20,000 Mattresses Recycled in CT's First-in-Nation Program Since May 1

Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation mattress recycling program, Bye Bye Mattress, has recycled 20,000 mattresses since it began in May, according to program officials. The groundbreaking program was established by state law in 2013, calling for the manufacturers and consumers of mattresses to pay for their end-of-life disposal under a concept called product stewardship. Connecticut has a similar product stewardship program for paint, one of only six states in the nation to institute that program.

The Connecticut mattress recycling program, launched on May 1, is funded by a $9 fee collected from consumers when a new mattress or box spring is sold. The program is administered by the Mattress Recycling Council, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization created by the International Sleep Products Association (ISPA). The organization’s Board of Directors includes individuals who are employed by some of the industry leaders, including King Koil, Serta Simmons, Tempur Sealy and Paramount Sleep.  It is based in Alexandria, VA.

Under the program, dubbed “Bye Bye Mattress,” any used mattress that is discarded for municipal collection, picked up by a retailer, or dropped off by a consumer in Connecticut will be sent to a mattress recycler, who will break it down to reuse its components for other products.

Connecticut’s Public Act 13-42 (enacted in 2013 and amended in 2014) required the mattress industry to create a statewide recycling program for mattresses discarded in the state.  When the program began, nearly 50 cities and towns across the state were participating to recycle the mattresses and box springs collected at their solid waste transfer stations.

Among those facilities is Park City Green in Bridgeport where employees break down old mattresses into its recyclable parts. Officials say they recycle 96 percent of mattress materials into usable products: the covers (which can be turned into mattress pads), the cotton stuffing (turned into fabric), the foam (automobile padding), wood pieces (mulch), and springs (reforged steel).  The program diverts mattresses from waste-to-energy facilities and landfills and allows materials like fiber, foam, steel and wood to be reused. 

Residents drop-off their used mattresses and box springs at no-cost. Then, MRC provides the collection container, transportation from the facility to the recycler and the mattress recycling services at no-cost.  MRC continues to enroll interested municipal transfer stations in the program.  A fact sheet about the program has been developed, Connecticut Recycling Program  for interested municipalities, providing information about the benefits of participating. 

A $2 reimbursement per mattress is only given at the program’s two participating recycling facilities (Recyc-Mattresses in East Hartford or Park City Green in Bridgeport). It is limited to four units per person per day; eight per person per year.

MRC is also working with mattress retailers, hotels, military facilities, universities, healthcare facilities and other public and private entities in Connecticut to divert mattresses from the solid waste stream. It will report the program’s progress to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection annually in October.  Earlier this month, students and staff at Central Connecticut State University recycled mattresses from student dorms as part of the program.

A similar statewide mattress recycling program was adopted by the Rhode Island legislature in 2013 and is due to launch in 2016.  To participate, Rhode Island producers must have joined the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) by July 1, 2015, according to the organization’s website.  Producer is defined as any person who manufactures or renovates a mattress that is sold, offered for sale or distributed in Rhode Island under the manufacturer’s own name or brand.  California’s program, enacted in 2013 and amended in 2014, is also expected to begin statewide in 2016, administered by the Mattress Recycling Council.

The MRC notes that more than 50,000 mattresses end up in landfills every day.  The recycling programs aim to reduce that number. Each year, 35 to 40 million new mattresses and box springs are sold in the United States, and at least 15 to 20 million used mattresses and box springs are discarded.

https://youtu.be/Gsi6KgnvJF4

With Resignation, Recommendations for Higher Education May Receive Renewed Attention

With the resignation of Board of Regents for Higher Education President Gregory Gray – announced Friday and effective December 31 – there may be renewed review of structural recommendations enumerated in the state’s Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education, published earlier this year after a more than year-long study, and the subject of legislative action during the 2015 General Assembly session. Developed by the Planning Commission for Higher Education, which was created by the Connecticut General Assembly and chaired by Judith Resnick of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the 19-member Commission included high-ranking individuals from higher education, state government and business.  A revised commission was established by the state legislature earlier this year in legislation (Public Act 15-75)  that took effect this summer, advancing many of the planning commission's recommendations. The new law  "requires the Board of Regents (BOR) president to implement Planning Commission strategic master plan goals. It also narrows many BOR duties prescribed by law from a statewide to a BOR institution-specific scale," according to the official summary of the legislation.

