FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, August 9, 2023

SEN. OSTEN WELCOMES $865,000 IN SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH GRANTS FOR LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today welcomed the news that $865,621 in state grants will be released to five nearby public schools to support the hiring and retention of school mental health specialists for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 school years.

The state recently announced the release of a total of $15 million in funding for 72 school districts across Connecticut, supporting the hiring and retention of school mental health specialists for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 school years. Grant values range from $25,150 to $120,000 in each of the first two years and 70% of that amount in the third year.

The grant program uses funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and it was just awarded to Connecticut schools as a result of the 2022 passage of Senate Bill 1, which was Sen. Osten and the Connecticut Senate Democrats’ top legislative priority that year and which aimed to address children’s mental health care statewide.

“Many of our young students, especially young women, are struggling with mental health issues like sadness, hopelessness, or thoughts of suicide, Young women are twice as likely as young men to have these thoughts. And there have not been enough resources for them,” Sen. Osten said. “My hope is this three-year investment will make a difference.”

The following area school systems will receive mental health support funds for the 2024 through 2026 school years:

· Columbia, $167,400

· Integrated Day Charter School, $193,050

· Lebanon, $209,774

· Ledyard, $162,000

· Norwich Free Academy District, $133,397

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, August 7, 2023

SEN. OSTEN REMINDS VETERANS EXPOSED TO AGENT ORANGE & BURN PITS TO APPLY BY WEDNESDAY FOR PACT ACT BENEFITS

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today reminded military veterans that – while they can apply at any time– they have until Wednesday to apply for federal PACT Act benefits that could be retroactive and which cover an expanded list of health conditions that may be linked to Agent Orange, burn pits, or other toxic, chemical exposures.

Sen. Osten is a U.S. Army veteran, a member of the legislature’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and post commander for the American Legion Joseph St. Germaine Post 85 in Sprague.

“It’s taken a long time for veterans to get the recognition they deserve for the damage that was caused by a decade of use of Agent Orange in Vietnam and the burns pits in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Even if veterans were denied health benefits before, they may likely be approved under the new PACT Act,” Sen. Osten said. “We need to honor our promises to our military veterans to take care of them, and vets should make this call or go online to apply.”

The PACT Act (the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act) was passed by Congress in June 2022 and brings these changes:

· Expands and extends eligibility for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care for veterans with toxic exposures and veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras

· Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures

· Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation

· Requires the VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every veteran enrolled in VA health care

· Helps the VA improve research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures

To apply, please visit: https://www.va.gov/disability/file-disability-claim-form-21-526ez/introduction

or call the VA at:

800-698-2411

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 23, 2023

SEN. OSTEN WELCOMES STATE BONDING FOR NECESSARY PUBLIC PROJECTS IN NORWICH AND LEDYARD

St. Vincent de Paul, Jubilee Park, Gales Ferry FD Benefit from State Investments

NORWICH – State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) announced today that the State Bond Commission is expected to approve a combined $2.7 million in state aid for three public projects in the region when the commission meets next week in Hartford.

After recent input from Sen. Osten, next week’s State Bond Commission agenda includes:

· $1.7 million for the St. Vincent de Paul Place soup kitchen on Cliff Street for capital renovations and improvements including elevator work, windows and clinic build-outs. St. Vincent de Paul Place is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich and has been serving the poor in the region since 1979.

· $500,000 for park upgrades, including drainage improvements, to Jubilee Park Lower Broadway. Castle Church is overseeing plans to turn Jubilee Park into a gathering place for city events.

· $500,000 for a new roof and fire equipment for the Gales Ferry Volunteer Fire Department in Ledyard, which was founded in 1942. The department moved into its station on Route 12 in 1986 and has since refinished the firehouse exterior and replaced the front apron with a concrete pad.

“I’m always advocating up in Hartford for eastern Connecticut to get its fair share of state bonding, and I believe these are three very worthwhile projects that deserve state support,” Sen. Osten said. “I look forward to the positive changes that these investments will have on the quality of life for tens of thousands of people in the region.”

The State Bond Commission is scheduled to meet at 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 30 in Room 1-E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

SEN. OSTEN WELCOMES $776,000 IN STATE GRANTS FOR NORWICH ARTS & HISTORICAL ORGANIZATIONS, EASTERN PEQUOTS

NORWICH – State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today welcomed news that two Norwich organizations will receive more than $355,000 in state grants to improve their facilities and their public outreach.

Artreach, Inc. in Norwich, which is an arts and health agency supporting mental health and wellness through the creative and performing arts, will receive $49,450 to create a trauma-sensitive and accessible space that will continue to serve as a classroom and rehearsal space.

The Norwich Historical Society, founded nearly a quarter-century ago to preserve, protect and promote the rich history of Norwich, will receive $306,053 to partner with the Society of the Founders of Norwich to create a campus where the circa 1675 Leffingwell House Museum will be the museum space, and the Greenleaf house will be the handicapped-accessible multipurpose event space.

“We’ve just finished the state budget, which makes huge investments in the nuts and bolts of everyday life in Connecticut, like education and public safety. But we’ve also taken time in the past to set aside funds to invest in our local arts and historical organizations and all the other types of local nonprofits that really make up the fabric of each community, that everyone recognizes and values. That’s what these grants are all about,” Sen. Osten said. “These are great investments in the fabric of our towns, and I’m pleased to have voted for this program nine years ago and I’m thankful to Governor Lamont and the DECD for recognizing the value of these projects.”

Also announced today, the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation in North Stonington will receive a $421,050 grant to develop public programs that value their ancestry, traditions, and way of life.

The grants were announced today by Governor Ned Lamont. Connecticut is releasing more than $7 million in state grants to several nonprofit organizations for the purposes of making facility and infrastructure upgrades at 34 cultural and historic sites statewide.

