Home Care In New Haven, CT

NEW HAVEN — State and city officials gathered recently to celebrate the announcement of $9.1 million in Community Investment Fund grants to four local organizations.

It was round six of the state's 10-round commitment to approve $75 million in grants twice a year for a total of $750 million over five years. New Haven nonprofits and development corporations are eligible, as well as more than 55 communities deemed underserved around the state.

With this recent round of awards, Mayor Justin Elicker said the city has received $70 million in CIF grants since its inception.

"A total of $9 million, that's a big deal, $9 million," Elicker said as he and others gathered outside 410 Orchard St., where the Greater Dwight Development Corp. plans to convert the building into 11 units of affordable housing and community space for local nonprofit and community-based organizations across two properties in the Dwight neighborhood.

The corporation, which received $6.1 million for the project, works to lead projects that address drugs, gang violence, economic development, employment, housing and education.

"This funding will help revitalize this corner of the neighborhood," Anne Demchak, board president of the development corporation, said.

The United Way of Greater New Haven, which addresses urgent local issues in education, safe housing, food security, career development, financial education and other vital services, received a $2 million grant. In collaboration with Beacon Communities and Columbus House, the United Way will leverage CIF support for State & Chapel, a mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented housing project downtown.

The housing project will convert vacant office space into 76 housing units, with 60 of them listed as affordable and 16 units listed as supportive housing to help people experiencing homelessness.

Jennifer Heath, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater New Haven, said she was thrilled to be able to work on the project with Beacon.

"We don't build housing but we're very good at collaborating," she said, adding city residents are struggling to make ends meet, especially in the area of affordable housing.

The Mary Wade Home, a senior care organization serving low-income seniors ages 65 and older, received $700,000. The home will utilize the funding to move forward on plans for a major renovation and expansion of the Boardman Residential Care Home to address safety concerns and improve living conditions.

Mount Hope Temple Church, which currently operates the Mount Hope Recovery Center Food Pantry, received $250,000 to increase the number of families it serves per month by expanding into more of the city. It also plans to operate a cooling and warming shelter for the homeless.

NEW HAVEN –– Officials said the first week of no cellphones in all of the district's K-8 schools has gone well as officials continue to work with students and families ahead of implementing the policy districtwide.

"While not every student is enthusiastic about the change, we do have good compliance," said Justin Harmon, the district's spokesman. "Most students understand the rationale, even if they don’t like it."

Seventeen schools in New Haven rolled out a cellphone-free policy this week, making it now districtwide for all K-8 schools, with high schools set to implement the policy in the fall.

"The schools and our families had reasonable notice of the change," Harmon said. "We were able to learn from the experiences at schools that piloted the change early. We are working with families where there are special needs or concerns about communication with a student to establish protocols for appropriate communication."

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“We believe that our students deserve an environment that truly supports their learning and social and emotional growth,” New Haven Superintendent Madeline Negrón said. “We have been working closely with our schools to make the transition to cellphone-free learning spaces possible.”

The transition to a cellphone-free environment began last year when the district launched a pilot program at Barnard Environmental Science and Technology School. The initiative later expanded to eight additional schools. Now, the policy is being implemented across all K-8 grades. Last month, the district introduced the policy at one of the high schools.

“The intent is to be the first district that will be a cellphone-free learning space in fall of 2025,” said New Haven Superintendent Madeline Negrón.

Negrón said that creating cellphone-free learning spaces will enhance focus and engagement. Students will be able to concentrate better on lessons, actively participate in classroom discussions and fully engage with their peers and teachers.

"We believe that our students deserve an environment that truly supports their learning and social and emotional growth,” Negrón said. “We have been working closely with our schools to make the transition to cellphone-free learning spaces possible.”

The district's goal in implementing the cellphone policy is to encourage face-to-face interactions without the distraction of mobile devices. Negron said the initiative aims to help students develop social, active listening and learning skills.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the policy has been in development for a long time, calling it a significant step for the district. He said there were challenges of implementing the policy, explaining that when discussions first began with principals, there was some apprehension due to the effort required to establish a cell phone-free environment.

Elicker proposed allocating $375,000 from city funds to purchase Yondr pouches for schools, ensuring proper cellphone storage. The policy requires students to put their cellphones in a Yondr pouch, which they can unlock before leaving the building.

He said implementing the policy in high schools is more challenging because some students have jobs, and parents want to stay in touch with them.

Under the previous policy, students were asked to store their cellphones in lockers, pockets or backpacks.

"It's like having a bowl of candy on the desk and saying to the kids, 'Don’t have the candy,'” he said.

Elicker said cellphones are highly addictive, and the goal is to help students function without them. He said there has been a decrease in school fights, as students are no longer posting on social media throughout the day, which often leads to conflicts. Additionally, the district has observed that students are connecting better with one another.

"The one downside is that schools are a bit noisier," he said. "But that's a great thing because we want our kids to be engaged and interacting with one another."

