New Haven, Bridgeport at Bottom of Ranking for Disability-Friendly Cities

Connecticut’s two largest cities are not particularly hospitable for individuals with disabilities, according to a new national analysis.  New Haven and Bridgeport are at the bottom of a list of 182 cities that were included in the review, released this month to coincide with National Disability Employment Awareness Month The personal-finance website WalletHub compared the largest U.S. cities – including at least two from each state - across 31 key indicators of disability-friendliness. The data set ranges from wheelchair-accessible facilities per capita to rate of workers with disabilities to quality of public hospital system. The 31 indicators were grouped into three categories:  Economy, Quality of Life and Health Care.

The report on 2018’s Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities placed New Haven at the bottom of the list, and Bridgeport just two positions higher.  They were the only Connecticut cities evaluated in the analysis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four U.S. adults, or 61 million total, have a disability that impacts their major activities. And among Americans age 65 and older, that number rises to two in five. In 2017, nearly 5.7 million people with disabilities were employed.

New Haven, which ranked number 182 overall, ranked 180 in Economy, 134 in Quality of Life and 173 in Health Care.  Bridgeport, just above New Haven at number 179 in the overall ranking, placed 164 in Economy, 128 in Quality of Life and 163 in Health Care.

WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez explained that among the metrics dragging down New Haven's overall ranking was the second lowest employment rate for people with disabilities, at 71.03 percent. This refers to the civilian non-institutionalized population aged 18-64 in the labor force. Other areas where New Haven ranked poorly, Gonzalez pointed out, were the share of people with disabilities living in poverty, which is almost 37 percent, and the relatively low number of family doctors and general practitioners per capita.

Bridgeport ranked as the fourth worst city for people with disabilities. One of the issues driving the ranking, Gonzalez said, was similar to New Haven's - a low employment rate for people with disabilities, at 74.28 percent. The other issues are mostly related to the quality of life.

“Bridgeport has one of the lowest number of wheelchair accessible art, entertainment and recreational establishments per capita, and a large number of older buildings with little to no access for disabled residents," Gonzalez said.

The analysis found that only Detroit had a lower employment rate for individuals with disabilities that New Haven.  On the overall list, Providence, RI was just one notch above New Haven, at the bottom of the rankings.

The cities ranked at the top of the list were Overland Park, KS; South Burlington, VT; Sioux Falls, SD; Scottsdale, AZ; Columbia, MD; San Francisco; Rapid City, SD; St. Louis, MO; Bismarck, ND; and Grand Rapids, MI.

Data used to create this ranking, according to WalletHub, were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Council for Community and Economic Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Education Statistics, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Trust For Public Land, Genworth Financial, United Cerebral Palsy, WalkScore, Yelp, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Affordable Housing Online, Kaiser Family Foundation, Eligibility.com, Redfin and WalletHub research.

Income Inequality Increasing Faster in CT Than US; Among Largest Disparities in Nation

In Connecticut, to earn a place in the top one percent would require making $700,800, the highest threshold in the nation.  The average annual income of the top one percent is also among the highest in the nation at $2,522,806.  That is 37 times the annual income of the bottom 99 percent, which is $67, 742, according to data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute. The data reveal that the top one percent take home 27.3 percent of all the income in Connecticut, and that the share of income by the top one percent has increased at a faster rate in Connecticut in recent years than in the nation as a whole.

Connecticut ranks #3 of the 50 states in income inequality, based on the ratio of top one percent to bottom 99 percent income.  (New York’s top one percent makes 44 times the bottom 99 percent; Florida 39 times; Connecticut 37 times)  The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area is the most unequal metro area in Connecticut, the data indicate. The top 1 percent make 62.2 times more than the bottom 99 percent.

Overall in the Northeast, the top 1 percent take home 24.7 percent of all the income in the Northeast.  The average annual income of the top one percent is $1,777,756 compared with $54,662 for “everyone else,” the other 99 percent.  Nationwide, the top one percent take home an annual income of $1,316,985 versus $50,107 for the other 99 percent.   The most unequal metro area in the U.S. is Jackson, WY, where the top one percent make 132 times the rest of the population.

