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Dear Friend,
I just wrapped up another week of work here in eastern Connecticut, and I’m here with an update on improvements to behavioral health programs for students and parents, new hiring numbers, housing development, and more. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me.
Improved School Mental Health Care for Families
With the start of the new school year, parents and teachers know that ensuring that kids are healthy – in body and mind – is fundamental to student success. Last year, all across the country, there were rising cases of behavioral health problems, highlighted in a CDC study. This year, help for parents and kids will be much greater.
On Tuesday, I visited Vernon Center Middle School to discuss a $323k grant the school district will receive over three years from the federal American Rescue Plan, aimed at healing this problem.
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| Click here to read more from the Journal Inquirer. |
During my visit, I met with school leaders and the bigger team of social workers who will coordinate with families and treating therapists to keep students’ learning on track, rather than being disrupted.
This grant for Vernon Schools is part of a larger, federally funded program which will provide 72 school districts across Connecticut with resources to hire additional behavioral health professionals. Thanks to Vernon School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Macary, Assistant Superintendent Bob Testa, Vernon Center Middle School Principal David Caruso, and school Social Workers Gui Estes and Domonique Pascascio for their intelligent, caring leadership to make this effort a success.
Visiting the Mystic Job Fair & New Hiring Numbers at Electric Boat
Growing our region’s economy and creating good-paying jobs is always a top priority for my office and me. Hiring rates at the Electric Boat shipyard are currently at record levels, and I’m told by the EB employment office that by today, Friday, the company will have hired 3,900 new workers this year. That already surpasses total hires in 2022, and with four months left in this year, puts them well on track to reach their stated 2023 hiring goal of 5,750.
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| Electric Boat Employment Office staff Jordan and Jody updated Rep. Courtney on EB's 2023 hiring rate |
The need for skilled workers in eastern Connecticut is present across a wide range of industries. Yesterday, I stopped by the Mystic Job Fair sponsored by The Day to talk with employers and job seekers. Employers from local school districts to health care organizations told me they were hearing from high-quality candidates.
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| At the Mystic Job Fair, Rep. Courtney met with the Southeastern Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SCADD). This year, Courtney secured $915,000 in Community Project funding for SCADD’s residential treatment facility in Lebanon. |
I’m continuing my work in Congress to boost federal investment into local job training programs like the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative, into community colleges, and into high school career and technical education programs – both at trade schools, where many students are hired right after graduation, and at comprehensive schools, which are expanding career pathways programs and hiring more industry professionals to serve as educators.
At yesterday's job fair, I stopped by Groton Public School's booth. Last year, I secured $150,000 in federal Community Project funding for Groton Public Schools to establish a career pathways program which is already opening up skill-development opportunities for students in health care, education, engineering, and more fields.
I also caught up with Mitchell College. I secured $550,000 in federal funding as a 2022 Community Project for their Digital Innovation Hub which uses skills-focused learning to set students up for careers in varied high-demand industries.
Even with record hiring numbers and an unemployment rate in Connecticut below 4%, there is still a high-demand for skilled workers and a steady pace of foot traffic at job fairs like yesterday’s in Mystic and Electric Boat’s weekly Walk-In Wednesday. I’m working with my colleagues in Congress and the Department of Labor to maintain and grow federal investment in eastern Connecticut’s skills training opportunities.
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| On Wednesday, Courtney visited Grasso Tech to meet with the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board and discuss the success of the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative and the importance of Congress increasing federal investment in workforce development by reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act |
Keeping Kids Fed & Building Sustainable Relationships Between Communities and Farmers
Summer may be behind us, but local farmers are still supplying our region with fresh, delicious produce. On Monday, I had a great conversation about the Farm to Table program with Vernon Schools and Cloverleigh Farm. The program is federally funded, and it provides K-12 students with nutritious, locally grown food while also supporting eastern CT’s agriculture sector.
Vernon Schools Food Service Director Elizabeth and vegetable farmer Susan Mitchell tell me the Farm to Table program continues to grow, and it’s no wonder why. Building sustainable relationships between the food families eat and the farmers who grow it benefits our entire community.
Constructing Housing in New and Existing Buildings
On Wednesday, I was excited to join the ribbon cutting for the federally supported Spruce Meadows high quality mixed-income housing complex in Pawcatuck, led by Strong Communities and NeighborWorks New Horizon. The most effective way we can meet the growing demand for housing in eastern CT is by building more housing complexes like this that reflect the great partnerships between private organizations and every level of government.
This development was made possible by several federal programs designed to support and incentivize construction of affordable and mixed-income housing. It was a pleasure to join Stonington First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough, CT Commissioner for Housing Seila Mosquera-Bruno, Partnership for Strong Communities’ Sean Ghio, and State Rep. Greg Howard at the ceremony. The ribbon cutting was a culmination of their many years of persistence and dedication to this important project.
There’s no question that our region needs more housing, and along with construction of new buildings, we can also meet demand by tapping into eastern Connecticut’s industrial past and rehabilitating former mills into new housing. There federal Infrastructure Law which Congress passed in 2021 has provided Connecticut towns with nearly $9 million in funding in 2023 through the EPA to assess and clean up abandoned brownfield sites, which have been contaminated from prior use – ensuring safety for development.
On Thursday, I joined Vernon Community and Economic Development Director Shaun Gately and Mayor Dan Champagne at the Amerbelle Mill complex which the town will clean up for future housing development using federal Infrastructure Law funds. We also visited the Loom City lofts, a mixed-use development and former abandoned mill, that was made possible after years of persistence and federal support. Click below to read how the federal Infrastructure Law is helping address Connecticut’s housing shortage.
Thank You to All Who Joined My Telephone Town Hall
Last night, I hosted over 4,500 callers from the Second District on a telephone town hall. A massive thanks to all who joined and brought thoughts and questions on the state of the economy, health care costs, social security, workforce development, housing, and lots more.
This week marks the end of the House’s August district work period, and as I’m preparing to return to Washington next week, there’s a lot on the agenda – namely passing a funding package to make sure the government remains open. During the town hall, we had a great dialogue on my desire to act swiftly and in a bipartisan fashion to avert of government shutdown.
You can listen to a recording of the town hall here on Facebook, and if you have any questions on the topics we covered or other issues, don’t hesitate to call my office or send a reply to this email.
Thanks for taking some time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don’t hesitate to give my Norwich office a call at (860) 886-0139. Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
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