2023 Connecticut Children's Community Benefits Report
Supporting Children and Families to Thrive
Published: September 2024. Financial Information and Program Quick Facts from 2023.
Dear Connecticut Children’s Colleagues, Partners, and Supporters,
As Connecticut’s only health system 100% dedicated to kids, Connecticut Children’s is committed to broadening our impact in both clinical care and community health. Our skilled clinicians and experts are committed to addressing the full spectrum of needs faced by children and families — medical, social-emotional, environmental, and beyond — to foster optimal health, development, and well-being.
We are making significant strides in promoting children’s well-being and proactively addressing mental health concerns to prevent crises before they arise. In all our efforts, we emphasize the importance of tackling healthcare disparities and maintaining a steadfast focus on equity. Our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion compels us to continually seek ways to strengthen our culture, ensuring a welcoming and inclusive environment for our staff, patients and their families, and community partners.
At Connecticut Children’s, we are proud of our commitment to both clinical excellence and community engagement, which fortifies families and empowers children to thrive.
Sincerely,
James E. Shmerling, DHA, FACHE
President, Chief Executive Officer
Bill Agostinucci, MS RPh, FACHE Vice President, Corporate Services
Robert Duncan, MBA
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
Paul Dworkin, MD
Executive Vice President, Office for Community Child Health; Founding Director, Help Me Grow® National Center, Connecticut Children’s; Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, UConn School of Medicine
Matthew Farr, MS, PT
Vice President of Ambulatory Operations, Connecticut Children’s Specialty Group
Bridgett Feagin, MBA
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Christine Finck, MD
Executive Vice President, Surgeon-in-Chief; Peter Deckers Endowed Chair of Surgery, Connecticut Children’s; Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery, UConn School of Medicine
Paulanne Jushkevich, MA, CFRE President, Connecticut Children’s Foundation
Sarah Matney, MSOL, BSN, RN, CPON, CENP
Senior Vice President, Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Officer
Lawrence Milan, MA
Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer
James Moore, MD, PhD President, Connecticut Children’s Specialty Group
Nicole Murray, MD
President, Medical Staff; Director, Center for Airway, Voice, and Swallowing Disorders
Deb Pappas, MBA Vice President, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Jonathan M. Carroll, MBA
Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Lori R. Pelletier, PhD, MBA
Senior Vice President, Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer
Juan C. Salazar, MD, MPH
Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs; Physician-in-Chief, Connecticut Children’s; Chair, Department of Pediatrics, UConn School of Medicine
Aimee Monroy Smith, MA
Senior Vice President, Government Relations and External Affairs
R. Moses Vargas, Esq.
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
ABOUT CONNECTICUT CHILDREN’S OFFICE FOR COMMUNITY CHILD HEALTH
As a reflection of its commitment to strengthening communities and families to promote children’s optimal health, development, and well-being, Connecticut Children’s supports the Office for Community Child Health (the Office). The Office houses the many programs and resources that connect the larger organization to community opportunities that contribute to the health and well-being of Connecticut’s children. The Office’s programs address critical issues in children’s lives that have the potential to adversely affect their health and development. The Office’s programs engage in rigorous data collection and measurement to ensure that their efforts are effective. Through the Office, Connecticut Children’s ensures that families have access to a comprehensive system of community-oriented programs and services that support them in promoting their children’s optimal healthy development.
HOW DO WE DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY BENEFIT?
Connecticut Children’s is dedicated to promoting children’s optimal development and well-being while maintaining our primary focus on excellence in medical care. We embrace a broader definition of community benefit beyond federal requirements for tax-exempt status, making it central to our mission to strengthen communities and families.
We offer 17 community-oriented programs designed to support children, families, and communities by directly addressing needs identified in our triennial Community Health Needs Assessments. Our progress in meeting these needs is detailed in our annual Community Benefit Report.
As highlighted in this report, our community benefit efforts include uncompensated care, research, and education, in compliance with federal guidelines. Additionally, we report on community-building activities that address social drivers of health—the conditions in which people live, work, and play. These drivers significantly impact overall health, development, and life outcomes, especially for families in economically challenged neighborhoods often underserved by the healthcare and other child-serving sectors.
Our community-building work encompasses efforts to ensure healthy, stable, and secure housing; access to nutritious food and healthcare; educational and occupational opportunities; safe neighborhoods; and violence prevention, among other areas.
