[Excerpt of article by Alex Putterman, all Hearst Connecticut newspapers, November 15, 2025]
Do Connecticut residents trust their government? It depends what type of government you’re talking about.
According to a new survey from the nonprofit DataHaven, 67% of Connecticut adults say they trust their local government either “a great deal” or “a fair amount,” and nearly as many people, 61%, say they trust Connecticut’s state government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
When it comes to the federal government though, only 37% of Connecticut adults express “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust, compared to 59% who have “not very much” trust or “none at all.”
This lack of trust extends across racial, gender, geographic, socioeconomic and age groups, with all demographics expressing a lack of confidence in the federal government.
How much do CT residents trust government?
Connecticut adults gave local and state government high marks. Federal government? Not so much.
The 2025 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, conducted in partnership with Siena Research Institute, asked respondents dozens of questions about a wide range of subjects, including trust in institutions, satisfaction with where they live, housing, health, transportation, police, gun violence, drug use and more.
It featured interviews in English and Spanish with 1,371 Connecticut adults between Aug. 4 and Oct. 16, followed by statistical weighting to ensure results accurately represented the state’s demographics. Statewide results carried a maximum margin of error of 3.5%, DataHaven says.
“You can’t find a lot of these data anywhere else, and at a time when data is being disappeared or is missing or being obscured, I think this is an incredible role,” DataHaven board chairperson Kate Szczerbacki said last week at an event where the survey was presented for the first time
Here are some key takeaways from this year’s results:
Inequality persists across nearly all measures
One of the first things to notice in the new DataHaven results is sharp racial and socioeconomic gaps across nearly every measure.
According to the survey, Black and Latino adults are less likely than white adults to say they’re financially stable; less likely to report being in good health; less likely to have insurance; less likely to have access to a car; less likely to find “suitable employment;” less likely to have access to fresh produce and far less likely to own a home.
Only 51% of Black adults said they are “completely” or “mostly” satisfied with their lives, compared to 68% of white adults and 64% of Latino adults.
Low-income people also reported far more challenges than those with higher incomes. As one example among many: 16% of people earning less than $30,000 report “feeling down, depressed or hopeless,” compared to 1% of people with incomes above $200,000.
Unsurprisingly, low-income people also say they are struggling more financially. Only 21% of people earning less than $30,000 say they’re “living comfortably” or “doing alright,” compared to 92% of people earning more than $200,000.
Life in Connecticut has changed since COVID
At the event last week where the survey data was unveiled, DataHaven staff noted ways Connecticut has changed for better or worse since the organization conducted a previous survey in 2018, in some cases likely as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the positive side, more adults report the availability of suitable employment, more say they have safe places to ride a bicycle and fewer report regularly smoking cigarettes.
On the negative side, more adults report anxiety or depression; more report diabetes or hypertension; more ran out of money to pay for housing; more lacked transportation; more failed to get needed medical care; more say they face food insecurity; and fewer say they get the social and emotional support they need.
Connecticut also has seen an increase in cannabis use – 24% of people said they had used the drug in the past 30 days – likely due to legalization in 2021.
Trust in police is divided by race
Overall, Connecticut adults report a high level of confidence in the police, with 81% saying they trust law enforcement “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
The number, however, is notably split by race: 38% of white adults trust the police “a great deal,” compared to only 21% of Black adults and 21% of Latino adults. On the other hand, only 3% of white adults say they have no trust at all in the police, compared to 10% of Black adults and 9% of Latino adults.
Trust in police also is significantly lower in urban communities than suburban ones, lower among people who have been incarcerated than among those who haven’t, and lower among LGBTQ people than straight and cisgender people.
Gun violence is a major concern in some communities
In Connecticut’s suburbs, gun violence is not a common concern, with only 4% of adults saying they fear themselves or their family could be harmed by a firearm.
In “urban core towns,” on the other hand, it’s a major issue, with 34% of adults expressing fear. Fear of gun violence also is higher among Black and Latino people and those in lower income brackets.
