Partnership for Strong Communities - Healthcare, Education Experts: Housing Is Vital Policy Answer

Healthcare, Education Experts: Housing Is Vital Policy Answer

Deputy Commissioner George Coleman, CT Dept. of Education

May 21, 2009 -- Unveiling a wealth of evidence that substandard, unaffordable housing endangers children’s physical and mental health, wastes taxpayer dollars and hurts academic performance, experts and policymakers told a large Lyceum audience May 21 that safe, secure homes are the vital cornerstone in assuring health, safety and academic success.

“We need a planned, community development strategy with housing at its core,” said Deputy Education Commissioner George Coleman. Coleman, along with Janice Gruendel, Gov. Rell’s senior adviser on early childhood policy, said housing policy, including the provision of more affordable units across the state, must be coordinated with other childcare programs to ensure success.

Janice Gruendel, Sr Advisor to Gov.Rell on Early Childhood

"We have not included residence as a factor in our previous deliberations,” Gruendel said of Rell’s childcare planning group, “but we will in the future.”

The session “Housing, Education and Healthcare: Unseen Links,” was the fifth and final forum of the 2009 Lyceum Forum Series, “Housing: The Hub of Public Policy.” Among the revelations offered by the experts:

Ronald Kraatz, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center: Lead paint in substandard housingis the most dangerous environmental toxin facing children and affects everything neurological development, from Mastery Test scores to attention deficit disorder. Kraatz said energy loss from substandard units hurts health, just as broken pipes and excessive moisture heightens asthma and vermin threats.
Bonnie Roswig, Center for Children’s Advocacy: Families too often must go to court or wage legal fights to improve housing quality, get landlords to live up to their responsibilities or keep the utilities on. “Housing quality and educational success are linked."
Dr. Robert Plant, Department of Children and Families: The lack of affordable appropriate housing forces children into foster care, prevents family unification and leads to depression and behavioral problems. Conversely, the ability to provide subsidies and security deposits helps families stay in housing.
First Panel
Dr. Eric Cohen, Institute of Living: While better housing provides better outcomes, unaffordable and unsecure housing leads to anxiety disorders, phobias, even Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. Without a stable home, the world is seen by children as a scary, uncaring place.

Second Panel

Meanwhile, two experienced housing developers, Peter Nucci of The Connection in Middlesex County and Seila Mosquera, executive director of Neighborworks New Horizons in New Haven, both said that, given the opportunity by the state and its municipalities, they and other developers have the capacity and know-how to increase the supply of housing needed by these families.

To view materials from this event, click here. To view more photos from this event, click here.

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