Regarding higher education policy leadership in Connecticut, the Planning Commission indicated in a comprehensive 23-page report that “since the abolition of the former Department of Higher Education, Connecticut has not had an entity responsible for policy formulation and leadership for the higher education system as a whole.”  The Department was abolished in 2011.   The Board of Regents, created that year, oversees the four Connecticut State University campuses, the state’s 12 community colleges and Charter Oak State College.  The University of Connecticut operates separately.

The report indicates that “the Board of Regents is appropriately focused on the important work associated with forging a system out of the disparate institutions under its purview. The UCONN Board of Trustees is similarly narrowly engaged in oversight of the institutions within its jurisdiction. The Office of Higher Education is an administrative and regulatory agency, not an entity taking the broad view of higher education policy and leading efforts to create a supportive policy environment.”

“What Connecticut needs – and does not have,” the report stresses, is “an entity or venue that has the authority and responsibility to:

• Establish, build consensus around, and sustain attention to long-term goals for post-secondary-level education attainment — or for the whole education system, P-20.
• Develop the metrics and data/information system necessary for measuring progress toward goals and holding the system accountable for performance
• Report annually on progress toward achieving the established goals
• Conduct highly respected analyses that can inform policy deliberations
• Provide a venue to discuss the challenges in reaching these goals and to shape recommendations to the Governor and Legislature on an action agenda to achieve goals (e.g., a two-year agenda toward long-term goals)

The report notes that “the population of Connecticut…is not educated to high enough levels to meet the skilled workforce needs in the foreseeable future.”  A series of short- and long-term recommendations include finance and policy leadership proposals, accountability and governance/decision making authority changes, and regulatory revisions.

The Strategic Plans calls for such an entity to have “a degree of independence from, but trusting relationships with the state’s political leadership (the Governor and General Assembly) and the leaders of higher education institutions. To have the stature necessary to be effective,” according to the report, the entity “must be composed of the state’s most influential civic, business/industry, and cultural leaders and represent the diversity of the state’s population.” The 2015 law "requires the state, BOR, and UConn's Board of Trustees to align their policies with the three recommended goals of the Planning Commission's strategic master plan."  Those goals are:

1. increase the education levels of the state's adult population,

2. develop a globally competitive workforce and economy in the state, and

3. ensure higher education affordability for state residents.

The legislation passed earlier this year also establishes a Higher Education Coordinating Council which meets annually and consists of "the two BOR vice-presidents, the Office of Policy and Managment Secretary, the education commissioner, the UConn president, the UConn chief academic officer, the UConn BOT chairperson, the BOR chairperson, and the BOR president."

CT-N coverage of Commission's January 2015 meeting, prior to issuance of its report and recommendations. 

Putnam Pushing New Reputation as Arts and Culture Mecca, Gaining Recognition

When the Connecticut Main Street Center announced its Award of Excellence would go to the Town of Putnam, the Putnam Business Association, and the Putnam Arts Council for First Fridays in Downtown Putnam, there may have been more than one individual uncertain as to why. Many around the state may have been unaware of the northeastern Connecticut community’s goal of connecting artists, audiences, and arts and culture agencies to enhance the economic vitality of the community, while also showcasing downtown assets including a Bandstand and Outdoor Stage, the Downtown Farmers' Market Pavilion, and the local scenic River Trail.

Driven by the vision to create a 'sense of place' and feature their downtown destination, the Town, the Business Association and the Arts Council collaborated to launch a monthly arts and culturally based Street Faire from May to October each year.  Now in its fifth year, the initiative has proven quite successful.