$142.33 MILLION Oru T o t a l CommunityBenefit in FY2023
OUR COMMUNITY BENEFIT BY CATEGORY
About 55% of patients treated at Connecticut Children’s rely on Medicaid for insurance, which does not fully reimburse the cost of care. Connecticut Children’s also provides significant services to children and families who lack health insurance and cannot pay for medical care.
Connecticut Children’s serves as the primary pediatric teaching hospital for the UConn School of Medicine and maintains a teaching partnership with the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. We provide undergraduate medical education, graduate medical residency and fellowship programs, and post-graduate continuing medical education. Additionally, we offer training and educational programs for nursing, social work, and other clinical disciplines.
Connecticut Children’s Research Institute is dedicated to advancing medical and surgical care through investment in research. As a partner of The Jackson Laboratory, a renowned genomics research center, our physicians actively contribute to the field by presenting their studies at conferences, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and authoring books or chapters. Expenses in this category reflect the costs associated with maintaining our research infrastructure.
Connecticut Children’s community-focused initiatives encompass the work of the Connecticut Children’s Office for Community Child Health and the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA). This category includes infrastructure support for the Office, annual membership dues to SINA, legislative advocacy efforts, counselors dedicated to assisting families with Medicaid enrollment, employee participation on external Boards of Directors, and time invested in our annual Day of Caring and United Way campaigns.
ADDRESSING NEEDS IDENTIFIED IN OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Connecticut Children’s conducted a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) in 2022. In that CHNA, Hartford residents, community leaders, and other stakeholders identified areas of need affecting the health and well-being of Hartford residents through focus groups, a survey of Hartford Public School nurses and social workers, available data sets, and other sources of information. Connecticut Children’s 2022 CHNA identified five priority areas that significantly affect the health and well-being of Hartford families:
• Educational & Occupational Opportunities
• Safe Neighborhoods & Violence Prevention
• Access to Nutritious Food
• Access to Healthcare
• Healthy, Stable & Secure Housing
Connecticut Children’s Office for Community Child Health programs and other departments at Connecticut Children’s develop strategies to help address the needs identified in the CHNA and we report our progress annually in our Community Benefit Report.
During the discovery phase of this CHNA, residents highlighted the link between strong education and future occupational opportunities. There is a significant need to improve educational and occupational prospects for children and families in Hartford to enhance overall health and well-being. Education, job opportunities, and income are crucial social drivers of health, and increasing educational and occupational opportunities is essential for improving children’s well-being.
Connecticut
Children’s is helping address this need through:
North Hartford Ascend Promise Neighborhoods Grant
North Hartford Ascend (Ascend) is a cradle-to-career initiative designed to ensure that children living in the North Hartford Promise Zone − which includes Clay Arsenal, Northeast, and Upper Albany neighborhoods − have the support they need to reach their full potential. The initiative is funded by a major Promise Neighborhoods grant from the United States Department of Education (US DOE) to Connecticut Children’s. In collaboration with the community and a multidisciplinary, cross-sector team, Connecticut Children’s is working with community-based organizations, leaders, and residents to integrate achievement-oriented schools with essential community services and programs, all within a cohesive and coordinated care navigation system.
Recent accomplishments include:
• Community Engagement: From October 2022 to September 2023, Ascend facilitated 10 Community conversations monthly community conversations, both in-person and virtual, fostering dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders. These sessions each attracted between 25 and 85 participants, demonstrating strong community engagement.
• Resident Empowerment: The Resident and Community Advisory Group (RCAG) played a pivotal role in ensuring community representation and input. Comprised of representatives from various community entities, including Neighborhood Revitalization Zones, the RCAG serves as a vital liaison between Ascend and the community. Additionally, community governance seats embed neighborhood residents directly into decision-making processes. This focus on the role of residents emerged from resident leaders’ expressed desire in early 2022 to have a meaningful voice in shaping the future of their communities. October of 2023, Ascend Community Workshops were launched, enriching governance structures and empowering community members through skill-building sessions. These workshops served as platforms for knowledge exchange and community capacity building, attracting 16 to 40 participants per session.
SINA Walk to Work Program
Through the membership in the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA), Connecticut Children’s supports the Hartford Leadership Program. As part of SINA’s community strengthening strategic goal, they established an initiative that engages, trains, and supports local residents to take on leadership roles within the neighborhood. With support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and in collaboration with local partners, SINA welcomed 25 students this year as the inaugural class. Through a curriculum based upon NeighborWorks America’s “Building Leaders Building Communities” program, students learn to identify and strengthen their leadership qualities, map assets in the community, and carry out group projects that address a critical community health issue. Following the class, graduates can apply for additional grant funding to implement ideas and some can choose to attend a national leadership conference put on by NeighborWorks America. Outside of class, SINA staff provides students with coaching to help make progress on their personal and professional goals.