The funds are being released under the state’s Good to Great Grant Program, which is co-administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and CT Humanities. Good to Great 2.0 grants of up to $500,000 fund capital projects for nonprofit arts, cultural, or history organizations that connect art, history, and tourism to enhance visitors’ experience of an arts or cultural venue and/or historic site. Funded through Public Act 14-98, which Sen. Osten voted for, Good to Great grants are intended for capital projects that not only look beyond basic facilities repair, rehabilitation, or expansion but also

towards new means of sharing and telling the stories of our cultural and historic sites in engaging, meaningful, and relevant ways.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, June 15, 2023

SEN. OSTEN WELCOMES SUPREME COURT DECISION ON NATIVE AMERICAN ADOPTIONS, ISSUES STATEMENT OF SUPPORT

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague), who is a strong advocate for Connecticut’s Native American tribes and of other tribes across the country, welcomed today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision which upheld a 1978 law, the Indian Child Welfare Act or “ICWA”, aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions.

“This Supreme Court decision today is a big deal. It really is. This decision is a win for humanity and a recognition of the fact that tribal nations are sovereign and that they have the right to govern themselves, and that their citizens are a part of their nation,” said Sen. Osten, whose 19th State Senate District includes the towns of Montville and Ledyard and borders the sovereign tribal nations of the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans. “This year in Connecticut we incorporated the federal ICWA and all its definitions into state statute. We spelled it out in Connecticut, not knowing what the outcome of this Supreme Court decision would be.”

Last year, Sen. Osten successfully passed legislation – House Bill 5336, “AN ACT APPLYING THE PROVISIONS OF THE INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT TO CHILD CUSTODY, PLACEMENT, ADOPTION AND TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING AN INDIAN CHILD” – to ensure that the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act apply to child custody, placement, adoption and termination of parental rights proceedings involving an Indian child. The bill required the state Department of Children and Families commissioner to make sure that any action or proceeding under the child welfare laws involving an American Indian child’s custody or placement in a foster or adoptive home, or the termination of the child’s parents’ parental rights, is according to the federal ICWA.

This year, Sen. Osten successfully passed legislation – Senate Bill 1204, “AN ACT CONCERNING THE CONNECTICUT INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT” – which codified the federal ICWA into Connecticut state statutes; her bill was passed in the event the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the tribes and Connecticut tribal families needed protection. The bill generally codifies into state law the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 which governs jurisdiction over the removal of American Indian children from their families in custody, foster care, and adoption cases. In doing so, the bill expands ICWA’s coverage to the state-recognized Golden Hill Paugussett, Paucatuck Eastern Pequot, and Schaghticoke Tribes (the federal ICWA already applies to federally recognized tribes.)

According to reporting from the New York Times, the U.S. Supreme Court case stems from a white foster couple from Texas who had filed a lawsuit against five tribes and the Interior Department as they battled over the adoption of a Native American child. Under ICWA, preference is given to Native families, a policy that the Texas couple said violated equal protection principles and discriminated against Native children and non-Native families who wanted to adopt them because it hinges on placement based on race. The tribes argued that they

are political entities, not racial groups, and that doing away with that distinction, which underpins tribal rights, could imperil nearly every aspect of Indian law and policy, including measures that govern access to land, water and gambling.

The 1978 ICWA legislation was designed to address the legacy of abuses of Native American children, hundreds of thousands of whom had been separated from their tribes to be raised by families with no connection to their culture.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, June 15, 2023

SEN. OSTEN HONORS CADET NURSES, CALLS FOR FEDERAL PROGRAM TO ADDRESS NATIONAL NURSING SHORTAGE

HARTFORD – On the day that Connecticut now recognizes as Cadet Nurse Corps Day, state Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) took a moment to honor all those who served in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps and to suggest that the federal government could help address the current national nursing shortage – America needs to add 200,000 nurses a year for the next several years – by creating a new national nursing program patterned after the World War II program.

The United States Cadet Nurse Corps was established by Congress on June 15, 1943; the Connecticut legislature voted in 2018 to recognize the day every year. The purpose of the Nurse Cadet Corps was to ensure that America had enough nurses to care for its citizens at home and abroad during World War II; it’s estimated that by the end of the war in 1945, about 125,000 cadet nurses were providing 80 percent of the nursing care in American hospitals while other nurses served overseas.

“Our country is today facing a shortage of nurses much like the nursing shortage during World War II,” said Sen. Osten, who is a U.S. Army veteran. “While Connecticut is working to increase its healthcare workforce, and will continue to do so, a national program patterned after Cadet Nurse Corps from World War II is needed because of the critical shortage of nurses America is once again facing. Our country needs an increase in nurses and other healthcare professionals: dealing with this shortage is imperative. There’s not a state in our union that isn’t suffering from a shortage of nurses, from Louisiana to Alaska, from Connecticut to South Dakota, the need is great. So let’s bring back the United States Cadet Nurse Corps!”

The nurse corps was a non-discriminatory program that allowed Native Americans, African Americans, and relocated Japanese-Americans to participate. The program was open to women ages of 17 to 35, in good health, who had graduated from an accredited high school. Successful applicants were eligible for a government subsidy that paid for tuition, books, uniforms, and a stipend. In exchange, they were required to pledge to actively serve in essential civilian or federal government services for the duration of World War II.

The American Hospital Association credited the cadet student nurses with helping to prevent the collapse of nursing during the war. The Corps operated from 1943 until 1948: 124,065 women graduated from participating nursing schools, including about 3,000 African Americans, 40 Native Americans, and 400 Japanese Americans. The federal government spent $160 million on the program.

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