March 15, 2025

Crystal Elescano

Education & Latino Communities Reporter

Crystal Elescano is the education and Latino communites reporter at the Record Journal. She earned her BA in Journalism at the University of Connecticut and is set to earn her MA in Latino/a and Latin American Studies at UConn's El Instituto in May 2024. She has been part of the Record Journal’s Latino Communities Reporting Lab since June 2021, where she started as an intern. When she’s not writing, Crystal enjoys spending time with friends and family, traveling, and watching telenovelas.

A New Britain Superior Court Judge on Thursday upheld a 2023 ruling by Connecticut utility regulators in a rate case involving over $100 million dollars, and an annual penalty on The United Illuminating Co. for failing to remediate a contaminated power plant.

Judge Matthew Budzik ruled that the Connecticut Public Utilities Authority acted properly in its August 2023 ruling when it reduced the $123 million rate increase that UI had sought to an increase of just $23 million. UI appealed that ruling in Oct. 2023 and Budzik's ruling is the result of that appeal.

The judge's ruling also upheld a portion of PURA's decision that called for a $2 million annual penalty for failing to clean up contamination at the company's now defunct English Station power plant in New Haven.

Claire Coleman, Connecticut's Consumer Counsel, said the judge's ruling "affirms that PURA’s decision was a fair result based on the evidence, or lack thereof, in the record.

“Despite what our utility company representatives would have you believe, ever-increasing distribution rate requests contribute to Connecticut’s high electric costs and need to be scrutinized under the full extent the law allows," Coleman said Friday. "We expect the company will exercise their right to appeal this decision, but my team and I stand ready to combat ongoing efforts to weaken Connecticut’s regulatory framework."

She said the Office of Consumer Counsel became involved in UI's appeal to preserve a savings of $108 million that came out of PURA's ruling as well as to defend important regulatory principles that are designed to protect consumers. Coleman said UI officials failed to prove that the rate increase the company sought was warranted.

Budzik's ruling said in part that UI's legal complaint was not “a model of clarity.”

One of the chairmen of the legislature's Energy and Technology Committee, State Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, called the judge's ruling "another victory for ratepayers."

"For years now, after consistent action by PURA to rein in rate cases and save ratepayers money — including this case, where more than $100 million in potential spending was cut back — I only grow more confident they'll prevail when challenges are heard in court," Needleman said. "PURA's decision was based on a lack of evidence provided by United Illuminating, and that was upheld in this challenge, which is exactly how these proceedings should go. If utilities want to increase the rates they charge, they need to file thorough, evidence-based arguments supporting their claims. Otherwise, they'll continue seeing outcomes like these."

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong praised Budzik decision to uphold the monetary penalty against UI for its handling of the English Station clean up.

“Every day that English Station remains a contaminated eyesore is a slap in the face to the State of Connecticut and New Haven families," Tong said. "This decision leaves no room for doubt — United Illuminating is obligated to remediate English Station, they haven’t, and now they must confront the serious consequences of their failures. They take huge profits from Connecticut ratepayers — who can barely afford the skyrocketing bills — and want to leave us to clean up their mess."

UI officials on Friday declined to comment on the judge's ruling.

UI officials agreed to a well-defined clean up of its defunct power plant as part of a 2015 agreement with state officials that cleared the way for the utility company to be acquired by Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. Nearly eight years later, the clean up of the power plant site, which sits on an island in the middle of Mill River in New Haven, remains incomplete.

NEW HAVEN — The New Haven St. Patrick's Day Parade — the largest St. Patrick's Day event between New York and Boston and one of the oldest St. Paddy's Day parades in the nation — returns to the city Sunday.

And it's bigger, said Parade Chair Fiona Stewart-Jimenez.

"We are expecting a really fun-filled parade," Stewart-Jimenez said, adding there will be 3,500 participants — up by 500 from last year's 2024 St. Patrick's Day Parade — and just over 160 units, up from 150 last year.

Here are a few things to know about the parade:

What is it?

The New Haven St. Patrick's Day Parade is the largest St. Patrick's Day parade between New York and Boston and is said to be the oldest parade in New England and the sixth oldest in the United States. It also is the largest outdoor public event of the year in the state, according to Grand Marshal Cathleen Steinau, who was last year's parade chair, and according to protocol, now becomes grand marshal.

The parade began way back in 1842, didn't take place for a few years during wartime, then was revived in 1956, Steinau said.

This is believed to be the 67th parade since it was revived. It didn't take place in 2020 or 2021 because of the COVID pandemic.

It's put on each year by The Associated Irish Societies, which include the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Knights of St. Patrick, the New Haven Gaelic Football and Hurling Club and the West Haven Irish-American Club.

When and where is it?

It all steps off from Chapel Street and Sherman Avenue at 1:30 p.m., then heads down Chapel Street through the Dwight neighborhood into downtown, where it eventually hangs a left on Church Street and proceeds past a reviewing stand in front of City Hall to Grove Street.

The front of the parade should get to the reviewing stand on Church Street in front of City Hall about 2:15 or 2:30, organizers have said.

All told, the parade stretches for 1.3 miles and can take up to three hours

What — and who — is in it?

This year's parade, led by Grand Marshal Steinau, will have just over 160 units and more than 3,500 marchers all told, said Stewart-Jimenez.