Imagination Library
Connecticut Children’s, the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, and other partners support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This program provides a free subscription that mails age-appropriate books to children in Hartford monthly from birth until they turn five years old. This program helps to expand their home libraries and shows our commitment to supporting childhood language development, literacy, social-emotional well-being, and educational outcomes. Since August 2020, our Dolly Parton Imagination Library program has delivered over 142,477, books to Hartford children under five years old, serving a total of 7,931 children (3,929 actively enrolled; 4,002 graduated). The program is actively reaching 57% of eligible children in Hartford.
Program Numbers
City of Hartford: Enrollment (as of June 2024)
• Active: 3,929 children
• Graduated: 4,002 children
• Total: 7,931 children
• Books Delivered: 142,477 (as of June 2024)
Easy Breathing
Between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023, the Easy Breathing program addressed the primary care community’s need for education on the 2020 Focused Updates to the Asthma Management Guidelines. Caleb Wasser, DO, an asthma expert from the Division of Primary Care, developed a continuing medical education (CME) module on implementing Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) in the pediatric primary care setting. With this SMART CME module, Dr. Wasser, the Easy Breathing Physician Champion, and Melanie Sue Collins, MD, the Asthma Center co-director, conducted over ten SMART therapy training sessions for pediatric primary care practices statewide.
SMART therapy represents a paradigm shift in asthma management by using a single combination inhaler for both maintenance and relief, instead of prescribing separate therapies (an Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and a Short-Acting Beta-Agonist [SABA]). This change in guidelines has caused substantial ambiguity within the medical community. To address this, experts from the Asthma Center delivered numerous lunch & learns, evening lectures, and webinars to the primary care community. Notable highlights include Dr. Collins presenting a Grand Rounds on the Updated Asthma Guidelines at Day Kimball Hospital and delivering the annual lecture for Connecticut Children’s Care Network. Additionally, Dr. Hollenbach gained national exposure by presenting twice to the Weitzman Institute’s Pediatrics ECHO program in 2023.
In addition, for those practices who actively use the Easy Breathing program, our asthma experts continued to provide peer-to-peer feedback on the quality of SMART asthma treatment plans.
Easy Breathing for Schools
The Asthma Center’s Easy Breathing for Schools program is a multipronged asthma education toolkit that reduces asthma-related school absenteeism and improves both asthma control and inhaler technique. In 2023, with support from the Department of Education’s North Hartford Ascend Promise Neighborhoods Grant, Asthma Center staff continued to build capacity to support school nurses serving students with asthma in the North End of Hartford. Capacity building efforts led to establishing standardized workflows for data collection and sharing.
Childhood Prosperity Lab
Childhood Prosperity Lab (the Lab) advances social innovations that are responsive to the goals, needs, and priorities of families and communities so that all children thrive. Social innovations are creative strategies that address the social, environmental, and behavioral challenges children and families too often face. The Lab provides consultations and technical assistance to change makers so that they advance their work through strength-based, community and family-driven, and systems-oriented approaches. In fiscal year 2023, the Lab facilitated two Mastermind Sessions and leveraged human-centered design to advance 10 unique projects within the Office (four in support of the Ascend, two in support of Building for Health, one in support of the Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program), facilitated three trainings on the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework, and co-led one national community of practice to explore the integration of goal concordant care into comprehensive early childhood systems that engaged 12 communities.
SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS & VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Ensuring residents have safe neighborhoods to live in was among the top needs identified by those interviewed for the 2022 CHNA, including a need for enhanced violence prevention efforts.
Connecticut Children’s is helping address this need through:
Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP)
With the support of the City of Hartford and the engagement of residents and community-based organizations, the three Level 1 trauma centers in Hartford (Connecticut Children’s, Saint Francis Hospital and Hartford Hospital) have developed the Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program Strengthening Collaborative. The collaborative is a multi-level model for hospital-based efforts with our community partners: COMPASS Youth Collaborative, Hartford Communities that Care (HCTC), and Mothers United Against Violence (MUAV). Rigorous evaluation metrics are deployed to show what works and how to best focus efforts to meet community goals. In our two years of work, the hospitals have treated 444 gunshot wound victims and successfully connected 70% of the gunshot wound victims to supportive services post-discharge. The ongoing violence in the City of Hartford is a threat to the health, wellness, and prosperity of children, families, individuals, and neighborhoods. Violence takes many forms, including interpersonal violence (bullying, assault, shootings), domestic violence (emotional, physical, sexual), child maltreatment, and self-harm. Hartford has cultivated community agencies and initiatives to help decrease and stop the violence. The Hartford HVIP Strengthening Collaborative represents a significant advancement in our collective efforts to eradicate gun violence in all its forms.
