March 19, 2020
Contacts: Meg Dubois, CWEALF, mdubois@cwealf.org and Finn Darby-Hudgens, Connecticut Fair Housing Center, finn@ctfairhousing.org
Protecting Civil & Human Rights During Covid-19 Public Health Crisis
(Connecticut) Advocates and attorneys for under-served communities from across the state came together today, March 19, 2020, to send a letter to Governor Lamont that identifies a growing list of concerns for their clients during the Covid-19 public health care crisis. The letter lists concerns for several populations including people currently incarcerated, low-income workers, immigrants, people who are homeless, families with limited housing stability, people with disabilities, youth in the justice system, people in policed communities, people without health insurance, people in psychiatric facilities, people with food insecurities, and people without paid leave as the populations that will be most disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 public health crisis.
The letter outlines provisions that the state should take as a part of their response to this pandemic. Recommendations include provisions for:
- Improved workplace safety and paid sick days and paid leave for healthcare and frontline workers;
- Protections for Connecticut residents currently being held in immigration detention centers outside of the state;
- Real and effective eviction and foreclosure moratoriums to provide housing stability for low income;
- A call for decarceration and “action for preventing lockdowns and solitary confinement; access to healthcare, hygiene supplies, schooling, and free phone calls;
- A temporary suspension of termination for all federally reimbursed assistance programs;
- Protections for pregnant women and uninsured children;
- Increased access to the Internet for low-income youth
The signing organizations make a final plea to the state’s leadership for “transparency regarding membership of the state’s emergency response teams and daily, public briefings regarding the state’s emergency response plans for disproportionately impacted residents” and welcomes working in a coordinated way with the Governor’s emergency operation teams.
For comment and quotes on specific concerns referenced in the letter please follow the contact list link here to be directed towards the correct organization. It is our collective impact strategy to provide space for agency and industry experts to comment appropriately.
