The Connecticut Mirror addressed effects of federal funding cuts, incuding reduction of the Crime Victims Fund under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).

On behalf of Connecticut CASA, I was among the nonprofit representatives cited in the article--a couple of months after a related opinion piece.

In addition to VOCA, our organization is pursuing State funding, as three videos on Connecticut CASA's YouTube channel indicate.

That channel more recently includes video testimony of CASA volunteer Nick Ramirez and me at a City of New Haven meeting regarding federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, which we are also pursuing as a potential re-grant from the City.

Finally, the annual Great Give has concluded--an occasion for private funding.  Connecticut CASA is grateful to all who contribute, year-round, including those who donated through this event to help our organization raise some $42,105 from 114 donors. 

For the Great Give, Paul Bass of the New Haven Independent interviewed a colleague and me--the latest video on Connecticut CASA's YouTube channel.  Subscribe here.

In similar opinion pieces in the Connecticut Mirror, Hearst CT Media, and Hartford Courant, I discussed federal funding--with a focus on Connecticut.

While sketching the broader context, the article highlighted examples of three federal funding streams affecting Connecticut CASA:

• the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and Crime Victims Fund (CVF);
• a Prevention Innovation Grant received, with HHS funds under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA);
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) funds to help CASA and other organizations aiming to prevent children's move from the dependency (child protection) to the dependency side of the juvenile court.

 A version of the piece also appears on Medium.

A Yale advisee, Jeannot Basima, and I co-authored an opinion piece (also on Medium) about his hometown of Goma, Congo--with references to international humanitarian organizations and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Jeannot, a sophomore studying political science and a member of Yale's varsity basketball team, is developing a nonprofit--fiscally sponsored by Dwight Hall at Yale--to support youth development in Goma.

In September 2024, Jeannot and I jointly presented at a Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance forum. Jeannot's portion of the program is on YouTube here, while my portion is excerpted on Connecticut CASA's YouTube channel.

On the holiday in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and during Mentoring Month, this is to recognize an interview of Erik Clemons--founding leader of ConnCAT and ConnCORP--by Professor Khalilah Brown-Dean, now of Wesleyan University.

The conversation, part of her "Disrupted" series on CT Public, addresses "community, hope, and love."

In earlier years, this blog has evoked MLK's "I have a dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington--in which my father participated--and the theme of mentoring.

The Connecticut Mirror and various Hearst CT Media outlets published different versions of an opinion piece that I wrote on the occasion(s) of Youth Justice Action, Domestic Violence Awareness, and Substance Use/Bullying Prevention Month(s)--October.

Relating Connecticut CASA and child welfare to the 119K Commission focused on concerns around some 119,000 young people ages 14-26 who are "disconnected" from school or employment or "at risk" of becoming so, the piece also addresses prevention priorities for children before age 14.