New Injury Prevention Grant from the Connecticut Department of Public Health
Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center (IPC), with $2.4 million in initial funding from the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) and in consultation with the Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention, awarded grants to community-based agencies to provide community violence intervention and prevention (CVIP) services. In 2023, eight awards were made to organizations in Hartford, New Haven, New London, Stamford, and Bridgeport, including community-based organizations, a local health district, and a police department. Funded projects include afterschool programs for youth at risk for violence, support services for formerly incarcerated people, a community needs assessment, and expansion of programs for teen fathers and young mothers. Awardees evaluate project implementation at the formative, process, and outcome levels, and receive training and technical assistance from the IPC. In 2024, the IPC received an additional $3 million from CT DPH to award more grants.
Gun Buyback
Connecticut Children’s works with our hospital partners and the Hartford Police Department to implement a gun buyback program in the fall of each year. This is coordinated with a statewide effort called #KeepKidsSafe.
On average, 40,000 people die annually from firearm injuries in the United States. Initiatives like the #KeepKidsSafe Connecticut Statewide Gun Buyback Program are designed to raise awareness to reduce injuries and fatalities. In 2023, residents turned in 64 firearms: 19 pistols, 18 rifles’ 17 revolvers, 8 shotguns, and, 2 assault rifles. In addition, the program provided 78 firearm safes on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Over the past 14 years, the Capital Region Gun Buyback Program has collected roughly 2,000 unwanted firearms from owners in the Greater Hartford region.
ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FOODS
During conversations informing the 2022 CHNA, residents and focus group participants in the key informant prioritization session recognized access to nutritious food as a great concern, with their neighborhoods often referred to as “food deserts” that provide little access to fresh fruit, vegetables, and non-processed items. Residents stated that the lack of nutritious food options leads to higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic health problems.
Connecticut Children’s is helping address this need through:
Produce Prescription Program
The Start Childhood Off Right (SCOR) program continues to improve access to healthy foods for patient families who screen positive for food insecurity in both Primary Care and the Emergency Department (ED) by providing them with a $20 voucher for fresh produce. Between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023, 1,034 families were enrolled in the study, with approximately 42% of them screening positive for food insecurity in the ED and 68% screening positive in Primary Care. In the ED, a small refrigerator was installed that was stocked with fruits and vegetables by Hartford Food System that allowed for distribution of fresh produce during the visit. In collaboration with the Hartford HealthCare food pantry, three local Hartford grocery stores have partnered to honor and redeem the vouchers, allowing families to shop and choose their own produce at their convenience. Over 350 vouchers have been distributed to families, and over $4,000 of fresh fruits and vegetables have been provided to families.
ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
During the 2022 CHNA discussions, access to healthcare emerged as a major concern, highlighted by residents, key informants, school nurses, and social workers. Limited access to healthcare negatively impacts family health and well-being and contributes to increased stress for parents, which affects overall family health, particularly for young children.
Connecticut Children’s is helping address this need through:
Connecticut Newborn Screening Network
This year, the Connecticut Newborn Screening (NBS) Network (the Network) saw a 22% increase in the timeliness of care, an essential quality metric. The Network also implemented a social driver of health evaluation tool and provided over 20 educational outreach activities to community partners. The Network connected 35 families to the Center for Care Coordination and spent $5,544.90 for medical food and formula for uninsured and underinsured families. Behind the scenes, the Network staff triaged over 1,400 calls to the Connecticut NBS hotline. For over 400 families, the Network provided immediate support by linking them to a specialist, notifying their primary care provider, educating them on the process, and recommending the next steps in the evaluation. Over 130 infants were diagnosed with a condition on the Connecticut NBS panel and will receive long-term follow-up to ensure they are receiving care and to monitor health outcomes.