The data is based on an Economic Policy Institute report published this summer. EPI is an independent, nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C. that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States.

The report used 2015 data, the most recent available, finding that the top 1 percent of families in the U.S. earned, on average, 26.3 times as much income as the bottom 99 percent—an increase from 2013, when they earned 25.3 times as much.

Eight states plus the District of Columbia had gaps wider than the national gap. In the most unequal—New York, Florida, and Connecticut—the top 1 percent earned average incomes more than 35 times those of the bottom 99 percent.

The report found that income inequality has risen in every state since the 1970s and, in most states, it has grown in the post–Great Recession era. From 2009 to 2015, the incomes of the top 1 percent grew faster than the incomes of the bottom 99 percent in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

(Infographics:  Economic Policy Institute; howmuch.net)

PERSPECTIVE: A Needed Credential to Advance Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

by Abby Alter and Heidi Maderia Professionals who care for young children play an important role in promoting social-emotional development, positive mental health, and relational health, as well as identifying problems early and connecting young children to intervention and treatment services when necessary. Unfortunately, most pre-professional education and training programs lack specific courses or modules related to infant and toddler mental health, and many professionals lack the critical skills needed to work with very young children.

Many states, including Connecticut, are taking steps to ensure that professionals working with infants, toddlers, and their families are well-trained to promote optimal mental health, promote preventive strategies, and facilitate linkage to early intervention or treatment.

Attention to the Mental Health of Young Children is Critical for their Healthy Development

Infant and early childhood mental health is defined as a young child’s capacity to regulate and express emotions, form close and secure relationships, safely explore their environment, and learn. Young children develop these capabilities within the context of their family, environment, community, and culture, as well as through relationships with their primary caregivers. Infants and toddlers who develop healthy and strong social and emotional competency are better prepared for school and have healthier and more prosperous lifelong outcomes.

A System of Professional Endorsement is Improving Connecticut’s Workforce

The Connecticut Association for Infant Mental Health (CT-AIMH) purchased a license in 2010 from the Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health to provide the Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health®. The license was purchased with support from the Children’s Fund of Connecticut, the Connecticut Head Start State Collaborative Office, and others. Since obtaining the license, CT-AIMH has built a statewide competency system known as the CT-AIMH Endorsement® for providers caring for children up to age 3. The system provides professional development through training and education programs with a goal of building a more skilled workforce.  In 2017, with help and guidance from a national workgroup, the endorsement system was expanded to include professionals working with children from 3 to age 6.

Becoming endorsed demonstrates that an individual has completed specialized education, related work, in-service training, and reflective supervision/consultation experiences that have led to competency in the promotion and/or practice of infant or early childhood mental health. The credential does not replace licensure or certification, but is meant as evidence of a specialization in the promotion and practice of infant and/or early childhood mental health within each professional field, such as child development, early care and education, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, social work, and others. To date, 56 professionals in Connecticut are endorsed in Infant Mental Health through this system, and three providers have earned the Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement® (currently in its pilot phase). CT-AIMH plans to revise the endorsement program based on lessons learned during this pilot, and offer the Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement® to professionals in 2019.

Additional Measures to Build a More Competent Infant and Early Childhood Workforce

Connecticut agencies and stakeholders have taken several steps to build a more competent infant and early childhood workforce. Examples include: increasing support for reflective supervision/consultation groups in Birth to Three and home visiting programs; committing to having at least one endorsed infant mental health professional on staff for every Birth to Three operated program; and providing a bi-annual infant mental health training series for child welfare and Head Start staff through a partnership with Head Start, the Department of Children and Families, and CT-AIMH.

