership in getting this passed into law.”

 

Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act seeks to:

 

·      Divert federal funding away from supporting the presence of police in schools and toward evidence-based services that address the needs of marginalized students and improve academic outcomes; and support local education agencies that want to terminate their contracts with local law enforcement agencies and invest public funding in personnel and services that create safe and inclusive schools for all students.

 

This press release is made possible by:

 

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont announced today that his administration is launching the Everybody Learns initiative: a $43.5 million investment in remote learning solutions to close the digital divide in Connecticut and empower students across the state to learn from home, especially as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues impacting the country. The governor said that the funding – which comes from the state’s portion of the federal CARES Act, the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund – will be used to purchase 50,000 laptops for students, 12 months of access to at-home internet for 60,000 students, create public hotspots free to the public at 200 community sites across the state, and offer social-emotional learning content to school districts statewide.

 

“There are few responsibilities more important to me as Governor than ensuring all students in Connecticut receive a high-quality, world-class education,” Governor Lamont said. “In 2020, it is paramount that every Connecticut student has access to high-speed internet, quality digital learning content, and a reliable and effective learning device. Too often, students of color and those in low-income communities are disproportionately disadvantaged by not having access to the learning technologies they need. Today I am taking measures to close this inequitable digital divide and ensure all of our students are set up for success with remote learning.”

 

The number of students identified as in need of access to laptops and at-home internet is based on survey information that was submitted to the State Department of Education and the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology. The state will purchase the at-home internet access through several broadband internet companies, including Altice USA/Optimum, Atlantic Broadband, Comcast, Cox, and Charter. The personal hotspots will be covered by  cellular signals through the student hotspot provider Kajeet.

 

The Office of the Governor, State Department of Education, Department of Administrative Services, Office of Policy and Management, and the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology will coordinate with internet companies and school districts to ensure students receive the learning devices as quickly as possible, and the form of internet coverage that meets their needs and empowers them to participate in high-quality remote learning. Likewise, internet providers have agreed to work closely with the administration and school IT directors to support households that have students who will be learning this fall.

 

“In order to support remote learning needs for our learners, we need to make sure they are connected,” Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona said. “Addressing the digital divide has become our priority since a device and connection are no longer luxuries. Once connected, they must also have access to high-quality content to promote learning and social-emotional development. Under the leadership of Governor Lamont, our commitment remains focused on amplifying social-emotional supports for students and educators, and advancing equitable access to high-quality, high-impact, student-centered remote learning anytime, anywhere.”

 

The State Department of Education has made social and emotional well-being and mental health supports a priority given its relationship to improving conditions for learning and ultimately improving students’ school and life outcomes. During the long period of class cancellation, the need for quality social-emotional and mental health supports for students and educators has been intensified by pandemic related trauma, anxiety, and distance from the relationships formed at school. Putting a strong program of social and emotional learning (SEL) and mental health supports in place can ease the transition and mitigate issues that may otherwise occur. The department will devote CARES Act funding to supplement the development of a statewide SEL framework that will support educator professional learning and implementation of evidence-based programs. In addition, the department will:

 

·       Provide professional learning through RESCs and SERC to support educators in providing social and emotional supports;

·       Provide resources to districts for delivery of general behavioral and mental health screening; and

·       Promote the implementation of universal SEL curriculum/programming at the district level and secure resources for outreach or professional learning on Equity, Implicit Bias, and Inclusion.

 

“Educational equity in the 21^st century means that all students, no matter zip code or race, have access to technology resources that allow them to learn from home, on the go, and in the classroom,” Doug Casey, executive director of the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology said. “Today’s investments take a significant step forward in closing the digital divide for learners of all ages across our state.”

 

The 200 hotspots will be open to the public at no cost to the user. The state will partner with the Connecticut Education Network (CEN) to utilize the fiber and infrastructure it already provides to sites in communities across the state and boost signals for the public at large to be able to access for free.

 

“CEN is thrilled to be working with the state to do what we do best, leverage our unique and high-quality fiber network to help Connecticut residents access reliable and fast internet coverage” Ryan Kocsondy, director of the Connecticut Education Network, said.

 

“At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, a huge focus for Altice USA and Optimum was ensuring that all students had access to broadband connectivity to enable them to continue their studies through the end of the school year,” Lee Schroeder, Altice USA executive vice president for government and community affairs, said. “We are proud to be working with Governor Lamont and the State of Connecticut to ensure continued connectivity for students as we head into the 2020-21 school year, and we applaud Connecticut’s approach to bring together schools, government, and broadband providers to help solve the digital divide together.”

 

“We are honored to partner with Governor Lamont to support families as we all prepare for the back to school season,” Dennis Mathew, senior vice president for Comcast’s Western New England region, said. “As Connecticut continues to manage the COVID-19 emergency, we recognize that Internet Essentials from Comcast plays an important role in helping residents stay connected and we appreciate the commitment of Governor Lamont and his team, especially during this unprecedented time.”

 

“We are committed to bringing reliable, high-performance broadband internet to homes that need it most, as work-from-home and online learning has become necessary in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Juan Dominguez, vice president of sales for Atlantic Broadband, said. “We are pleased to help make this initiative possible, and will work closely with state officials and our local school districts to ensure that serviceable households with students currently lacking connectivity will have great internet backed with local customer care and professional technical support.”

 

Districts will begin receiving communication from the state today about the process by which they will receive their laptops, broadband vouchers, or Kajeet hotspots. Community sites will soon receive communication from CEN about hotspots.

 

This press release was made possible by:

 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced the COVID-19 Medical Debt Collection Relief Act, legislation to prevent health care providers from taking drastic steps to collect medical debts from patients – including seizing bank accounts and garnishing wages.

