You asked for information on the: (1) trends in violent crime statewide and by municipality; (2) quality of life in Connecticut communities with a high violent crime rate compared with communities with a low violent crime rate; (3) incidence of abuse and neglect statewide and in our municipalities; and (4) quality of life of children who live in stable and supportive families free from abuse and neglect compared with children who do not. A recent OLR Report (2008-R-0082) discusses trends in violent crime statewide and by municipality. We have enclosed a copy.

Regarding question two, we found two studies that address the quality of life in Connecticut. One study from Vassar College identifies 11 quality of life indicators (http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf). The second study was prepared by Connecticut Voices for Children, a statewide children's advocacy group. It reviews child poverty, family income, unemployment rate, health insurance, preschool attendance, dropout rates, homeownership, and working parents as indicators of the quality of life of children in Connecticut (http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/well07towndata.pdf).

From these two studies, we were able to find town-by-town quality of life statistics on child abuse, dropout rates, unemployment, average wages, violent crime, and children under the federal poverty level (FPL).

Using the crime statistics from the Uniform Crime Reports and OLR Report 2008-R-0082, we were able to identify the 10 communities with the highest crime rates in 2004. In those communities, the median family income was $44,168, lower than the median state income of $65,521. The unemployment rate, 7.1%, is higher than the average rate of 5.0%, as is the cumulative dropout rate, 13.3% against a statewide 9%. In the 10 communities with the lowest crime rates, the median family income was $91,333, with just a 3.6% unemployment rate. Though complete statistics were not available, the available statistics show a 2.2% dropout rate.

Regarding question three, Department of Children and Families' (DCF) child abuse and neglect statistics show the communities with the highest rate of child abuse: Danielson, Wauregan, Jewett City, Moosup, Niantic, Waterbury, New Britain, Willimantic, New Haven, Taftville, Meriden, Norwich, Bristol, Hartford, Terryville, Ansonia, Bridgeport, and New London. Rates of substantiated child abuse ranged from a high of 18.3 children per 1,000 residents to the lowest reported rate of 0.5 children per 1,000 residents. Due to confidentiality issues, towns with fewer than 10 substantiated reports are not included in DCF statistics.

Regarding question four, research from a variety of sources indicates the harm of abuse and neglect on children. Abused or neglected children are more likely to abuse their own families, use violence to solve their problems, have trouble learning, have emotional difficulties, attempt suicide, and use alcohol or other drugs than children from safe, supportive families.

Until 2005, the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy at Vassar College produced a series of annual reports monitoring the well-being of the state. In the reports, the institute identified 11 quality of life indicators of social health to estimate quality of life: infant mortality, child abuse, youth suicide, high school dropouts, teenage births, unemployment, average weekly wages, health care costs, violent crime, affordable housing, and income variation (http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf). We were able to find community-by-community statistics on five of these indicators: child abuse, dropout rates, unemployment, average wages, and violent crime, and will use these indicators.

Appendix A shows the quality of life as measured by these five quality of life indicators in all Connecticut communities, listed alphabetically. Table 1 shows the quality of life as measured by these indicators in the 10 least violent communities: Hartland, Bridgewater, Sherman, Ledyard, New Fairfield, Easton, Ridgefield, Ellington, Killingworth, and Chester. Table 2 shows the quality of life in the 10 most violent communities: Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport, Manchester, New Britain, New London, Meriden, East Hartford, and Derby.

In the 10 communities with the highest crime rates, the median family income was $44,168, lower than the median state income of $65,521. The unemployment rate, 7.1%, was higher than the state average rate of 5.0%, as is the cumulative dropout rate, 13.3% against a statewide rate of 9%. The average child poverty rate in those communities was 23%, compared to a 10% rate statewide.

In the 10 communities with the lowest crime rates, the median family income was $91,333, with just a 3.6% unemployment rate. Though complete statistics were not available, the available statistics show a 2.2% dropout rate. Only 2% of the children in the least violent communities lived below the federal poverty level.

Table 1: Quality of Life Based on Vassar Study Indicators,

10 Least Violent Communities

Sources:http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf, http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/well07towndata.pdf, www.dir.ct.gov/dps/ucr/ucr.aspx

Table 2: Quality of Life Based on Vassar Study Indicators,

10 Most Violent Communities

Sources:http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf, http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/well07towndata.pdf, www.dir.ct.gov/dps/ucr/ucr.aspx

Following is a brief description of the quality of life indicators we used for Tables 1 and 2.

Child Abuse. Appendices B and C show the incidence of child abuse or neglect in Connecticut by community during the 2006 fiscal year. Statistics show the number of unique, unduplicated children who were the victim of substantiated abuse or neglect during the 2006 fiscal year. For confidentiality reasons, statistics for towns with 10 or fewer substantiated children are not reported (http://www.ct.gov/dcf/lib/dcf/agency/pdf/tp_2006.pdf). More detailed information on child abuse is available in a subsequent section.

High School Dropouts. Since 1996, Connecticut's high school dropout rate has consistently declined. During this period, the dropout rate decreased from 16% for the Class of 1996 to 6.6% for the Class of 2006 (http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/cedar/cedar/dropout/index.htm, http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf).

The cumulative dropout rate is a class rate reflecting the proportion of students within a high school class who dropped out across four consecutive years (http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/cedar/cedar/dropout/definitions.htm). Table 3 shows districts with the highest and lowest dropout rates.

Table 3: School Districts with Highest and Lowest Cumulative Dropout Rates,

Class of 2006

Source: http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/cedar/cedar/dropout/index.htm

Over the last five years, the annual dropout rate has steadily decreased in almost all of the individual racial/ethnic groups. The one notable exception to this trend was American Indian students in 2004-2005, when an increase of less than 20 dropouts caused a spike in the group's dropout rate (http://www.cga.ct.gov/COC/test_scores.htm).

The unemployment rate in Connecticut has fluctuated over the past three decades. Relatively high levels of unemployment in the 1970s gave way to record-low rates in the late 1980s, with unemployment dropping to 3% in 1988. During the early 1990s recession, unemployment rose sharply, peaking at 7.5% in 1992. July 2007's 4.8% unemployment rate marks an improvement from the 2005 report's statistics, citing a 5.5% 2003 unemployment rate. Unemployment in Connecticut remains more than two percentage points higher than the 2.6% rate Connecticut enjoyed in June 2000, before its most recent recession.

Minorities show higher unemployment rates than Whites both in Connecticut and nationally. State unemployment rates for African-Americans and Hispanics are two and a half times higher than the rate for Whites. The unemployment rate of Hispanics is markedly higher in Connecticut, at 8.2%, than it is in the Northeast and the United States, where the rates are 6.7% and 5.2%, respectively.

The unemployment rates across the state vary significantly. Table 4 shows the highest and lowest rates of unemployment by town.

Table 4: Unemployment Rates by Town, Highest and Lowest Rates, 2007

Source: http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/well07towndata.pdf

Average wages vary considerably by town, with the highest median income, in New Canaan, more than six times larger than the lowest median income in Hartford. Table 5 shows the median family income, by community, from lowest income to highest income.

Table 5: Median Family Income, by Community, Highest and Lowest Income in 2000

Source: http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/well07towndata.pdf

The Vassar report discusses several statewide quality of life indicators for which we were not able to get specific community-by-community information. These indicators may be of interest to you even though town-by-town statistics were not available.

Infant Mortality. For 2002-2004, the statewide infant mortality rate was 5.75 deaths per 1,000 live births, a substantial improvement from 1970's 17.2 deaths per 1,000 births. Rates vary between racial groups, with infant mortality rates of 4.98, 12.00, and 7.13 for White, African-American, and Hispanic infants, respectively (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_14.pdf, http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf).

Youth Suicide. The incidence of suicide for youths ages 15 through 19 decreased from a state total of 17 youth suicides in 2006 to 15 suicides in 2007, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Thirteen of the 15 deaths were males. Youth suicides in the state have been inconsistent since 1990, with a high of 27 deaths in 1991 and an all-time low of eight deaths in 2003 (http://www.ct.gov/ocme/cwp/view.asp?a=2165&q=295126).

Teenage Births. In 2004, the state birth rate among women ages 15 through 19 marks a record low of 24 births per 1,000 residents. Between 1991 and 2004, the Connecticut teen birth rate decreased by 39%, compared to a 33% decrease nationwide. The state's teenage birth rate varies substantially by race. In 2003, the rate was 11.1 births per 1,000 women among Whites; 49.7 births among African-Americans; and 82.3 among Hispanic women (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf).

Health Care Costs. The proportion of personal income spent on health care has been increasing steadily since 2001. The proportion of personal income spent on health in 2003 was 14.7%, establishing a new record, more than twice as high as in 1970.

In Connecticut, the proportion of the population under age 65 that lacking health insurance is approximately 12.0%. This is an increase from 1990, when only 8% of residents lacked health insurance. Access to health insurance varies significantly by race, with 8% of Whites lacking health insurance compared to 21% of African-Americans and 24% of Hispanics (http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profilecat.jsp?rgn=8&cat=3).

Affordable Housing. The cost burden of paying for single family housing in Connecticut has been rising since 2000. In 2003, a single-family home cost 5.2 times the state per capita personal income, an increase for the fourth year in a row. Connecticut's rental market remains among the most expensive in the nation (http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf)

According to 2005 statistics, the median values of housing units were greater than $200,000 in all of the counties in Connecticut while the national average was $167,500. The median value of housing units in Fairfield County was almost seven times its median household income. Tolland County had the lowest ratio of housing value to income, at just over three (http://www.cerc.com/pdfs/housingprices10_06.pdf). The median price of a single-family home in Fairfield County was more than $500,000 in 2005, and monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments in the Stamford-Norwalk area on average were around $1,500. Only 30 municipalities have at least 10% affordable housing units. In most of the other 139 towns, affordable housing makes up 5% or less of housing units http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/opinion/CThousing.html).

Table 6 shows the incidence of child abuse or neglect in Connecticut, by community, during the 2006 fiscal year. Substantiated allegations represent all individual allegations of abuse or neglect contained in an accepted report where the investigation resulted in a finding of reasonable cause to believe that neglect or abuse occurred. Substantiated children represent the number of unique, unduplicated children that were the victim of substantiated abuse and/or neglect. For confidentiality reasons,

statistics for towns with 10 or fewer substantiated children are not reported as an individual town (http://www.ct.gov/dcf/lib/dcf/agency/pdf/tp_2006.pdf).

The communities with the highest rate of child abuse were: Danielson, Wauregan, Jewett City, Moosup, Niantic, Waterbury, New Britain, Willimantic, New Haven, Taftville, Meriden, Norwich, Bristol, Hartford, Terryville, Ansonia, Bridgeport, and New London. Due to confidentiality issues, towns with fewer than 10 substantiated reports are not included in DCF statistics. Rates of substantiated child abuse ranged from a high of 18.3 children per 1,000 residents to the lowest reported rate of 0.5 children per 1,000 residents.

Table 6: Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect, Alphabetically by Community, FY 2006

Table 7: Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect, by Community, Highest to Lowest Rate

Source: http://www.ct.gov/dcf/lib/dcf/agency/pdf/tp_2006.pdf

Sources:http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/socialstateofct/2005_social_health_index.pdf, http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/well07towndata.pdf, www.dir.ct.gov/dps/ucr/ucr.aspx

Appendix B: Quality of Life of Children, Alphabetically by Community