The source of this fear? In urban core towns, 10% of adults say a family member has been hurt or killed by gun violence in the past year, as opposed to 0% in suburban towns.
People are generally happy where they live
Ultimately, despite all the issues the survey identifies, most Connecticut adults say they’re relatively happy where they are: 83% say they’re satisfied with the city or area where they live, compared to only 16% who aren’t.
That figure is highest in suburban towns (88%) and among people earning more than $200,000 (89%), but remains fairly high in urban core towns (75%) and among the state’s poorest residents (78%). There is no gap between genders in these results and only a small one among racial groups.
Additionally, 73% of people say their area is either an “excellent” or “good” place to raise children, and similar majorities give good marks to the police, public parks and availability of fresh produce where they live.
[….]
Hartford, Conn. — At a packed statewide event hosted yesterday by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, DataHaven unveiled the results of its latest DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey (DCWS), believed to be the largest and most comprehensive neighborhood-level wellbeing survey in the United States. The event, attended by civic leaders, health professionals, and nonprofit partners, featured presentations from DataHaven as well as remarks by Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam and Jay Williams of the Hartford Foundation. Data placemats and graphics, along with detailed crosstabs for each 2025 DCWS question, are available at https://ctdatahaven.org/wellbeingsurvey.
The DataHaven survey captures a portrait of residents’ health, economic stability, and community life through interviews with thousands of randomly-selected adults in every Connecticut ZIP Code. The New Haven-based nonprofit organization collaborates with Siena Research Institute to ensure the reliability and consistency of its research methods, which include live interviews in English and Spanish and statistical weighting to accurately represent Connecticut’s entire adult population. Since 2015, more than 53,000 representative adults have participated in these in-depth interviews. For the 2025 survey, 1,371 adults were interviewed from August 4 to October 16, 2025, and the statewide results carried a maximum margin of error of 3.5 percent.
“Connecticut continues to show great resilience and a high quality of life, with more than 83 percent of adults saying they are satisfied with the place they live,” said Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven. “But the data also reveal areas of concern that communities are working hard to address, including cuts to food assistance, health care, and housing that over a million people in our state have been relying on. The results also show rising anxiety, worries about immigration enforcement, differences in access to economic and health opportunity, and financial stress, especially for renters and families with children.”
Trust in Local Institutions Remains High
The presentation began with a focus on institutional trust, a theme that resonated among the representatives from local and statewide agencies, philanthropies, and healthcare organizations gathered at the event. “Our data show that trust in local and state government remains high, even as trust in federal government has declined,” said Abraham. “This implicit legitimacy of local partners is one of Connecticut’s greatest assets, as it allows communities to respond with credibility as challenges arise.”
Abraham noted that the survey continues to demonstrate a strong link between responsive government and higher self-reported well-being, underscoring the importance of access to trusted local information at a time when the availability of reliable data has been threatened nationally.
A Collaborative Effort
The survey is made possible through a broad coalition of partners. This year, major supporters include the University of Hartford, American University, and Yale University, Connecticut Children’s, Yale New Haven Health, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, local health departments in Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford, and regional philanthropic organizations including The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Connecticut Community Foundation, The Connecticut Project, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, United Way Coastal Fairfield County, United Way of Greater New Haven, and the United Way of Connecticut, with many other organizations contributing as well.
“This diversity of organizations supporting the survey reflects the fact that the survey measures what matters most to quality of life, whether that is community trust, transportation, affordability, health, housing, or support from friends and family,” Abraham said at the event.
Major Changes Since Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The presentation highlighted the largest statewide changes measured by the DataHaven survey between 2018 and 2025.
• Cannabis use doubled, with about 350,000 more adults now using cannabis or marijuana (24 percent of adults using it at least once during the last 30 days, up from 12 percent in 2018).