 

Nearly one in four working-age American adults report having problems paying their medical bills. As our nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial and health consequences of medical debt are even more troubling. Reporting across the country has shown that some hospitals continue to seize bank accounts and garnish wages in order to collect medical debts, preventing Americans from using these funds to meet basic needs, like buying food or paying rent. The COVID-19 pandemic has also underscored longstanding racial inequities in our health care system. Data shows that Black and Latinx individuals are three times more likely to contract COVID-19 and twice as likely to die from COVID-19 – these same communities face significantly higher rates of debt collection and wage garnishment while simultaneously having less accrued savings and wealth.

 

In May, Murphy and Van Hollen sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar urging him to take action to prevent hospitals from garnishing workers’ wages as a means to collect medical debt and that HHS should not provide emergency relief funds to hospitals undertaking this practice on consumers. Over the past year, Senator Murphy held listening sessions in Norwich and Stamford to hear from patients, advocates, and researchers about the impact of medical debt in communities across Connecticut.

 

“In the richest country in the world, you shouldn’t go bankrupt just because you get sick. But that is exactly what is happening in America right now, even as our country faces a once-in-a-century health and economic crisis. The legislation Senator Van Hollen and I are introducing today suspends all extraordinary actions by health providers for medical debt during the COVID-19 pandemic and holds health care providers and their agents liable for failure to comply. Medical debt accounts for almost two-thirds of all bankruptcies in this country, and as our country faces double digit unemployment, we shouldn’t be giving Americans one more reason to worry,” said Senator Murphy.

 

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across our country and families struggle to pay their rent and put food on the table, it’s unconscionable that some hospitals continue to seize patients’ wages and bank accounts to collect medical debts. This draconian practice can strip families of all they’ve got in one fell swoop. We should never allow medical debts to ruin peoples’ livelihoods – but especially not as we face this pandemic. That’s why we have introduced this legislation, and I’ll be pressing my colleagues to include these urgent protections in the next COVID-19 relief package,” said Senator Van Hollen.

  

“In the middle of a pandemic, families are struggling with medical debt. Through this bill, Senators Van Hollen and Murphy are standing up for consumers by creating a reprieve for tens of thousands of families who are grappling with medical debt right now, and need time to get back on track financially,” said National Consumer Law Center Attorney Jenifer Bosco.

 

“As families across the country continue to struggle to make ends meet during the pandemic, we cannot allow the threat of sky-high bills or medical debt to deter people from seeking care for themselves or a family member,” said Emily Stewart, executive director of Community Catalyst. “Aggressive medical debt collection practices disproportionately target Black Americans, who are already facing the brunt of the crisis through higher death and infection rates and job losses. Congressional action is urgently needed to alleviate the pressure medical debt has and will continue to cause families if it’s left unaddressed. We applaud Senators Van Hollen and Murphy for their leadership in proposing legislation that would put critical protections in place to shield people from medical debt during this crisis.”

 

The COVID-19 Medical Debt Collection Relief Act would:

·        Suspend all extraordinary collection actions by health care providers for all medical debt (e.g. wage garnishment, bank account seizure) during the covered period (i.e. from February 1, 2020 until the later of the end of the public health emergency or 18 months after enactment of this bill).

·        Allow suspension of existing repayment plans during the covered period for any medical debt, and ensure reasonable forbearance and repayment options for consumers. Interest or fees shall not accrue while the payment plan is suspended.

·        Implement consumer protections for medical debt that was incurred between February 1, 2020 and 60 days after the end of the public health emergency for COVID-19-related testing and treatment, including:

o   One-year extension of federal and state health insurance appeal deadlines;

o   Prohibition on accrual and collection of fees and interest related to these debts;

o   Prohibition on any extraordinary collection actions.

·        Hold health care providers and their agents liable for failure to comply.

 

This press release is made possible by:

 

Experts say we are in for a busy hurricane season this summer and the American Red Cross needs volunteers to help in our community.

“The coronavirus pandemic will make it challenging to deploy trained disaster volunteers from other parts of the country should an emergency occur. In light of this, the Red Cross is asking you to be ready to help your community,” said Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross in Connecticut and Rhode Island. “Train now to be a Red Cross volunteer and answer the call to help if the need arises here in our region.”

Full information on volunteer opportunities is available here. 

SHELTER HELP NEEDED There is a special need for volunteers to support sheltering efforts. Because of COVID-19, the Red Cross is placing those needing a safe place to stay in emergency hotel lodging when possible. If hotel stays aren’t possible, then the Red Cross will open traditional shelters. To help keep people safe, we have put in place additional precautions and developed special training for our workforce.

We need volunteers to help staff shelter reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks to help those we serve. We have both associate and supervisory level opportunities available.

HEALTH SERVICES SUPPORT NEEDED If you are an RN, LPN, LVN, APRN, NP, EMT, paramedic, MD/DO or PA with an active, current and unencumbered license, the Red Cross needs your support. Volunteers are needed in shelters to help assess people’s health. Daily observation and health screening for COVID-19-like illness among shelter residents may also be required. RNs supervise all clinical tasks. 

Roles are also available for Certified Nursing Assistants, Certified Home Health Aides, student nurses and medical students. We need volunteers who can provide care as delegated by a licensed nurse in shelters. This could include assisting with activities of daily living, personal assistance services, providing health education and helping to replace medications, durable medical equipment or consumable medical supplies.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING If you are interested in helping our community should a disaster occur, please go toredcross.org/volunteertoday or contact Sarah Scheel: sarah.scheel@redcross.org, 860-426-5795.

Be sure to review the CDC guidance for people who are at higher risk for severe illness, consult your health care provider and follow local guidance. Our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees, volunteers and the people we serve.

About the American Red Cross: 

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross. 

 

This press release was made possible by: