Public School and Social Services for non-citizens

Topic:
IMMIGRATION; MEDICAID; STATISTICAL INFORMATION; SOCIAL SERVICES; SCHOOL DISTRICTS;
Location:
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION; SCHOOLS; WELFARE - MEDICAL ASSISTANCE (MEDICAID);


September 5, 2007		2007-R-0512
PUBLIC SCHOOL AND SOCIAL SERVICES FOR NON-CITIZENS

By: Susan Price, Principal Legislative Analyst

You asked how many students in Connecticut schools are not U.S. citizens, with a breakdown for the six largest school districts. You also asked how many non-citizens receive services from the Department of Social Services (DSS) or under state Medicaid.

SUMMARY

State Department of Education records do not include students' citizenship status, and we were unable to find any source that does. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey estimates that 23,474 of the 830,890 children under age 18 living in Connecticut are not U.S. citizens.

Table 1 below shows its estimates for each county. We also enclose the original Census tables showing the large margins of error associated with the bureau's estimates.

We are awaiting information from DSS on services it provides to non-citizens and will forward it to you upon receipt.

Table 1: Citizenship Status: Children Under Age 18¹


*County*	*Native Born (U.S. Citizen)*	*Foreign Born*
Fairfield	215,646	14,129	Naturalized: 3,798
			Non-citizen: 10,331
Hartford	199,658	7,302	Naturalized: 2,793
			Non-citizen: 4,509
Litchfield	42,518	1,604	Naturalized: 821
			Non-citizen: 783
Middlesex	35,193	271	Naturalized: 233
			Non-citizen: 38
New Haven	190,562	7,465	Naturalized: 1,294
			Non-citizen: 6,171
New London	60,127	1,766	Naturalized: 560
			Non-citizen: 1,206
Tolland	29,342	560	Naturalized: 124
			Non-citizen: 436
Windham	26,451	0	Naturalized: 0
			Non-citizen: 0

Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2005 American Community Survey

¹ Estimates are based on sample data and subject to sampling variability. See original tables (attached) for margins of error associated with each data element.