In 2014, approximately 3,000 people attended each event, with 15-20 street artisan vendors participating. The success of First Fridays has demonstrated the town's credentials as a 'destination' in Connecticut. Putnam was voted #4 Fan Favorite Town through the state Office of Tourism in 2013, and #2 Town in 2014 - the only town in the top 5 without waterfront. To overcome the obstacles of empty storefronts, the Putnam community worked diligently to reinvent itself as the arts and cultural hub of northeastern Connecticut, leading to recognition by Boston Magazine as "One of the Best 15 Small Towns to Visit in New England".

First Fridays define cultural diversity with a different theme each month. These themes are explored through dance, theatre & storytelling, architecture, song, food, and folklore.  Each monthly theme includes: 'Art Attacks' - random acts of art to surprise, entertain, and educate; 'Menu Celebrations' - local restaurants designing and creating menu specials to pair with the monthly theme; plus street bands, artisan vendors, and children events.

This year, the overarching theme is 'A Century of Art'.  To start this year, the monthly themes have been:  May - Turn of the Century; June - The Roaring 20's / The Jazz Age; July - The 1940's / WWII and the Arts; August - Pop Art of the 1960's;.  Still to come: September - The 1980's / Urban Art; and October - Turn of the Century / The Digital Age.

First Fridays "feature great live entertainment, a variety of art vendors lining the streets, fun and interactive art projects, and stimulating events" hosted by such downtown galleries as Arts & Framing and the Sochor Gallery, The Empty Spaces Project Gallery, Sawmill Potteryand Silver Circle Gallery, according to the event website. Officials say that since the inception of First Fridays, the exponential growth has been manageable only because of business partners, volunteers and partners stepping up to assist with the Town administration. Town employees provide services for sound systems, street closures and safety measures. Police traffic patrol has been set in place; corps of volunteers handle facilities management; and valet service companies have been hired by restaurants to assist with parking.

Putnam has begun to be described as “a mecca of revitalization and community pride.” Participants last year, for example, were given disposable cameras to take shots of Downtown architecture. The photos were then pieced to create a 9' X 3' collage spelling out the word "PUTNAM".  Educating and advocating through multi-disciplinary and inter-generational events has earned new found recognition for Putnam, and made First Fridays a destination for audiences from Northeast Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.  All of which makes the recognition from the Connecticut Main Street Center less surprising.

Three CT Counties Among the Nation's 244 Most Dense in Population, Comprising Half Nation's Residents

New York City's borough of Manhattan has about 1.6 million residents sharing just under 23 square miles of land. Meanwhile, 669 square mile Loving County, TX has just 86 residents, Business Insider reports in an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's population estimates and their tabulations of the land area of each county, 50.1 percent of the US population lives in the nation’s densest counties, indicated in dark purple on the illustrated map, which highlights the wide dispersion in the population density of the US's 3,142 counties. The 244 densest US counties are shown in dark purple, developed using U.S. Census Bureau data for 2014.

The nation's largest populations, by county, are in Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County, IL; Harris County, TX; Maricopa County, AZ, San Diego County, CA; Orange County, CA, Miami-Dade County, FL and Kings County, NY. 

The most populous county in Connecticut, Fairfield County, ranked 51^st by population (945,438) among the nation’s counties.  Just behind are Hartford County, ranked 59^th (897,985) and New Haven County, ranked 64^th (861,277).

All three are among the 244 densest U.S. counties that comprise just over half of the nation's population.

Connecticut, Pakistan Have Similar Economic Output, Analysis Finds

Connecticut is Pakistan. A review of state-by-state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for 2014 matches economic output in U.S. states to foreign countries with comparable nominal GDPs.  Connecticut’s GDP, which ranks 23^rd among the states, is comparable to the nation of Pakistan – just over $250 billion.

