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Wednesday, November 29, 2023

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Home health, hospice nurses in OR call for union contract agreement; MS ranks low among states for long-term care services, supports; and a look at how adopting children changed the lives of two Texas women.

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Former Vice President Mike Pence reportedly tells investigators more details about efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley wins the endorsement of a powerful Koch brothers' network and a Senate committee targets judicial activists known to lavish gifts upon Supreme Court justices.

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Congress has iced the long-awaited Farm Bill, but farmer advocates argue some portions are urgent, the Hoosier State is reaping big rewards from wind and solar, and opponents speak out about a planned road through Alaska's Brooks Range a dream destination for hunters and angler.

CT group hosts community forum addressing housing

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Thursday, October 19, 2023   

A Connecticut group is holding a community policy forum to discuss housing.

The state is facing a severe affordable-housing shortage with soaring rents. Between 2005 and 2021, inflation growth of rent exceeded median household income in the state.

Sana Shah, power building and advocacy director with Connecticut Voices for Children, said increased evictions will be a long-term impact of this housing crisis.

"The threat of evictions," said Shah, "is a significant deterrer of housing stability brought on by economic injustice, inadequate housing supply and legal structures that failed to protect tenants."

There was an eviction moratorium throughout the pandemic, although it ended with the public health emergency earlier this year. The Eviction Lab finds Connecticut evictions have either surpassed or been in keeping with pre-pandemic rates.

The forum will be held today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the University of Connecticut, Stamford.

While the state has taken action to bolster affordable housing, it could easily be lost.

The National Low-Income Housing Coalition finds more than 2,500 publicly supported rental homes could be lost, which could only increase over the next few years.

Shah described other challenges to building more affordable housing.

"Connecticut also needs progressive revenue," said Shah, "so we can fund supplemental programs like the Rental Assistance Program to help low-income families who qualify for section 8, but can't get the help that they need now."

She added that when states invest in their residents, it's easier for them to afford their household expenses such as rent and other bills.



Disclosure: Connecticut Voices for Children contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Children's Issues, Education, Juvenile Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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