Help Me Grow National Center Goal Concordant Care
Goal Concordant Care (GCC), in the context of Help Me Grow (HMG), is a strength-based approach to elicit parents’ goals for their child’s well-being that ensures those goals drive the process of developmental promotion, early identification of concerns and needs, referral to helpful programs and services, and linkage to those supports. From 2022-2023, the HMG National Center and partners engaged in a study that examined the potential for GCC amongst its affiliates through the development of a National Learning Community that tested GCC-related enhancement strategies to the HMG Model. From 2023 through 2025, HMG National, in conjunction with Connecticut Children’s, is continuing its work examining the application of systematic parent/caregiver goal-setting and goal-monitoring in the pediatric well-visit in order to advance parent-identified priorities for family well-being and child health and development. This project engages pediatric primary care providers and parents/caregivers in Hartford and the surrounding areas.
Center for Care Coordination
Connecticut Children’s Center for Care Coordination (the Center) has significantly impacted the lives of over 2,500 patients and their families in fiscal year 2023. The top three areas of family focus in 2023 were: 1) behavioral health support. 2) medical and dental connections. 3) basic needs.
Some key achievements in fiscal year 2023 included:
• The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s (CT DPH) grant for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs is a significant source of support for the work of the Center, providing over $2 million over five years.
• The Center hosted the 6th annual Care Coordination Forum, a collaborative platform that brings together healthcare workers and community agencies across the state. Over 250 professionals participated in the event.
• The Center’s Clinical Care Coordination team supports various OCCH programs:
o Connecticut Children’s Care Network (Clinical Integrated Network)
o North Hartford Ascend
o Healthy Homes
o The Connecticut Newborn Screening Network
o Help Me Grow National Center
Connecticut Children’s Center for Care Coordination continues to advance the innovative Care Coordination Collaborative Model. This model enhances collaboration among care coordinators from various fields, streamlining the connection of children and families to effective services and minimizing duplication across sectors.
Educating Practices
Educating Practices addresses the community-identified need for improved access to high-quality healthcare. The program equips pediatric providers with timely, evidence-based clinical information and office tools while connecting them to community and state resources. This support enables providers to implement practice changes that benefit children and families. By applying newly acquired knowledge, pediatric providers enhance the quality of care they deliver daily. In fiscal year 2023, the Educating Practices program conducted 31 presentations on 14 different topics, reaching 22 practices and 564 healthcare providers.
Connecticut Children’s Leaders in Advanced Solutions in Pediatrics (CLASP)
Through the CLASP Co-Management Program, Connecticut Children’s specialists help primary care providers expand the care they deliver to patients by providing up-to-date, first-line management for common diagnoses, clear indications for referral to specialists, patient handouts, and other resources. This co-management structure is designed to expand PCP’s scope of practice, reduce unnecessary testing and treatment, and reduce low-value specialist referrals to improve timely access to care. Through processes of continual improvement utilizing a structured committee composed of seven community pediatricians from all over Connecticut, our CLASP program reached our goal of updating all existing tools while continuing to develop new tools. We have successfully standardized regular communication to referring providers regarding new and updated tools. As a result, there are currently 724 verified CLASP users, and the CLASP website data demonstrated a 43% increase in page views compared to the year prior.
Hartford Youth Health Intervention and Linkage (HYHIL) Collaborative
Hartford Youth Health Intervention and Linkage (HYHIL) Collaborative continues to provide vital HIV/STI prevention services, employing a status-neutral approach essential for ending the HIV epidemic. Connecticut Children’s has enhanced these efforts by integrating status-neutral outreach and addressing substance use disorders among youth and young adults.
Program staff have utilized resources from Wheeler Clinic to establish SMART Recovery Groups and provide evidence-based recovery support and facilitation training. They have also led Recovery Groups for teens and their families, focusing on Hartford’s North End through Ascend.
Furthermore, staff shared best practices and presented on Routine Testing and PrEP Navigation Services to 27 Wheeler Clinic Recovery Network Facilitators, while 42 youth and young adults participated in virtual recovery support groups. The program collaborates with Connect-Community for Addiction Recovery (C-CAR) to offer routine HIV testing and PrEP services, reaching approximately 160 individuals with HIV prevention education.
Person-Centered Medical Home
Person-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) serves as a pilot site for testing programs developed by the Office. The newest location, Connecticut Children’s Primary Care South (Hartford), completed the Glide Path for National Committee for Quality Assurance PCMH recognition. The Primary Care East (East Hartford) and West (Farmington) locations were re-certified as PCMHs in May 2023. In response to the ongoing mental health crisis, the model of integrated behavioral-medical care includes psychologists and care coordinators on healthcare teams, along with universal screening to identify and evaluate behavioral and developmental concerns during well-child visits. This year, psychologists received a grant to administer the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, enhancing access to earlier autism diagnosis and services. Participation in the Goal Concordant Care (GCC) learning community was completed, and the second phase (GCC and the Well Child Visit) is underway, supported by funding from the Help Me Grow National Center.