• Optimism about local jobs increased and underemployment rates improved somewhat, with 250,000 more adults in Connecticut rating employment opportunities for residents in their area as “excellent” or “good.”
• Mental health challenges rose, with about 200,000 more adults reporting anxiety or depression.
• Chronic disease diagnoses rose, with about 150,000 more adults reporting diabetes or hypertension, potentially reflecting both an aging population and improved screening.
• The number of adults who ran out of money for housing, and the number who had to stay home in the past year because they lacked reliable transportation, both increased by roughly 150,000 adults. In 2025, 11 percent of adults statewide (about 320,000 people) said they ran out of money for housing, which is about double the rate that was measured by the DataHaven survey 10 years ago. Statewide, 7 percent of adults said they had to miss doctor’s appointments because they had no way to get there.
• Food insecurity is rising, increasing by 100,000 adults from pre-pandemic levels. The increase is particularly large for adults living with children (with 26 percent reporting that they ran out of money for food in the past year, compared to 11 percent of adults without children). Abraham noted that this increase is even more striking if compared to 2021’s record low in the food insecurity rate, when the expanded Child Tax Credit helped families and slashed child poverty nationally. In some of Connecticut’s largest city centers, up to half of adults with children report that they ran out of money for food this past year.
• Access to care remains an issue, with 100,000 more adults unable to get needed medical treatment in the last year. The rate of missed care spiked during the peak year of the COVID-19 pandemic and has since improved for higher-income adults but continued to worsen among moderate- and lower-income residents.
• About 100,000 fewer adults in the state smoke cigarettes, though this is partly because vaping has become more popular, especially among younger adults.
• About 150,000 additional residents say they have safe places to ride bicycles, likely reflecting the construction of new protected bike paths in many towns.
• Social support declined, especially for adults with below-median incomes, with 100,000 fewer adults saying they usually receive the social or emotional support they need.
Despite these shifts, Abraham emphasized that “most measures have remained stable over time, meaning that Connecticut continues to outperform national averages on many dimensions of health and well-being.”
Key Topics Shared at the Event
The presentation covered several additional findings from this year’s data:
• SNAP and the Social Safety Net: In 2025, new questions were added on public benefits. The survey found that 26 percent of Connecticut adults or their household members have received SNAP at some point, 36 percent have received Medicaid/HUSKY, 9 percent received rental housing assistance, and more than 1 in 10 used a food pantry in the past year. The survey also found that of the adults who received SNAP within the past 30 days, the majority had not used a food pantry or emergency food service at all within the past year. “These numbers help communities understand who depends on safety net programs, and how policy changes like the pause in SNAP benefits are likely to drive a huge increase in demand at food banks,” Abraham said. The survey also examined residents’ attitudes about public programs, finding that most say that there is not enough assistance for low income people, and that most residents are concerned that current national policy changes will lead to more people going hungry or unable to access health care or housing.
• Immigration Concerns: The survey included questions about the personal and community effects of immigration enforcement. In Connecticut, 31 percent of all adults worry “somewhat” or “a lot” that they or someone they know could be detained, deported, or have their legal immigration status revoked. Many residents, particularly Latino adults, reported heightened stress, lost sleep, and delayed medical care related to these concerns. “Even before new policies take effect that will dramatically increase the federal budget for immigration enforcement and deportations, many residents are already feeling an impact on their health and well-being,” Abraham noted.
• Eviction and Criminal Justice: A new survey item showed clear disparities in evictions by incarceration experience, suggesting a need for policy interventions that reduce the barriers to stable housing for people with past justice involvement.
• Mental Health: About 13 percent of all adults, including 22 percent of young adults, reported needing mental health treatment within the past year but being unable to get it, often due to cost or lack of available services.
• Social Support: Abraham noted that this single measure of how much support people feel from family and friends predicts happiness and well-being more than any other item in the survey. “The increase in loneliness is something we should take seriously, and we should consider what we can collectively do to support each other in our state,” he said.
Data Access and Next Steps
The 2025 DCWS Connecticut Crosstabs, along with graphics and “Data Placemats,” were distributed to attendees and are publicly available at ctdatahaven.org/wellbeingsurvey. Survey data are also accessible in DataHaven’s town reports and its Connecticut Town Data Viewer, which combines results since 2015 to provide neighborhood-level insights for each of the 169 towns in the state. DataHaven encourages partners and advocates to reach out for analyses or presentations that can bring the findings to life at the local level.
Media Contact
Mark Abraham, MPH, Executive Director, DataHaven, Email: info [at] ctdatahaven.org, Phone: (203) 500-7059.
[Excerpt of article from Viktoria Sundqvist, CT News Junkie, 12/4/2024]
State Republican lawmakers say a recent survey showing nearly 40% of adults in Connecticut are struggling financially should be “a wake-up call to all state Democrats.” Democrats, however, stress that now is the time to come together across party lines to respond to the needs of Connecticut families.
The well-being survey, conducted by DataHaven, also revealed a rise in food and housing insecurity, with certain populations facing disproportionately high rates of hardship, such as immigrants from Puerto Rico, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ individuals, the organization said.
The survey used probability sampling and consisted of in-depth interviews with nearly 7,500 randomly-selected adults in every Connecticut town.
The results of this year’s survey marks the highest rate of financial insecurity since the start of statewide data collection in 2015, DataHaven said.
“The gender gap is especially notable, with women reporting higher rates of financial hardship than men across most indicators,” DataHaven Executive Director Mark Abraham said in a news release.
“The financial strain faced by so many Connecticut residents is a major concern, especially given the rising costs of housing, healthcare, and everyday essentials. These trends highlight the urgent need for policy solutions that provide long-term economic stability for our communities.”
The survey also looked at things like the quality of parks and bike lanes, trust in local and state government, access to mental health services, social support, discrimination, and life satisfaction.
The Senate Republican Caucus was quick to blame Democratic state leadership for the situation, claiming Democrats have “no sense of urgency to address the cost of living crisis” in Connecticut.
“Wherever we go, Connecticut Republicans hear this same troubling message loud and clear from working and middle class families. From groceries and electric bills to insurance and housing, Connecticut is becoming increasingly unaffordable,” the Republican caucus said in a news release. “Every issue the state legislature debates in the 2025 must focus on one word: Affordability. Because right now, as this survey clearly reveals, Connecticut is trending in the wrong direction.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, however, said Connecticut voters have made it clear they trust Democrats to respond to the pressures families across the country are facing.
“Instead of engaging in obstructionist political games and voting against overwhelmingly popular economic initiatives, we welcome Connecticut Republicans to join us in responding to the needs of Connecticut families,” Looney said.
The DataHaven report repeatedly cites the drop in federal pandemic aid – including the federal child tax credit – as the primary driver for increased costs, Looney said, and that Democrats are “focused on delivering” for low- and middle-income families, whether that be through increasing the minimum wage or passing the largest income tax cut in state history.
“We encourage the Trump administration and our Republican colleagues in the General Assembly to join us in investing the state and federal funds necessary to improve the economic security of all residents in Connecticut,” Looney said. “With or without their support, we will be forging ahead to deliver real relief for residents.”
[Excerpt from article by Alex Putterman that appeared on the top of the front page of all Hearst Connecticut newspapers, Sunday, December 1, 2024]
About 40% of Connecticut adults are struggling financially or “just getting by,” a new survey has found. The survey, from the nonprofit DataHaven, found that more people report being worse off financially than they were a year ago than report being better off, amid increases in food and housing insecurity.
For its survey, DataHaven partnered with Siena College to interview 7,458 randomly selected adults across every Connecticut town, with statistical weights to ensure representation across demographic categories. The group says results have a maximum margin of error of 1.5%.
Here are some takeaways from the findings.