The U.S. map, with names of nations with comparable GDP’s, “helps put America’s GDP of nearly $18 trillion in 2014 into perspective by comparing the GDP of US states to other country’s entire national GDP,” according to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which developed the comparative analysis.

Among the highlights, as described by AEI:

1. America’s largest state economy is California, which produced $2.31 trillion of economic output in 2014, just slightly below Brazil’s GDP in the same year of $2.35 trillion. In 2014, California as a separate country would have been the 8th largest economy in the world, ahead of Italy ($2.1 trillion) and India ($2.04 trillion) and Russia ($1.86 trillion). And California’s population is only 38.8 million compared to Brazil’s population of 200.4 million, which means California produces the same economic output as Brazil with 81% fewer people.
2. America’s second largest state economy – Texas – produced $1.65 trillion of economic output in 2014, placing it just slightly behind the world’s 11th largest country by GDP – Canada – with $1.78 trillion of economic output.
3. Saudi Arabia’s GDP in 2014 at $752 billion was just slightly more than the state GDP of Illinois ($746 billion).
4. America’s third largest state – New York with a GDP in 2013 of $1.4 trillion – produced the same amount of economic output last year as Spain ($1.4 trillion), even though Spain’s population of 47.3 million people is more than twice the number of people living in New York (19.75 million).
5. Other comparisons: Florida ($840 billion) produced about the same GDP in 2014 as the Netherlands ($866 billion), Pennsylvania ($663 billion) produces almost as much as the entire country of Switzerland ($712 billion) and Ohio ($583 billion) produces more than the entire country of Nigeria ($573 billion).

Connecticut’s GDP of $253 billion is close to that of Pakistan, which was $250 billion in 2014.  Among the other New England states, Massachusetts had a GNP of $459 billion, slightly higher than that of Iran ($404 billion), New Hampshire’s GDP of $71 billion was comparable to Syria’s nearly $72 billion, and Rhode Island’s $54 billion GDP was similar to Ethiopia’s $52 billion.

The comparison was developed by Mark J. Perry, concurrently a scholar at American Enterprise Institute and a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan's Flint campus. For each US state (and the District of Columbia), he determined the country closest in economic size in 2014 (measured by nominal GDP).  For each state, there was a country “with a pretty close match,” he found.

Overall, the analysis indicated, the US produced 22.5% of world GDP in 2014, with only about 4.6% of the world’s population. Three of America’s states (California, Texas and New York) – as separate countries – would rank in the world’s top 14 largest economies. And one of those states – California – produced more than $2 trillion in economic output in 2014 – and the other two (Texas and New York) produced more than $1.6 trillion and $1.4 trillion of GDP in 2014 respectively.

Go Ask ALICE – Child Care Front and Center

The phrase “go ask ALICE” may have been a lyric a few decades ago, but today it is taking on renewed significance when assessing the day-to-day life challenges of a surprisingly large segment of Connecticut’s population, an updated report by Connecticut United Ways shows. In Connecticut, 1-in-4 households have earnings that exceed the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) but fall short of a basic cost of living threshold. The United Way has defined these households as ALICE-an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and together with the 10% of Connecticut households in poverty, more than one-third of Connecticut households (35%) are struggling to make ends meet.

The original analysis revealed last fall has now been updated and expended with new data, which indicates that cost of child care is a significant burden, and that child care is “often the single-largest expense for families with young children.”