Resident Education in Advocacy and Community Health
The Resident Education in Advocacy and Community Health (REACH) program maintains its collaboration with early learning centers in the community to teach interactive and age-appropriate nutrition topics. Residents have had the opportunity to tutor elementary and middle school-age children from Hartford and continue working with local food pantries. Op-eds on improving children’s health from an advocacy perspective have been published in local newspapers. The program also takes advantage of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) opportunities to promote interest in the community. A professional session with local school nurses was held to improve communication between physicians and schools for childhood success. Additionally, residents work with the Office to advocate for the Children’s Hospital Association and support legislative initiatives as opportunities arise.
Center for Global Health
The multi-disciplinary activities of the Center for Global Health (the Center) at Connecticut Children’s reinforces the status of our learners, staff, and faculty as world citizens and promotes cultural humility and appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion to better care for the children of Connecticut. The Center collaborates with partners in Africa (Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Ghana), India, and the Caribbean to improve pediatric healthcare quality and capacity. This partnership also provides our volunteers with opportunities to understand obstacles to accessing high-quality healthcare and appropriate nutrition in these regions. By gaining this understanding, volunteers can develop and enhance techniques to improve patient care in our community.
HEALTHY, STABLE & SECURE HOUSING
During the discussions informing the 2022 CHNA, residents and key informants identified housing as a major concern for families in Hartford. Participants expressed significant distress over high rental costs and poorquality housing, often referring to many property owners as “slumlords.” One resident remarked, “If it wasn’t for Section 8, individuals on a fixed income wouldn’t be able to manage, as their entire check goes towards rent.”
Connecticut Children’s is helping address this need through:
Healthy Homes
The Connecticut Children’s Healthy Homes Program (Healthy Homes) champions the fundamental right of all children and families to reside in safe, quality, and affordable housing. The program is dedicated to ensuring the removal of lead paint and other housing hazards, such as asbestos, mold, and pests, from families’ homes, fostering healthier living environments statewide. Housing affordability and stability are supported by requiring property owners to charge rental rates in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines, reducing the risk of families facing frequent relocations due to escalating rents. In fiscal year 2023, Healthy Homes made 173 residences safe and healthy, ensuring that over 125 families now live in quality, affordable homes.
Pathways to Action
Under the Pathways to Action (PTA) initiative, the Office’s Equity Committee made significant strides to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the organization. The Committee facilitated a book club focused on Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women to increase awareness of systemic inequities unique to the representation of women in data and research studies; authored and published a Gender-Affirming Care statement on the Connecticut Children’s DEI page; developed and launched a more equitable process to increase representation of diverse perspectives and experiences on the Office Advisory Board; collaborated with enterprise DEI leaders to host a forum discussion on gender diversity and inclusivity; established the Professional Development Subcommittee to focus on promoting growth opportunities for team members, particularly through addressing barriers faced by BIPOC employees; and developed a PTA Onboarding Program, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive Office Onboarding Program. Additionally, team member education on pronoun usage was prioritized, with pronoun pins sourced from a local, queer-owned business.
ENSURING CHILDREN
& FAMILIES THRIVE INTO THE FUTURE
Connecticut Children’s is committed to strengthening families so they are best positioned to promote their children’s optimal health, development, and well-being now and in the future. As this report has shown, our community-oriented work addresses the many varied factors that influence child health and well-being outcomes. We are proud that our community-oriented work, led by Connecticut Children’s Office for Community Child Health, is a model for other local, regional, and national organizations.
We are privileged to work alongside numerous child advocates who are essential to our success. Without their collaboration, our innovative clinical and community-focused approaches would not be possible. We look forward to continuing these partnerships to ensure a bright, healthy, and equitable future for all children.
For more information on our work, connect with us here:
Connecticut Children’s is the only health system in Connecticut 100% dedicated to kids. That means high-quality care across more than 30 pediatric specialties in 40+ locations throughout Connecticut, Eastern New York and Western Massachusetts. One team on a mission to improve access to healthcare from before birth and into adulthood. One team pushing the limits with breakthrough research and community partnerships so we can help you focus on what matters most: your family’s wellness journey. When you choose Connecticut Children’s, you can expect care beyond imagination.