While these measures are expanding the capacity of the early childhood workforce in Connecticut to address the social and emotional needs of young children, more can and should be done. Recommendations for Connecticut include:

• Increase public funding to support endorsement activities, including funding for: infant and early childhood mental health training, release time for staff to attend training, reflective supervision/consultation, deployment of a university-level cross-discipline Faculty Infant Mental Health Training Institute with accompanying materials.
• Ensure that all State and/or public agencies serving the most vulnerable children and their families have infant/early childhood mental health endorsed staff in every region.
• Follow Michigan’s practice requiring Endorsement® in infant and early childhood mental health for practitioners who bill Medicaid for mental health services provided to infants and toddlers. Additionally, Medicaid and commercial insurers should pay for infant and early childhood mental health services delivered to young children birth to 6 years who show signs of risk (without a diagnosis) if delivered by a professional holding the Endorsement.
• Require state institutions of higher education to include infant and early childhood mental health competencies in their infant, young child, and family related courses (e.g., nursing, social work, education, psychology) and/or support an Endorsement requirement to develop a pipeline of professionals who can pursue endorsement within their careers. Use the Faculty Infant Mental Health Training Institute to help faculty across disciplines to incorporate infant mental health into existing courses.

These additional actions can advance and sustain a statewide system of professionals who are endorsed and credentialed in infant and early childhood mental health. In that way, we can best promote optimal mental health and preventive strategies, and facilitate, as needed, early intervention or treatment.

_____________________________

Abby Alter is Senior Associate for Early Childhood Initiatives at the Child Health and Development Institute, and Heidi Maderia is Executive Director of the Connecticut Association for Infant Mental Health. To learn more, visit www.ct-aimh.org or read "The Infant Mental Health Workforce: Key to Promoting the Healthy Social and Emotional Development of Children."  This article was adapted from an Issue Brief developed for Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc, a catalyst for improving the health, mental health and early care systems for children in Connecticut.

Housing and Health - Foundations Fund Research in CT to Examine Relationship

Housing and health are increasingly the focus of study, to better determine how one impacts and influences the other.  Foundations at the state and national level are among those devoting resources in Connecticut to seek answers that can ultimately guide future public policy. With a $125,000 grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation, the Open Communities Alliance will work to create better links between housing and health care and set the stage for a two-year pilot program to enable interested families of children with acute asthma to move to healthier neighborhoods.

The “Healthy Housing Vouchers” project aims to use housing policy to improve health outcomes for low-income families and reduce health disparities, tying together clinical and nonclinical factors that affect people’s well-being. 

The Open Communities Alliance project will create a streamlined process for low-income families of children with asthma to help them access affordable housing in healthier communities if they choose. It will include referrals, counseling on the impact of environmental conditions on health, help identifying potential rental locations, and assistance with security deposits, moving expenses, and supportive services as they adapt to a new community. The initial participants in the pilot program will be low-income families who receive government-funded housing vouchers and have children with acute asthma.

The Connecticut Health Foundation will also be providing a $100,000 grant to support Connecticut Voices for Children’s work to promote policies that advance health equity for children and families. The work will include conducting policy research, producing educational materials and analyses to inform policymakers about issues affecting children and families, bringing together state agencies and advocates through the Covering Connecticut’s Kids and Families Coalition, and participating in state-run councils to represent research-based policy solutions.

These projects are among  11 awarded a total of $535,000 - announced this month - by the Connecticut Health Foundation, based in Hartford.  It is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving health outcomes for people of color.

Earlier this year, the Connecticut Data Collaborative and the Liberal Arts Action Lab were awarded a 500 Cities Data Challenge grant by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The joint proposal was one of 10 selected from a large competitive pool of applications submitted by organizations from cities across the United States.

The one-year $148,000 grant will support local research and educational outreach on housing conditions, health outcomes, and neighborhood disparities in the capital city of Hartford.

The Connecticut Data Collaborative is a nonprofit organization focused on providing public access to data, creating an ecosystem of data users, and increasing data literacy. The Liberal Arts Action Lab, launched in early 2018 by Trinity College and Capital Community College, investigates problems posed by Hartford community partners, with teams of undergraduate students and faculty fellows who conduct semester-long research projects to strengthen the city.

The Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation designed this challenge grant to encourage communities to delve into the 500 Cities open-access dataset, to design innovative solutions on social factors that influence health, and to guide local organizations on how to effectively use neighborhood-level data. The broader goal is to promote more comprehensive cross-collaborative approaches to foster a broader “Culture of Health” in urban areas.

Hartford, New Haven Rank 73, 74 Among Best U.S. Cities to Retire

Even as Hartford and New Haven spend considerable time and attention directed at attracting millennials, a new national survey finds that the two Connecticut cities are ranked in the nation’s top 100 best places to retire. Hartford ranked 73rd on the list with an overall score of 6.35. New Haven came in 74th with a score of 6.33.  Among New England cities, only Boston and Springfield scored higher. U.S. News evaluated the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas based on how well they meet Americans' retirement expectations.  Perhaps not surprisingly, three Florida cities placed in the top 10.  It was Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that earned the No. 1 on the 2019 list. According to U.S. News, Lancaster moved to the No. 1 spot after placing No. 2 last year thanks to increases in housing affordability and overall happiness of its residents.

Fort Myers, Florida, moved from No. 15 to No. 2, driven by "increases in desirability and happiness scores." Last year's top place to retire — Sarasota, Florida — fell to No. 3 because of a decline in overall happiness and desirability, U.S. News reported.

Of Hartford, U.S. News said “Don't let the historic architecture fool you – even as one of the oldest metro areas in America, Hartford, Connecticut, has a lot to offer, both old and new.”  The Capitol City scored 5.3 in Housing Affordability and 8.5 in Healthcare, the two components of the overall score.

New Haven is described as “home to one of the most walkable city centers between New York City and Boston,” with “centuries-old architecture” which “houses the galleries, concert venues and coffee shops that help make New Haven the cultural capital of Connecticut.”  New Haven earned a 5.2 in Housing Affordability and 8.8 in Healthcare.

The top ranked New England city was Boston at #25.  Springfield, MA ranked #69,  Worcester was #77, and Providence was #85.  New York’s state capitol, Albany, ranked #61.

The top 10 places to retire, according to U.S. News, are: Lancaster; Fort Myers; Sarasota; Austin; Pittsburgh; Grand Rapids; Nashville; San Antonio; Dallas-Fort Worth; and Lakeland, Florida.

The rankings, according to U.S. News,  “offer a comprehensive evaluation of the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas based on how well they meet Americans' expectations for retirement, with measures including housing affordability, desirability, health care and overall happiness.” Data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as U.S. News rankings of the Best Hospitals.

Connecticut Has Nation's Highest Average Student Loan Debt, Analysis Shows

The average student debt in Connecticut is higher than any state in the nation, according to a new analysis.  The latest annual report from The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization focused on making higher education more affordable, looked at the Class of 2017 broken down by the state in which they graduated college. The average student debt in Connecticut was $38,510, just ahead of Pennsylvania ($36,854), Rhode Island ($36,250), New Hampshire ($34,415), Delaware ($34,144), New Jersey ($32,247) and Massachusetts ($32.065).  On the other end of the scale are Utah ($18,838), New Mexico ($21,237) and Nevada ($22.064).

As the data reflects, the highest student debt is in states located in the Northeast. There are only two states from the Deep South where average debt tops $30,000, Alabama and Mississippi, and none are from the West Coast. States in the West produce graduates with average debt burdens of only $19-25,000, substantially less.

Nationally, about two in three graduating seniors had student loans. Their average debt was $28,650, about 1 percent higher than the Class of 2016. New graduates’ likelihood of having debt varied from 38 percent (Utah) to 74 percent.  In Connecticut, it is 57 percent.

In all but 8 states, 50 percent or more graduates are saddled with debt of some amount. New Hampshire, South Dakota and West Virginia are tied for having the greatest percentage of indebted graduates (74%). Utah takes first place as the most affordable where only 38 percent of students leave owing student loans.