The Connecticut ALICE Report estimates that the cost of child care for two children (1 preschooler and 1 infant) is at least 28% of the monthly expenses included in the Household Survival Budget for a family of four. In a newly released ALICE Update, the latest available cost data from 2-1-1 Child Care is used to examine the biggest child care challenges facing ALICE families in Connecticut:

1. Child care is often the single-largest expense for families with young children, with limited options for affordable infant and toddler care posing a significant challenge. This is especially true for ALICE families.
2. Child care subsidies are available for working families, but some ALICE families have earnings that exceed the eligibility threshold, and others struggle to cover the difference between the subsidy and the provider fee.
3. Availability and cost of child care varies throughout the state, limiting options for ALICE families who may not be able to find child care providers they can afford that are located near where they work or live.
4. There are limited child care options that are available during evening, night, or weekend shifts. 2nd shift, 3rd shift, and weekend hours are more common among low- to moderate-income ALICE workers. When work schedules are unpredictable, and vary from week to week, it can be hard for ALICE families to find child care when they need it.

The most recent fee data available from 2-1-1 Child Care estimates the statewide average cost of full-time child care in a licensed center-based day care setting is $211/week for 1 preschooler and $253/week for an infant, which adds up to $2,011 per month. This may be less than what many Connecticut families pay for child care each month, due to variations in cost and availability throughout the state, differences in family size, and other costs associated with child care that are not included—such as the cost of alternate care arrangements when the child care setting is closed

The report indicates that statewide, the average weekly cost of Infant/Toddler care ranges from $135 to $400 in Home-Based settings and from $175 to $400 in Center-Based settings. The high cost of Infant/Toddler care creates the greatest burden, as the weekly cost amounts to the highest percentage of median income in both Home-Based (30.9%) and Center-Based (48.8%) settings in Hartford, where the median income is $29,430/year.

Adding to the challenge posed by the high cost of Infant/Toddler care is the fact that its availability varies throughout the state. There are six municipalities in the state that have no licensed Center- or Home-Based Infant/Toddler child care providers at all, and 15 that only have a single provider offering Infant/Toddler care in their town. A total of 52 Connecticut towns have two to five providers of Infant/Toddler care, and the remaining 96 municipalities have at least six providers who offer Infant/Toddler care.

The report also indicates that “there are limited child care options available during evening, night or weekend shifts, and it can be hard for ALICE families to find childcare when they need it.”  The vast majority of Center-Based child care providers in Connecticut do not offer evening or weekend care, according to the report. Another challenge for ALICE workers without stable, predictable work schedules is that child care providers are typically paid for a full week of care in advance, whether the care is ultimately used or not. When work schedules change from week to week or on short notice, ALICE families may end up paying for child care that they do not use.

In November 2014, Connecticut United Ways released the first statewide ALICE Report, a data-driven, comprehensive research project that quantifies the situation confronting many low-income working families across our state - in our urban, suburban and rural communities. The Report documents that the number of Connecticut households unable to afford all of life's basic necessities far exceeds the official federal poverty statistics.

Since 2008, CT’s Tuition Increases at Public Universities Nearly $2,000, Ranks 28th

The rate of tuition increases at Connecticut’s public colleges and universities between 2008 and 2015 ranks Connecticut 28^th in the nation, with an increase of 22.8 percent, or just under $2,000 per student.  The tuition increases in Arizona, Hawaii, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida and California, all exceeding 60 percent, were highest in the nation. Overall, since the 2007-8 academic year, average annual tuition has increased 29 percent, or just over $2,000 nationally, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  On average, states are spending 20 percent or less in 2015 than they did in 2008.  Connecticut is spending 16.7 percent less.

Published tuition -- the "sticker price" -- at public four-year institutions rose in 34 states over the past year, but only modestly. But since the 2007-08 school year, average annual published tuition has risen by $2,068 nationally, or 29 percent, above the rate of inflation.

The share of students graduating from public universities with debt has risen, according to the Center’s analysis. Between the 2007-08 and 2012-13 school years, the share of students graduating from a public four-year institution with debt rose from 55 to 59 percent. At the same time, the average amount of debt held by the average bachelor's degree recipient with loans at a public four-year institution grew 16 percent -- from $22,000 to $25,600 (in 2013 dollars).

