What is the 119K Commission?
The 119K Commission is a commission, organized by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, comprised of bipartisan municipal chief elected officials from across the state. The goal of the Commission to develop a long-term strategy to address Connecticut’s unspoken crisis. In response to the BCG report, CCM organized and staged five regional roundtables to promote awareness of this crisis, to hear from people working with this group of young people, and to seek the public’s input in developing solutions.
Who created the 119K Commission?
In response to the report and the regional forums, CCM created the Commission. CCM recognizes that Connecticut has a statewide crisis, impacting every city and town throughout the state. CCM and the organization’s members are serious about developing strategies to address this crisis. Dalio Education provided input, when requested.
Why is the Commission comprised of only chief elected officials, aside from two of the tri-chairs?
Given that CCM is convening the Commission, chief elected officials comprise the majority of the Commission’s membership. The Commission will engage a broad range of stakeholders, including experts in several key areas, to provide input into the development of the statewide strategy to address this crisis. Given Andrew’s leadership role within Dalio Education, the entity who commissioned the report, he is serving as one of the three chairs of the Commission. Josh Brown has both personal and professional experience working with this population, and brings an important voice to the leadership of this Commission as the one of the three chairs. The goal is not to undue what might already be working, but to highlight what is working, identify gaps, and put together a comprehensive, statewide strategy to address this crisis; something that has never been done before.
When did the Commission launch?
CCM announced the establishment of the 119K Commission on March 6, 2024.
Who served on the Commission?
- Josh Brown, Co-Chair
- Elinor Carbone, Co-Chair (Republican, Torrington)
- Andrew Ferguson, Co-Chair
- Arunan Arulampalam (Democrat, Hartford)
- Joe DeLong, CCM Executive Director & CEO
- Justin Elicker (Democrat, New Haven)
- Ben Florsheim (Democrat, Middletown)
- Mike Freda (Republican, North Haven)
- Laura Hoydick (Republican, Stratford)
- Chris Lippke (Republican, Canterbury)
- Mike Passero (Democrat, New London)
- Caroline Simmons (Democrat, Stamford)
- Erin Stewart (Republican, New Britain)
- Danielle Wong (Democrat, Bloomfield)
- Danielle Chesebrough (Independent, Stonington)
Who paid for the Commission?
CCM is providing in-kind administrative and operational support. Dalio Education provided CCM with a $700,000 grant to support this Commission. The grant will be used for the following purposes.
- Retain the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to:
- advise on overall arch and approach;
- draft long-term strategy;
- provide support for meetings and materials; and
- contribute subject matter expertise and bring in national expertise.
- Retain Adams & Knight to: design and launch a website that provides a clear and transparent way of communicating about all aspects of the Commission and its operations.
What is the role of BCG in the Commission?
The Commission will receive support from the BCG leadership team that contributed to the research, analysis, facilitation, and drafting of the Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis report. Specifically, they will:
- advise on overall arch and approach;
- draft long-term strategy;
- provide support for meetings and materials; and
- contribute subject matter expertise and bring in national expertise.
To whom should we direct questions about the Commission?
All questions about the Commission should be referred to Donna Hamzy at dhamzy@ccm-ct.org or Joe Thornton at jthornton@ccm-ct.org.
What is the scope of this strategy?
The scope of the strategy is to recommend how Connecticut can reduce the number of young people experiencing or at serious risk of experiencing disconnection from education and the workforce in half over the course of a ten-year period. This means reducing the current number from 119,000 to 60,000.
What key data sources were used in the strategy?
- Conducted 6 regional public meetings, hearing from 36 panelists and 79 residents through public comment
- Conducted 10 roundtable discussions with young people, hearing from more than 250 youth
- Collected 58 pieces of testimony received through 119kcommission.org
- Held five local forums hosted by commissioners, hearing from more than 110 residents
- Conducted seven commissioner interviews
- Conducted more than 30 Connecticut stakeholder briefings with experts on at-risk and disconnected young people in CT; further socialization with CT stakeholders to follow today’s alignment
- Hosted thre national expert briefings and conducted 6 interviews with national experts
- Consulted research on Connecticut research/Data (e.g., BCG’s Unspoken Crisis report, Community Science, CT State + School Finance)
Recordings of these meetings, public testimony, and supporting documentation is archived here for the public’s visibility: ___________.
What are the main findings of the strategy?
The following six gaps were identified by young people and other stakeholders.
- Lack of engagement, belonging, and empowerment
- Insufficient educational resources and infrastructure
- Insufficient workforce development opportunities
- Fragmented, underfunded patchwork system of services
- Lack of data transparency and usability
- Lack of accountability across various stakeholders
The identifed gaps informed the four pillars of the strategy.
- Strategic Pillar 1: Coordinate Supports for Youth at All Levels of the System
- Strategic Pillar 2: Create Stronger Conditions for Youth Within and Beyond Schools
- Strategic Pillar 3: Increase Capacity in the System
- Strategic Pillar 4: Build and Sustain Coalitions that Transcend Public Administrations
How does the strategy define "disconnected youth?"
The strategy uses the definitional framework from the report authored by BCG, CT’s Unspoken Crisis: Getting young people back on track.
- At- Risk: High school students who are at risk of not graduating and, therefore, also at risk for eventual disconnection. At-Risk is broken into three sub-categories.
- Off-Track: Students who do not meet state credit attainment requirements
- At-risk due to other factors: Students who exhibit concerning rates of absenteeism and/or behavioral issues
- Severely off-track: Students who are both off-track and at-risk due to other factors
- Disconnected: Young people aged 14-26 who are not engaged in prosocial institutions and/or not on-track for gainful employment. This category has two sub-populations.
- Moderately disconnected: (1) High school diploma holders who are neither employed nor in postsecondary and (2) high school non-graduates who are employed
- Severely disconnected: Young people who are not employed, have not attained a high school diploma/equivalent and/or are incarcerated.
What are the primary causes of youth disconnection identified in the strategy?
The youth themselves have indicated several causes.
- Lack of empowerment
- Boredom
- Lack of work opportunities
- Housing and transportation instability
What solutions or interventions does the strategy suggest?
The plan addresses interventions in education, workforce development, funding, public policy, and social services.
What are the limitations of the strategy?
The strategy is robust, encompassing many elements that impact the well-being of Connecticut’s youth. This comprehensiveness requires a broad-based, long-term solution that must be taken as a whole for the plan to work.
How can individuals and organizations get involved?
Where can I access the full strategy?
The strategy can be found at ccm-ct.org/YoungPeopleFirst.
Are you asking for tax increases to fund this strategy? If not, how do you envision it being funded?
The plan inlcudes several options for funding.
- Capturing increased tax revenue and a reduction in current spending
- Reallocation of existing resources
- Philanthropy
- Modifying state sending restrictions
- Leveraging federal funding
- Tax increases
It is important to note that it is possible to implement the strategy without any tax increases by using a combination of the other options.
After reading the strategy and recommendations it seems like they all need to happen at the same time to prove successful or to realize the mission. What happens if not everything happens as you plan or is implemented?
For the strategy to be successful, it must address all aspects of life that are impacting these youth. All recommended actions, however, do not need to occur simultaneously. Some could be implemented immediately, while others would happen over time.