On Thursday, July 14, Governor Jodi Rell signed House Bill #5360, An Act Concerning Children in the Recession. The new law creates a broad, multi-agency team to respond to the special needs of children caught up in economic crises like the recent recession. Connecticut is the first state in the nation to establish such a comprehensive system for meeting the needs of children affected by economic crises. 

From now on, a multi-agency panel will be activated whenever unemployment exceeds 8 percent. The panel will address critical social services such as food stamps, medical assistance and unemployment and work to maximize the amount of federal aid the state receives.

The law is the result of several months of work by the Speaker’s Task Force on Children, which included legislators, congressional staff and experts on the economy, business, non-profits, child policy, family support, food security, housing, human services and public health, as well as parent advocates.

Serving on the task force were Susan Dunn, president and CEO of United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut (fifth from left in photo above) and State Representative Karen Jarmoc (in front of state flag), chair of the United Way of North Central Connecticut advisory board, who co-chaired the task force with State Representative Diana Urban.