Category: Christine Moyer
New Britain Receives a Grant to Battle Unemployment
WASHINGTON – Three New Britain organizations have each been awarded a $45,000 federal grant to battle unemployment in Connecticut’s capital region.
The three groups, along with three in Hartford that also were awarded $45,000 each, are part of a larger program financed by a $500,000 grant from the Labor Department that is aimed at increasing employment in the region through community and faith-based organizations.
The fact that the awards were to be made was announced in July, but the names of the local groups will not be revealed until Monday at New Britain’s Spanish Speaking Center. Making the announcement will be Mayor Lucian Pawlak and U.S. Reps. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.-5) and John B. Larson (D-Conn.-1).
The two representatives, along with Connecticut’s two Senators, hailed the federal grants in statements they issued when the grants were originally announced.
“Too many people in our state our hurting financially,” Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) said. “Thankfully, this initiative can help act as an economic triage to help with their recovery.”
Like much of the nation, New Britain and Hartford are having economic problems; the two cities have a combined 10.2 percent unemployment rate. That’s double the state’s 5.1 percent jobless rate, according to a statement from Larson’s office.
“With the highest unemployment rates in the state, I believe that this grant is a strong step in the process of addressing the needs of unemployed workers, Larson said.
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) says a solution to this problem will come from the communities themselves, which will use the grant to offer local resources organizations that have the potential to help decrease unemployment.
“It is often local communities that generate the most efficient and innovative ways to solve their problems,” Lieberman said.
The six Connecticut organizations have been selected under the program “Opening Doors,” which aims to bring the state Department of Labor’s One Stop Job Centers employment services to those in need.
“This is terrific news for the Hartford and New Britain communities,” Johnson said. “Opening Doors will strengthen Connecticut’s job training and placement network and will help to knock down language barriers so every job-seeker can more easily access the Capital region’s social service system.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee Allocates $9.6 Million To Connecticut
WASHINGTON - The Senate Appropriations Committee has allocated roughly $9.6 million for Connecticut to meet some of the state's economic and environmental needs.
The funds were included in the fiscal year 2004 appropriations bill for the Housing and Urban Development Department, the Veterans Affairs Department and some independent agencies. The measure, which cleared the committee last week, awaits consideration by the full Senate.
"It's critically important that we invest in Connecticut's future, and that's exactly what these funds do - help our state's economy, environment and infrastructure," Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) said in a statement on Tuesday.
Connecticut projects that stand to benefit include New Britain's water treatment program and low income home buyer assistance, Hartford's Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance's Cityscape Initiative and the University of Connecticut's Green Chemistry Project.
Dodd said, "While we still have much work to do to ensure that these projects are ultimately funded, this is a tremendously important first step in helping to better the lives of people in our state."
Dodd's fellow Connecticut Democratic Senator, Joseph I. Lieberman, said in a separate statement on Tuesday, "This money invests not only in Connecticut's economy, but also its people, its precious natural environment and its future." New Britain's Mayor, Lucian J. Pawlak, called the announcment "great news." He added, "I understand that times are tough, so I do appreciate it."
Walter Jacowitz, the finance and administrative manager for New Britain's water department, said he appreciated the $500,000 the bill allocated for the plant's replacement program, saying, "I am very pleased with the additional money."
Jacowitz said the plant received four federal grants totaling a bit over $6 million in recent years. "We have received larger grants in previous years," he said. "But it's a different time."
Pawlak said that the goal for the plant replacement program is $10 million to $12 million in grants. He said the program now has over half the desired funds.
Though he appreciates the new allocation, Pawlak said that he would still return to Washington to lobby for more money: "Tell the folks in Washington that I'll be back."
Luis Caban, the executive director of SINA's Cityscape Initiative which provides homeownership opportunities to first-time homebuyers, said he was"elated," about the $250,000 the legislation would allocate to SINA. "There are a lot of non-construction expenses such as paying lawyers, architects and assessors. Money for that is hard to come by."
Funeral Industry in Connecticut
WASHINGTON - The spotlight on Connecticut's funeral industry troubles may have dimmed, but some in the business are still wary about the industry's overall quality.
Last year's Wade Funeral Home scandal in New Haven, along with others in Georgia and Florida, brought attention to an industry that had been suffering from a lack of inspections nationwide. The controversy sparked change in Connecticut, but the question is, was it enough?
"I feel very uneasy about the fact that funeral homes are regulated so heavily and other areas of the industry, like crematoriums and cemeteries, are not," said Diana Duksa Kurz, a member of the executive board of the National Funeral Directors Association.
U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) tried to confront the problem with legislation they introduced last year that would have made federal grant money available so states could hire more funeral industry inspectors. Dodd intends to introduce a similar bill this session.