Forty-seven states -- all except Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming -- are spending less per student in the 2014-15 school year than they did at the start of the recession.  Connecticut ranks 34^th on the list of states spending below pre-recession levels at 16.7 percent less.  The most dramatic drop is in Arizona (47%), Louisiana (42%), South Carolina (38%), and Alabama and Pennsylvania (36%).  The analysis compares state spending in 2008 and 2015.

UConn plans a 6.5 percent increase in tuition and fees next year; the Board of Regents for Higher Education has approved a 4.8 percent increase for students attending the four regional state universities.  The state legislature approved legislation this year that would have added two students to the UConn Board of Trustees, in part to give students a strong voice in recognition of the increasing percentage of tuition that is now paid by students.  The plan was vetoed by Gov. Malloy.  The total in-state undergraduate cost of attending UConn, including tuition, room and board, will be about $25,500 in 2015-2016, up from about $24,500, according to published reports.

The Center’s study found that over the past year, as states have started to restore funding for public higher education, tuition hikes have been much smaller than in recent years.  Just seven states -- Louisiana, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Virginia, and Mississippi -- raised tuition by more than $300, after inflation.

The change in average tuition at public four-year colleges, adjusted for inflation, between fiscal years 2008 and 2014 placed Connecticut in the middle of the states, ranking 25^th with an increase of $1,695.  The largest increase was in Arizona ($4,493) and the laws in Montana ($253).

Start-Up Business Accelerator Program Selected to Receive Federal Funds to Expand Impact

The LaunchPad for Impact is an accelerator program for early-stage ventures that equips entrepreneurs with tools, resources, and guidance to test drive business assumptions and build a business model that delivers peak value and impact. The program, developed and operated in Hartford by reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust, has been selected to receive a cash prize of $50,000 from the U.S. Small Business Adminstration (SBA), one of only 80 organizations in the country to be designated to receive the funding. Selected in the SBA's Growth Accelerator Competition, LaunchPad for Impact  is the only Connecticut accelerator to receive an award this year.  President Obama made the announcement this week from the White House of awards totallying $4.4 million. The award includes a $50,000 cash prize to help fund the Hartford-based accelerator, and provides public recognition.  Overall, the recipients represent 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. 

The selected accelerators across the nation serve entrepreneurs in a broad set of industries and sectors – from manufacturing and tech start-ups, to farming and biotech – with many focused on creating a diverse and inclusive small business community.  "The entrepreneurial ecosystem in America is incredibly exciting and very powerful,” said Javier Saade, Associate Administrator for the U.S. Office of Investment and Innovation.  Elsewhere in New England, three Massachusetts programs were selected, as were two Maine initiatives, and one in both Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

Through customer feedback, expert guidance, and a peer network, Launchpad for Impact helps transform a start-up business or concept in to a scaleable model by helping entrepreneurs learn quicker, pivot where necessary, and move forward with a better chance of success. Through peer to peer feedback from other entrepreneurs, expert coaching, and an innovative online platform that captures validation and measures investment readiness,  participants “get the data, knowledge, and tools needed to pitch to clients, investors, and partners. In an environment where most start-up businesses fail, this program helps you get the validation and sound evidence you need to support your business model,” the program website indicates.

Thus far, the program has included 138 social entrepreneurs in Connecticut, helped launch or accelerate 54 impact ventures, and awarded over $75,000 in funding to early stage ventures in the past two years, according to the program website. Participants meet for nine scheduled, in person sessions and are offered supplemental workshops in multiple areas of business development.

In the SBA competition, applications were judged by more than 40 experts with entrepreneurial, investment, startup, economic development, capital formation and academic backgrounds from both the public and private sector.  The first panel of judges reviewed over 400 applications and presentations and established a pool of 180 highly qualified finalists.  The second panel evaluated the finalists’ presentations and pitch videos and selected the 80 winners.

