Doug McCrory

Sen. McCrory Hears from Kids and Experts in His Quest to Address Marginalized Youth

State Senator Doug McCrory (D-Hartford) spent nearly four hours today listening to a variety of experts and first-hand testimony on the issue of marginalized youth, and he came away with a revelation: keep it simple.

“I’m reminded of the old African proverb that says the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down in order to feel its warmth,” Sen. McCrory said. “So I think it’s important for us in government to listen to those who are close to the problem, to the parents and to the kids themselves, and to listen to those who have come through the juvenile justice system themselves to hear what they have to say about what they need to succeed.

“There was one young man today who testified that he needed just four things to succeed after exiting our juvenile justice system: a cell phone, some new clothes, shelter, and love,” Sen. McCrory added. “Those are the kinds of simple things we legislators need to be thinking more about when we’re writing legislation to help needy kids.”

Sen. McCrory’s “Informational Forum on Marginalized Youth” was convened in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford to determine what programs are currently available for children who are marginalized and who have been determined to be “at-risk,” how effective those programs are, and what else can be done to improve access to mental health programs for youth.

In addition to the more than two dozen people in the audience, the panel included a rare combination of professionals with different areas of expertise: the Honorable Bernadette Conway, Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters; Francis Carino, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney; Christine Rapillo, Chief Public Defender; Commissioner Scott Semple of the Department of Correction; Dr. Wizdom Powell, Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health; Leon Smith, Director of the Racial Justice Project at the Center for Children’s Advocacy; Andrew Clark, Director of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University; Erica Bromley, Juvenile Justice Liaison for Connecticut Youth Services Association and KADE Consulting; and Julio Flores, Secretary of the Hartford Board of Education.