"We didn't have an inspection for a while," said Kent Carlson, funeral director of the Carlson funeral home in New Britain, referring to the time surrounding the Wade Funeral Home scandal. "But now he [the inspector] came twice in the past year."
According to Carlson, the inspectors check to make sure that the business is running properly and that no bodies are stored where they should not be - a direct reference to the New Haven scandal, where five bodies were found in the garage of a funeral home.
"While most death care providers are decent, hard working people, there are those bad apples in the industry out to make a quick buck," Dodd said in a statement on Friday. He called a General Accounting Office report on the death care industry in six states "tremendously important. It helps shine a light on an industry that impacts millions of Americans and will hopefully weed out those bad apples.
" The report, which covers California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, New York and Texas between July 2002 and July 2003, showed the need to inspect crematoriums and cemeteries, according to Dodd's office.
Kurz, who manages two funeral homes in the state, said: "In Connecticut we have the same issues as in the GAO report. But frankly, in Connecticut there is already strong legislation."
However, she said, she recognizes the need to update the state laws. "It's just like anywhere else," she said. "Some legislation has been on the books forever, but times have changed."
These changes have sparked a controversy over the role that the federal government should play in regulating the funeral industry. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he welcomes federal involvement.
But John Carmon, president of Carmon Community Funeral Homes, says he leans toward state regulation. "The federal government can't be everywhere," he said. "Each state regulates its own licensing."
According to Kurz, there are 300 funeral home locations in Connecticut and 255 of them are members of Connecticut's funeral association.
Dodd is not overly concerned about Connecticut's funeral industry, viewing the state's troubles with the industry as isolated problems.
Foley's office has not made any decisions on specific legislation but is leaning toward expanding the Federal Trade Commission's role so it can oversee cemeteries and crematoriums. This would cost $10 million and would help ensure these abuses don't occur again, a Foley aide said.
Connecticut Strains Along With The Nation to Improve Healthcare For Veterans
WASHINGTON - Connecticut veterans often are not able to see doctors when they need to because the federal government has shortchanged the state's VA health care system, according to Rep. John Larson (D-1) and Connecticut veterans affairs officials.
Larson said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs distributes money unfairly, doling out funds based on states' populations rather than the needs of their veterans.
"Here in Connecticut many veterans are not receiving the level of service that they deserve," Larson said in a statement Thursday.
But officials in other states have complained of the same problem, which they say will only worsen as soldiers return from Iraq. Those new veterans immediately step to the front of the line - they receive instant care -- meaning older veterans have to wait even longer.
Currently, the health-care crunch is particularly acute for aging veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Donna Meskony, the supervisor of the Office of Advocacy and Assistance for the Connecticut Department of Veterans' Affairs, said, "Because of the lack of funding, there is a lack of doctors. So there is a long wait for appointmentsá.
"The problem is not the quality of care but the quantity that's offered," she said.
Larson asserted that Connecticut veterans often require more health care and have fewer resources to pay for it than those in other states. He did not elaborate.
"The Northeast is being shortchanged," Larson said," because we are not receiving the level of resources that is comparable to the needs of our veterans."
Linda Schwartz, Connecticut's Veterans' Affairs commissioner, said the problem is that the federal government is constrained by a budget that is not based on medical requirements.
"No matter what veterans need, no matter what they want, they only get what's left over," she said.
"Today you're in the military and tomorrow you're in New Britain back at work," Schwartz said. "When they come home, will the VA be there for them?"
President Bush has asked Congress for $27.5 billion for VA health care for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee went further, approving a budget of more than $28.3 billion. That would represent an increase of about $3 billion over the current budget. The bill now goes to the full Senate.
Schwartz, a nurse during the Vietnam War, said that without more money, the quality of veterans' care will decrease.
"We need people on [Capitol] Hill saying that the veterans' bill needs to be bigger," Meskony said.
Larson is one such person. "There is no doubt that greater federal funding is needed in the area of veterans' health care," he said.
According to Larson, enrollment in the VA health-care system has more than doubled since 1995, making the funding shortfall that much more pressing.
Connecticut once was at the forefront of veterans' care: in 1864, it was the first state to provide medical treatment to Civil War soldiers.
Meskony said VA health care is still important. Among other services, it offers veterans prescriptions at the rate of $7 for a month's supply. Without the coverage, the same medication could cost hundreds of dollars a month, she said.
Soldiers returning from Iraq aren't yet plagued by the health-care problems their predecessors are battling. However, Schwartz is skeptical about how long that will last.
"Those returning from Iraq can have VA health care to help document their problems for two years," she said, asking, "But is there enough money for that to happen?"
Larson also has introduced legislation that he said would "ensure adequate health-care access by setting standards for appointments."