“SBA is continuing to make advances in supporting unique organizations that help the start-up community grow, become commercially viable, and have a real and sustained economic impact,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “Through the wide-spread outreach of this competition, we are able to reach entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country. My commitment is to make our resources available to 21st century entrepreneurs where they are, and these accelerators, also known as incubators and innovation hubs, are the gathering place for today’s innovators and disruptors.”

Correctional Institutions or Institutions for the Mentally Ill? Governments Seek New Solutions

How to effectively respond to the fact that America’s prisons have rapidly become de facto institutions for the mentally ill is increasingly gaining attention in policy circles and the news media.  In recent days, The New York Times, Governing magazine, and other publications have focused both on the alarming statistics and some innovative approaches across the country. There are now 10 times as many mentally ill people in the nation’s 5,000 jails and prisons as there are in state mental institutions, according to a study last year by the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit group that supports expanded access to treatment, the Times reported.

In Connecticut, out of the 16,154 inmates in state prisons, about 3,423 have a serious mental illness, 21 percent of the total prison population, Michael Lawlor, undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning at the Office of Policy and Management, told the New Haven Register earlier this year. Just a few years ago, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimated that approximately 16 percent of the state’s prison population consisted of persons with mental illness.

The State Department of Correction confirms that those defined as “seriously mentally ill” include 17 percent of the male population, 66 percent of the female population, and 20.8 percent of the overall prison population in the state.

According to the Council of State Governments, jails in the U.S. report that between 20 and 80 percent of their inmates suffer from a mental illness, Governing reported.   Today’s acute challenge has been decades in the making.  In the mid-1950’s, the publication indicated, more than 500,000 people were held in state psychiatric hospitals.  “By the 1980s that number had fallen to around 70,000.  During this period, the number of people with mental illnesses who were arrested and ended up in local jails surged.”

Chicago’s Cook County Jail, now referred to by local officials as the nation’s largest mental institution in the country, has 8,600 inmates – an estimated one-third of them suffering from mental illness.  The newly appointed warden of the facility is a clinical psychologist – underscoring “how much the country’s prisons have become holding centers for the mentally ill,” the Times reported.

Writing in the Connecticut Law Review, Christina Canales observed that “Many supported deinstitutionalization because they believed that the mentally ill would benefit from being released from the state hospitals.  They believed that with the assistance of anti-psychotic medications, the mentally ill would be able to live independently in the community and that the community mental health centers would provide the additional care, treatment, and follow up services.

“Although a good plan in theory,” Canales concludes, “deinstitutionalization quickly became one of the main reasons for the substantial increase in mentally ill people in jails and prisons. Patients were ejected from state mental hospitals at a substantially faster rate than community mental health programs were created.”

The Law Review article, published three summers ago, concludes that “the United States faces a crisis in that prisons are among the largest mental healthcare providers. Some mentally ill individuals turned to crime after deinstitutionalization left them on the streets with no support system. Others wound up in prison because police officers lacked the proper training to identify persons as mentally ill and in crisis, or mistakenly believed that individuals receive adequate treatment in prison. The change in civil commitment laws also made it harder to commit the mentally ill, and society as a whole wants these individuals punished, mentally ill or not.”

Earlier this year, the Connecticut state legislature considered – but did not approve - a bill that would have established a pilot program to serve courts in New Haven, New London and Norwich to identify and track the mentally ill, along with homeless and addicted individuals entering the criminal justice system. The idea behind it was to get these individuals treatment and help as an alternative to incarceration and to prevent future arrests, according to published reports. The initiative also called for a formal assessment of its effectiveness.

In Chicago, the Times reported, “before becoming warden, Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia oversaw mental health care at the jail, and under her guidance, Cook County began offering services that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. All inmates upon arrival now see a clinician who collects a mental health history to ensure that anyone who is mentally ill gets a proper diagnosis and receives medication. The jail then forwards that information to judges in time for arraignments in the hope of convincing them that in certain cases, mental health care may be more appropriate than jail.”