Between 1996 and 2012, federal data on bachelor’s degree recipients show that the average debt of borrowers increased steadily, according to the study, at an average of 4 percent per year. It has edged higher only slightly in recent years.

(Infographic by howmuch.)

CT Office of Early Childhood Receives Global Recognition for Effective Communication

The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) – a state agency that didn’t exist just over five years ago - has earned global recognition for success and innovation in serving the state’s youngest children and their families. The agency was chosen to receive the “Future of Feedback Award” at the annual Feedback Summit in Washington, D.C.   The award was presented last week to OEC Commissioner David Wilkinson for his agency’s efforts at effective listening to the people it serves and the nonprofit providers who serve them.

“The Office of Early Childhood is honored to be recognized for its efforts in communicating effectively with Connecticut’s families and providers, and for finding strategies to meet their needs,” said Commissioner Wilkinson. “The parents we serve and the community providers we support are the best experts in what they need to succeed, but too often they don’t have a seat at the table.  OEC is trying a new approach to put parents and our hardworking providers at the center of our policymaking.  We’re saying, ‘nothing we plan for you should be done without you.’’

"Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood is pioneering innovative ways of both listening and acting.  OEC’s outreach to families – and frontline service providers – is creating conversations about what matters most, and what they can all do together," said Dennis Whittle, Co-Founder of Feedback Labs and GlobalGiving.

Feedback Labs, the organizer of the Summit, is a global network of over 400 leading aid, philanthropy, and governance organizations around the world.  Feedback Labs was conceived in 2013 and launched in connection with the Obama White House. Whittle also co-founded GlobalGiving, a leading marketplace connecting social, environmental, and economic development projects to individual and corporate donors. Since its inception GlobalGiving has facilitated $335 million in funding to over 20,000 projects in 170 countries.

Established in 2014 through a bipartisan effort of Gov. Dannel Malloy and the legislature, OEC oversees and funds Connecticut’s early childhood programming – including child care, pre-K, early intervention for children with developmental delays, and family support services for at risk families – components that once were housed in five disparate state agencies.

Among the 10 largest state agencies in Connecticut, OEC’s goal is to keep the state’s children safe, healthy, learning and thriving. Through its innovative feedback efforts, the agency is acting on evidence that engaging providers and parents in policymaking yields better results.  Officials said that the agency combined data from 1,700 family surveys, another survey shared with all providers in the state, and 400 community and provider meetings in order to build a draft plan to transform the ECE system in the state, which serves 200,000 children.

Wilkinson added that “An award like this is an encouraging validation of our efforts to listen to families and providers, and then do all we can to act on their advice.  We believe that by listening and responding, we will provide better, more effective services for Connecticut families with young children – and in so doing help create a brighter future for the state.”

"OEC’s approach contains key ingredients of more responsive, innovative, and effective government.  OEC’s leadership in asking for and responding to feedback has the potential to spread widely through the public sector,” Whittle added.

“Child care centers work hard every day for children,” Said Dr. Monette Ferguson, Executive Director of ABCD, Inc., a nonprofit operating several leading child care centers in and around Bridgeport. “Usually the state tells us what to do and by the time we share any concerns, it’s too late.  I am not used to a state agency asking what I think before it acts.  It’s good to feel heard and to see OEC acting on our advice.”

David Wilkinson was named Commissioner by Gov. Malloy in April 2017 to serve as the second Commissioner of the state’s Office of Early Childhood (OEC). He previously served as Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation under President Barack Obama. While at the White House, Wilkinson worked closely with the Malloy Administration on signature early childhood efforts, including a first-of-its-kind initiative – scaling a program proven to reduce parental substance use and child welfare interaction – for which the administration has achieved national acclaim.  He has also served as an advisor to the Yale Child Study Center, a leading collaborator with the state and its early childhood service providers.