Connecticut residents are less economically stable than before
This survey marked the sixth time since 2016 that DataHaven has asked Connecticut residents about their financial security. The trend? Not good, the data shows.
Asked how they are managing financially, 29% said “living comfortably” and another 30 percent said “doing all right.” That left 21% who are “just getting by,” 11% who are “finding it difficult” and 8 percent who are “finding it very difficult.”
The total share of people “just getting by” or worse was up 12 percentage points from the previous survey in 2022 and was the highest on record.
DataHaven’s survey backs up findings in several other recent reports, which similarly showed a rise in economic precarity in Connecticut. In October, the United Way of Connecticut found that the number of residents earning less than a living wage has increased in recent years, leaving more than 560,000 households below the threshold at which they can afford essentials.
Just weeks later, a separate report from Connecticut Voices for Children found that poverty in the state rose more than 40 percent from 2021 to 2022 as key federal programs expired.
Housing and food costs are particularly challenging
Connecticut in recent years has seen a spike in rental costs and a rise in homelessness, so maybe it’s no surprise that DataHaven’s survey shows an increase in housing insecurity.
According to the survey, 12% of Connecticut adults have lacked money to pay for adequate housing in the past year, up from 10% two years ago and the highest figure since DataHaven began asking the question in 2015.
Food has also become an issue for a growing number of people. The survey found that 12% of people have received groceries or meals from a food pantry or similar emergency food service over the past year, while 18% said there has been a time in the past year when they couldn’t afford adequate food.
Food insecurity dipped in 2021 amid a wave of federal pandemic-relief efforts, including stimulus payments and an expanded child tax credit, but has risen again since, DataHaven’s survey results show.
In a response to increases in economic stability, the United Way of Connecticut and Connecticut Voices for Children, among other groups, have called for the creation of a state child tax credit, which would benefit households below a certain income level.
Mark Abraham, DataHaven’s executive director, said this week housing could also be an area for policymakers to focus on if they want to help Connecticut residents achieve greater financial security.
“I think there are probably a lot of approaches to making housing more affordable in Connecticut, mainly building more of it,” Abraham said.
The problems are worst for poor, Black, Latino and indigenous residents
Across essentially every category, poorer Connecticut residents reported being in worse shape than wealthier residents, and Black, Latino and indigenous residents reported being in worse shape than white residents.
Take, for example, housing: According to DataHaven, 20% of Black adults, 20% of indigenous adults and 18% of Latino adults have lacked money for adequate shelter in the past year, compared to 9% of white adults and 7% of Asian adults.
Similar patterns hold for food insecurity, transportation challenges and other categories. Only 66% of Black adults and 65% of Latino adults said they have access to a car, as compared to 86% of white adults.
Unsurprisingly, poorer people across racial and ethnic groups were far more likely to report issues with food, housing or transportation than wealthier people.
Wealthy people were also more likely to like where they live: 92% of people with incomes over $200,000 said they’re satisfied with their city or area, compared to 75% of people with incomes under $30,000.
These trends may help explain the recent election
Struggles with housing and food costs likely help explain why nearly every state — including Connecticut — shifted in the recent presidential election toward Donald Trump, who many voters saw as representing change from the status quo.
Even in Connecticut, where Democrat Kamala Harris defeated Trump comfortably, only 42% of adults trust the federal government either “somewhat” or “a great deal,” according to DataHaven’s survey.
Abraham noted that low-income people, who are struggling most financially, moved most toward Trump.
As government gets more local, the survey found, trust improves, perhaps explaining why Democratic incumbents fared well in Connecticut even as Harris lost ground. DataHaven reports that 56% of adults in Connecticut trust the state government, while 65% trust their local government.
Despite struggles, people mostly like life in Connecticut
For all those troubling results about economic instability, housing prices and food insecurity, in other parts of the survey Connecticut residents reported feeling happy with aspects of life in the state.