According to a report by the Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center, 95 percent of the public psychiatric beds available in 1955 in the country were no longer available by 2005, the New Haven Register reported.  The Center recommends a minimum of 50 beds per 100,000 people, a standard that no state meets. Connecticut has about 20 public psychiatric beds per 100,000 people, according to the center’s website. Between 1995 and 2013, the number of inpatient psychiatric beds, at both public and private hospitals, decreased from 160,645 to 107,055 nationally, according to data from the American Hospital Association.

Connecticut, which recently approved a Second Chance Society Act proposed by Gov. Malloy that reduces some criminal sentences for nonviolent offenses and drug possession, is expected to reduce the number of people incarcerated for drug use, which officials expect will also reduce the number of mentally ill in prisons, “since drug use and mental health problems frequently coexist in a significant group” of the population.

The Governing article highlights a diversion system in Miami-centered Dade County in Florida, a post-booking alternative program that permits individuals arrested for “misdemeanor offenses and identified as having acute mental illnesses” to be transferred to mental health treatment facilities.  The results, according to the publication:

“About 80 percent of people offered the chance to participate in the program accepted it.  What was surprising was how many people stayed out of the system afterward.  An evaluation conducted soon after the program began found that recidivism rates one year out among participants who complete the program was just 20 percent.  In contrast, 72 percent of peers who did not participate in the program were back in jail within one year of their release.”

https://youtu.be/zSbFbv2Bs_0?list=PLQ9B-p5Q-YOP2OVnCPdYKLSmPkqLA2igT

Grit ‘N Wit Planning Underway for October Obstacle Course in Hartford

The Hartford Marathon will not be the only race in town in October. For those seeking an extra degree of challenge – both physical and mental – there’s another race course for you.  It’s called Grit ‘N Wit, New England’s first obstacle course to combine brain and brawn, and is the brainchild of a Connecticut-grown company “committed to the development of healthy, engaged communities.” 

Launched just two years ago by UConn law school graduate James Moher, the event, now held in Hartford’s Keney Park, is attracting a growing following of enthusiastic participants.  The goal is to take on 20-plus obstacles over a 3-mile course designed to challenge individuals both physically and mentally.

"Most competitions are one dimensional. If you do well at a race, that just tells you're fast. But if you do well at Grit 'N Wit, that tells you a whole lot more,” Moher explains.  "I've always thought that there should be a competition that should test the whole person. And there wasn't one...until now."

This year Grit ‘N Wit will take place October 24, 2015 from 9:00AM – 5:00PM. The event is open to the public in the morning and for college students in the afternoon.  It is open to all ages 10 & up.

Organizers have seen the event grow from 240 participants in its first year, to 420 last year.  This year, with improvements to both the physical and mental challenges, and strong support from local businesses, they’re pushing the envelope - hoping to surpass 1,000 participants. 

Last year’s event, for example, had participants memorize a pattern, then scale a hill and put the pieces of the puzzle together. After climbing over a series of inclined monkey bars and 5' walls, participants came to Ultimate Field Sobriety Test. There they had to get two golf balls through a maze while standing on an inclined balance beam. A post-race survey showed that 95 percent of participants like – or loved – the experience.

“The mental obstacles are designed to be fun and challenging - think Survivor, the Amazing Race or MTV's The Challenge - but without the bugs, plane ticket or a stint on the Real World,” organizers point out.  Rebekah Castagno, a two-time participant, said "It's the creative and physical combination that makes it such a fun and unique challenge."

As Grit ‘N Wit continues to grow, plans are in the works for it to be extended to other cities, and perhaps to college campuses, in the future – another Connecticut export that began as nothing more than an idea.  In addition, organizers say the event will support college students by offering scholarship awards and prizes in this year’s Hartford event.

Teams are not required, but are highly encouraged. Registration is currently $57 and increases the first of every month.  The website is www.gritwitrun.com  Volunteers are also welcome to help out for the day.

https://youtu.be/4ng_GKZsZo8