Christine Johnson-Staub is the Interim Director of Child Care and Early Education at CLASP, a 50-year-old national nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on shaping policy to support families living in poverty. She said, “OEC’s approach to setting its policy direction was unique because not only did it build on input from the community and existing research and data, but it went back to a wide range of impacted people, including parents, providers and other stakeholders, to make sure they got it right.”

“Parents and child care providers know the challenges facing the early care system better than anyone but rarely does anyone from state government ask our opinion,” said Merrill Gay, Executive Director of the nonprofit Early Childhood Alliance, a state consortium of providers and advocates. “That's why it was so refreshing to have the Office of Early Childhood ask us: ‘What are the pain points?  How do we make this system work better for you?’  I'm really excited to see OEC now turning that agenda for improvement into concrete action to better serve children and families.”

The strategy of communicating successfully with a target audience, and then acting upon that communication, is known as a “feedback loop” – an approach widely studied and increasingly appreciated by thought leaders, initially gaining traction in international development, but seen to have powerful implications for advancing more responsive, cost-effective and impactful government services in the US. The 2018 Feedback Summit was attended by over 150 feedback pioneers and leaders from around the U.S. and the world.

“They speak. We listen. We make change. It’s about being responsive to the needs of the young children in our state and, of course, their parents and caregivers,” Wilkinson said.  To contact the Office of Early Childhood, visit www.ct.gov/oec or call (860) 500-4412.

UConn Adds Major in Arabic and Islamic Civilizations; Southern Expands Drone Applications to Academic Minor

If you’re wondering about the degree to which Connecticut universities are keeping up with world trends, the University of Connecticut and Southern Connecticut State University seem to indicate the answer is yes. UConn has approved a new major in Arabic and Islamic civilizations, developed to equip students with a working knowledge of the Arabic language, and allow them to explore classical Islamic civilizations, as well as the literature, culture, heritage, and intellectual life of the modern Arab world.

The program, housed in the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, stresses the many different aspects of the Arab world, and the different linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions that shaped it.

At Southern, a new interdisciplinary minor in Drone Applications has a decidedly journalistic flavor, but extends to provide a basis for careers utilizing the rapidly unfolding drone technology.

Approved by the UConn Board of Trustees this summer, the Arabic and Islamic civilizations major appeals to students who are studying in many other areas, including the sciences. Some students are native speakers of Arabic or have a Muslim background; others are not sure what it means to be “Arab” or to be “Muslim,” and so come to learn, according to program director and assistant professor of literatures, cultures, and languages Nicola Carpentieri, who spoke recently with UConn Today.

UConn is unusual in offering such a robust program in the language.  “The program is unique in the U.S. in that we delve so much into Arabic literature, poetics, and other cultural aspects such as music, science, art, and architecture,” Carpentieri noted. “That’s what sets it apart.”

“Students in our classes come from all majors, but they are curious and motivated students,” Carpentieri said. “They may have seen bad press about the Arab world. But they’re open-minded, and aware that simplistic divisions are fabrications. We want to shatter the binaries of East and West.”

Students in the program take courses in both classical Arabic, or the formal version of the language used in education and literature, and other dialects, like Media Arabic and Levantine Arabic. It’s especially useful to learn these types of “street language,” Carpentieri points out.

Unlike most other languages, Arabic gives its speakers access to many different nations and cultures, including Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and others. In addition, students in the major will learn about the many influences that Muslim conquests had on the Europe we know today.

The Journalism Department at Southern now offers an interdisciplinary minor with the Geography Department in Drone Applications. Students study how drones (small unmanned aerial systems) are employed for geography, environmental sciences, journalism and other industries. This interdisciplinary minor prepares students with the fundamental knowledge, skills and experience in the technological, legal and ethical considerations and applications of drones in various fields.

The minor is aimed at students who are interested in learning about emerging drone technologies and how they can be applied to professional settings. It complements environmental sciences, geography, journalism and communication programs.

The 18-credit minor requires courses such as Basic Drone Technology, Drone Journalism, Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing or Advanced Drone Journalism.