Among this year's notable units will be the Mountain View Clydesdales from Bristol, Pipes and Drums of the Jersey Shore Shillelagh, and the Woodlands String Band of Philadelphia, an annual participant in the Mummer's Parade in Philadelphia, said Stewart-Jimenez.

"Then we have our traditional local high school bands and elementary schools, a few of the Irish dancing schools that we always love to see, in addition to pipes and drums from New Haven and around Connecticut," Stewart-Jimenez said.

There also will be plenty of marching bands, marching units and a few floats from many cities and towns, high schools, police and fire departments in Connecticut — plus many of the area's politicians and a broad array of present and former parade organizers and officials.

This year's Parade Queen is Keira Integlia, of Branford, who will be accompanied by Honor Attendant Madison Morris, of Hamden. This year's parade coordinator is Patrick J. Smith. The parade secretary is Michael dePascale and Catherine Hopkins Zaneski is chief of staff.

What other attractions are part of it?

There will be a Family Fun Zone on Elm Street between Temple Street and Church Street, Stewart-Jimenez said.

It's a designated area that from noon to 2 p.m. will feature activities for children, she said.

WTNH-TV, Channel 8, will air the parade live from 2 to 4 p.m.

What about street closures?

A "muster area" — which includes one block on either side of Chapel Street between Sherman Avenue and North Street, and all the way back to Ella T. Grasso Boulevard will be closed to non-parade traffic prior to and during the parade.

Most streets will close at 11 a.m. Church Street from Chapel to Grove Street is expected to close by 6 a.m. In general, streets will reopen right after the tail end of the parade passes them.

What about the weather?

The parade takes place rain or shine. The only weather-related cancellation would if there were a blizzard and the governor shuts the streets down, according to the parade website.

A high-profile New Haven attorney has been barred from practicing law for two weeks in Connecticut for “carelessly” sharing confidential medical records of Sandy Hook families with other attorneys during the 2022 Alex Jones defamation awards trials.

Norm Pattis, who originally faced a six-month suspension of his Connecticut law license for improperly disclosing the highly sensitive records, appealed that penalty and had his disciplinary case retried before a different judge, who ruled on Wednesday.

“Simply put, given his experience, there is no acceptable excuse for his misconduct. Pattis is a well-known attorney who handles high-profile cases on a regular basis,” wrote state Superior Court Judge Robin Wilson in a 32-page decision. “He was required to appreciate the consequences of his actions when he made the decision to release the (Sandy Hook records).”

Pattis on Thursday told Hearst Connecticut Media Group, “I have to live with the consequences.”

“I’m relieved,” said Pattis, who had a clean 30-year record and said he has not yet decided whether to appeal. “I still think the suspension is a bit much.”

The judge disagreed.

The Sandy Hook families' “[highly] sensitive and [confidential] information, which should have been safeguarded and which was also protected by the court order, was carelessly passed around from one unauthorized person to another, without regard for the protective order, and with no effort [by Pattis] to safeguard the ... (families’) sensitive, confidential documents,” Wilson wrote in her decision. “(T)he (families) were seeking redress against (Jones) for personal attacks in a hotly contested case. Given the highly litigious nature of this case, Pattis should have been on heightened alert.”

The judge was referring to 2022, when Alex Jones faced back-to-back defamation awards trials in Texas and Connecticut, and Pattis, who represented Jones in Connecticut, improperly shared the mental health records of Sandy Hook families from the Connecticut case that were protected under a court order with Jones' attorneys in Texas. Pattis was defending Jones in Connecticut after a group of families successfully sued him for defamation. Jones called the 2012 slaying of 26 first graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax” and “completely fake with actors.”

"Pattis’ mental state at the time of the transfer of documents … has been determined to be negligent,” the judge wrote in her decision Wednesday. “There is clear and convincing evidence that Pattis was aware of his obligations under the clear and unambiguous terms of the protective order issued by the court.”

The judge noted in her decision that she took into account “mitigating factors” in Pattis’ defense, including “no prior public disciplinary record, and … an absence of a dishonest or selfish motive."

“The court attributes some minimal credit for (Pattis’) initial disclosure to (Sandy Hook families’ lawyers), however, that disclosure fell far short," the judge writes. "The court also considers Pattis’ remorsefulness. When he testified before this court, he acknowledged he violated code provisions and would have “looked before he leapt.”

What happens next for Pattis is up to him, the judge said.

"(The) two-week suspension shall be served consecutively within six months from the date of this order," the judge wrote. "Attorney Pattis is directed to advise the court of which two weeks within the six-month period the suspension will be served."

Pattis was working in a Connecticut courtroom as recently as Tuesday, when he attended the sentencing hearing for convicted serial sex offender Daniel Checovetes, in state Superior Court in Torrington. Checovetes pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement. After the hearing, Pattis said he was hired to replace defense counsel Patrick Tomasiewicz to review the agreement and said he found it to be fair.

Pattis, standing beside his client, did not address the court as Checovetes was sentenced to in an 8½-year prison term.