Asked whether they’re satisfied with the city or area where they live, 82% of people said yes. Asked whether the place they live is getting better or worse, 30% said “better” and 46% said “about the same,” while only 22% said “worse.”
Respondents also gave relatively good marks to the police (67 percent said they do a “good” or “excellent” job keeping residents safe) and to public parks and other public recreational facilities (which 71 percent said were in “good” or “excellent” condition). Meanwhile, 68 percent said their area was a “good” or “excellent” place to raise children, with only 9 percent responding “poor.”
As for the people in their communities, 81% of people said those in their neighborhood can be trusted, and 73% said those in their neighborhood are trying to improve it.
NEW HAVEN, Conn., November 25, 2024 — In one of the richest states in the U.S., a newly released report from DataHaven highlights concerning trends in financial, food, and housing insecurity across Connecticut.
According to the 2024 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, released today at a statewide event celebrating the organization’s 30th Anniversary, nearly 40 percent of adults in Connecticut are struggling financially, marking the highest rate of financial insecurity since the start of statewide data collection in 2015. The report also reveals a troubling rise in food and housing insecurity, with certain populations facing disproportionately high rates of hardship.
The survey also highlights disparities in how different populations experience financial, food, and housing insecurity. Certain groups, such as immigrants from Puerto Rico, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals, face significantly higher levels of insecurity in all three areas. The gender gap is especially notable, with women reporting higher rates of financial hardship than men across most indicators.
While today’s announcement focused on financial and food insecurity in Connecticut, the full survey results, including information on a wide range of topics such as the quality of parks and bike lanes, trust in local and state government, access to mental health services, social support, discrimination, and life satisfaction, can be found on the DataHaven website. Future releases will highlight trends observed by DataHaven in those areas during the past 10 years of this survey program.
For the full press release, and detailed crosstabs with data tables for each question across detailed demographic groups, please visit the main DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey page and view the “2024 DCWS” section.
PRESS RELEASE
DataHaven wins federal innovation prize for empowering residents with data
National award recognizes DataHaven’s innovative new town-by-town map of well-being and environmental conditions
NEW HAVEN, Conn., September 26, 2024— DataHaven, a non-profit organization that has provided communities with information to advance equity and well-being across Connecticut neighborhoods for thirty years, continues to show how organizations can drive social change through data and technological innovation. On September 26, DataHaven was awarded a $72,500 prize from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Environmental Justice Community Innovator Challenge.
This national award recognizes DataHaven’s efforts to make data accessible for all 169 towns in Connecticut, through public outreach and tools such as its Connecticut Town Equity Reports and Connecticut Town Data Viewer.
More specifically, the award also acknowledges the organization’s work to develop and test a set of multilevel regression and poststratification (MRP) models and local estimates based on the DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey (DCWS), a statewide survey that has completed live interviews with over 50,000 randomly-selected adults in every Connecticut town. These models create more detailed and accurate data about Connecticut towns. Communities can use the model’s data to engage residents and make better decisions about local needs, such as access to public park systems, housing, youth programs, health care, and affordable fresh produce. DataHaven’s data reveals specific health and environmental disparities that disproportionately impact marginalized communities, thereby informing effective policy and systems changes aimed at improving health equity.
Many of DataHaven’s latest town-by-town estimates are included in its Connecticut Town Data Viewer, which was recently made available on the DataHaven website at ctdatahaven.org/data-dashboard. Granular data about demographic groups within each town and region, as well as about specific neighborhoods within the largest cities, are found in DataHaven’s other reports or available on request.