The coursework focuses on flying drones for the purposes of news gathering in both image and data applications and includes the legal, ethical, and safety requirements for flying drones and reviewing necessary requirements for getting licensed by the FAA.

The drone courses are taught by Assistant Professor of Journalism Vern Williams, who has more than two decades in news photography and served as photo director of the New Haven Register for 15 years, where he supervised the photographic and video coverage of the news. His teaching experience includes work at Southeastern Associated Press Managing Editors Association, University of South Carolina, and Cornell University.

PERSPECTIVE: Legalizing Marijuana Would Jeopardize Safety on Connecticut Roads

By Amy Parmenter A poll by AAA of almost a thousand drivers across Connecticut found earlier this year that 50 percent do not support the legalization of recreational marijuana. Of younger respondents (ages 18-24) opposed to legalization, 40 percent expressed ‘concern that marijuana is a national public health issue’.

As the advocacy organization for all motorists, AAA opposes the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes because of a broad range of traffic safety concerns including, but not limited to, the following three factors detailed in the testimony below:

• A significant increase in drugged driving and marijuana-involved fatal crashes
• An inability to simply and accurately measure impairment
• The complexities and challenges legalization would present to law enforcement, our courts and state agencies

Increase in Drugged Driving and Marijuana-involved Fatal Crashes

Recent research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that in the year following the legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington State, the number of drivers in fatal crashes who had recently used Marijuana more than doubled.

We know drugged driving, and driving under the influence of marijuana in particular, is on the rise across the country.

According to a 2013-2014 survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drug use among nighttime weekend drivers increased 25 percent since the previous study in 2007. The drug showing the greatest spike was marijuana, with an increase of almost 50 percent.

This trend is particularly disturbing among our younger drivers.

A AAA poll conducted in 2016 found that, of those between the ages of 18-29, almost 25 percent admitted that within the past year they ‘regularly’ or ‘fairly often’ drove after using marijuana – whereas only about 15 percent admitted to driving drunk during the same time frame.

Inability to Accurately Measure Impairment

While there is the understandable temptation to measure impairment by alcohol and marijuana in the same way, it cannot be done.

Unlike with alcohol, the amount of active THC (the psycho-active ingredient in marijuana) in the blood has NO scientific correlation with a driver’s level of impairment or propensity to crash. Active-THC, is fat soluble and is metabolized differently than alcohol, which is water soluble. To accurately predict driver impairment or crash risk as a function of how much active-THC a person has in their body would require us to measure how much of the drug is in the fatty tissue of the brain—not the blood.

While roadside drug tests may soon be available, even the most accurate of these tests will be of no use in determining impairment. They will only show the presence of THC in the blood.

Challenges to Law Enforcement and Courts 

Because of the inability to accurately determine impairment at the roadside as described above, law enforcement and the court system face unique challenges and complexities when it comes to marijuana that do not exist for alcohol.

One of the most common ways lawmakers in marijuana states have attempted to address traffic safety concerns is to establish an impairment threshold for marijuana, a ‘per se’ standard for it, (similar to the 0.08 BAC standards in every state for alcohol).

After analyzing data from nine states, the AAA Foundation published a report last year in which researchers concluded that ‘to establish a per se standard for marijuana is meaningless as a tool to address impaired driving’.

Additional considerations:

• This is not the marijuana of previous generations. The concentration of the impairing chemicals in most marijuana range from 25-30% in plant form – 10 TIMES as much as in the 70's and 80's.
• There have been two systematic reviews of multiple studies on the impact of marijuana on driving. Both determined that, conservatively, marijuana at least doubles the risk of causing a traffic crash.

It has taken many years to change attitudes about drinking and driving, and we must now begin the same process of educating the public about drugged driving.

Legalizing marijuana before we are prepared to manage the potential highway safety consequences, before we have prepared our law enforcement officers with all the training and resources they need to address this issue, endangers the Public Health of our state.

While some people are focused on revenue to be generated, AAA is focused on traffic safety and the unintended consequences of legalization, for which we believe Connecticut and other states are ill-prepared.

Legalization of marijuana will, without question, increase the number of people who use it and get behind the wheel and drive. That puts all of us at greater risk on the road.

______________________________

Amy Parmenter is Manager of Public and Government Affairs for the AAA Allied Group.  This was provided as testimony to the state legislature’s General Law Committee during the 2018 session, when the legislature was considering a proposal to legalize marijuana in Connecticut. It is on behalf of both AAA clubs in Connecticut, the AAA Allied Group and AAA Northeast, which together represent more than a million members.

CT's Rare Disease Report Card Reflects Good Grades, Not-so-Good Grades

Thanks to innovative new treatments, diseases that were once fatal are now being treated as chronic conditions. But these breakthrough treatments will be out of reach for many patients, according to the National Organization for Rare Diseases, because health plans are using deductibles and coinsurance to shift more of the cost of medication onto the patients who rely on those treatments. The national organization, which is headquartered in Danbury and Washington, DC, explains that taken together, those out-of-pocket costs are outpacing wages, and patients are left struggling. To assist patients who find themselves in this difficult situation, several states have passed legislation mandating a limit on out-of-pocket costs for medications. These limits can be applied in different forms, such as a per-drug cap or by mandating a copay-only structure in certain health plans.  Those are just some of the areas of particular interest to NORD, which advocates for patients – and their families – facing the challenges of rare diseases.

What is a rare disease? Any disease, disorder, illness or condition affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States is considered rare. It is estimated that 7,000 rare diseases exist, and fewer than 500 have FDA-approved treatments.  Patients with rare diseases are frequently misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. Currently, only 5 percent of rare diseases have treatments, NORD points out.

A majority of states are not measuring up on legislative solutions that reduce the burden of rare diseases affecting 30 million Americans, according to a new report released by the the NORD Rare Action Network® (NORD RAN). The 2018 “State Report Card” indicates that progress in several areas of health policy is slow, according to the report.

The third annual edition of the State Report Card rates states on the strength of policies including coverage of medical foods and newborn screening, prescription drug cost-sharing limits, policies supporting biosimilar prescriber communications, protections against step therapy protocols, and the establishment of rare disease advisory councils. New this year, according to NORD, the report also looks at Medicaid Waivers (including proposed work requirements, lifetime limits, drug formulary restrictions, and other proposed changes to benefits), storage and research consent for dried blood spot samples used in newborn screening, and state Right-to-Try laws.

Connecticut earned grades all across the scale - three A's and four B's, as well as three C's and two F's.   Overall, the report found nationally that:

• Fifteen states earned an F for failing to mandate adequate coverage of medical foods
• Thirty-six states earned an F for failing to enact prescription drug cost-sharing limits, despite third-party analysis showing these cause little to no impact on overall plan premiums for all beneficiaries
• Newborn screening has saved tens of thousands of lives, yet more than half of states fail to meet federal recommendations
• Fifteen states (including Connecticut) earned an A or B for protecting patients against step therapy, a procedure by which insurers (public or private) interfere with and delay appropriate care for patients that ultimately increases costs

“The intent with this report is to share valuable information that will enable advocates to affect change in their state,” said NORD Director of State Policy, Tim Boyd. “Our goal is to provide actionable steps for states that will improve people’s lives, so the report presents findings as well as tools for individuals to act on.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, many people with rare diseases can now access affordable health insurance. However, NORD officials point out, some insurance policies place orphan therapies on the so-called “specialty-tier” of a drug formulary. For drugs placed on this tier, enrollees often must meet cost sharing requirements that can be as much as 50% of the actual cost of the medication.

Later this month, NORD marks its 35^th anniversary with a Summit in Washington, DC.  A 501(c)(3) organization, NORD is a patient advocacy organization dedicated to individuals with rare diseases and the organizations that serve them.  NORD, along with its more than 280 patient organization members,  is committed to the identification, treatment, and cure of rare disorders through programs of education, advocacy, research, and patient services.