“We believe that access to these new datasets, which reflect quality of life and economic issues that are of greatest importance to Connecticut residents, can help residents shape the success of their community now and in the future,” said Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven. “Furthermore, the models developed by DataHaven do not just benefit Connecticut, but can also be applied to other state and national surveys, enabling estimation of community-level measures that were previously not possible. We are honored to have received this prize from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
DataHaven’s day-to-day activities, including its new data viewer as well as its approaches to survey data collection, are informed by a volunteer Advisory Council of over 300 residents and agency leaders from across the state. The Advisory Council members suggest improvements, highlight key topics for DataHaven to include, and conduct user testing. During the next year, DataHaven plans to use the innovation prize funding to expand its Advisory Council and develop new user-friendly approaches to sharing data about different communities. Results from DataHaven’s latest statewide survey will be released later this fall.
Advisory Council members commented on DataHaven’s receipt of the national prize:
“Our congratulations to DataHaven on this well-deserved honor,” said Matt Hart, the Executive Director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) in Hartford, Connecticut. The DataHaven Connecticut Town Data Viewer provides access to a vast range of economic, demographic, and well-being topics and indicators. The user can easily summarize this data by state, municipal, and COG level geographies, in both map and tabular form. This dynamic tool will help regional and municipal staff to quickly visualize, compare, and contrast various socioeconomic and quality of life datasets at a statewide, regional, and municipal level. We look forward to using the Data Viewer at CRCOG as part of our regional planning studies and projects.”
“Understanding the full picture of health and well-being in Connecticut requires digging deeper into the data and asking questions to see how people in every community are really doing. DataHaven’s Connecticut Town Data Viewer makes this possible in a user-friendly way, and we hope many people will use it this information to explore the strengths and challenges that exist in communities across the state,” said Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation. “While Connecticut as a whole is a healthy state, more granular data shows us that not everyone has the same opportunities to live their healthiest lives. Tools like this help show us where there are gaps and can help shape our policy choices to make Connecticut more equitable.”
“This tool serves as a powerful resource, giving a clear snapshot of public sentiment at a glance. The data shared is more than just numbers—it’s a window into the community’s perceptions of the built environment and local governance. By understanding these trends, you’re better equipped to shape a future that truly reflects the needs and desires of those you serve,” said Rick Dunne, Executive Director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments in Waterbury, Connecticut.
The HHS Environmental Justice Community Innovator Challenge is a nationwide contest to support disadvantaged communities and Tribes facing the brunt of environmental injustices, including health harms due to climate change. This Challenge aims to uplift community-level solutions to address health inequities with prizes totaling $1,000,000 that were awarded in two phases in 2024.
About DataHaven
DataHaven’s mission is to empower people to create thriving communities by collecting and ensuring access to data on well-being, equity, and quality of life. The organization has served Connecticut as a nonprofit organization since 1992, working with many partners to make information more useful to local communities.
Contact
Mark Abraham, Executive Director, 203.500.7059, info at ctdatahaven.org
[Excerpt from Capitol Dispatch article posted by Joe O’Leary, August 3, 2024]
Connecticut stands as a leader when it comes to the rights of the queer community, standing well ahead of many other states when it comes to the rights of LGBTQIA+ residents. With same-sex marriage legalized here seven years before its federal approval and enshrined rights for same-sex and queer parents, legal defenses and the transgender community, Connecticut can stand proud.
However, more can always be done. A recent report by DataHaven and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving found that the state’s queer community has priorities for further success in the future – these include expansion of youth-focused spaces safe for LGBTQIA+ individuals, making sure more voices are heard and, most prominently, improving access to housing and shelter throughout the state for those in need. Creating a more welcoming and accepting environment – even in a state where queer rights are enshrined – is vital for adults and children alike, especially to preserve the safety of queer youth, who are at increased odds of discrimination and can struggle under conditions where they are otherized.
While Connecticut is largely perceived as a safe haven for LGBTQIA+ people, especially transgender people – the report said Connecticut has a reputation where queer people move to Connecticut from states where fewer protections are in place – there is always more that can be done. Discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, especially young ones who may be struggling, was a common feature in the report.
Finding work and housing can be challenging for a number of these individuals, and some groups within it struggle more than others; transgender people, as one example, face more discrimination and struggles than others. A third of all LGBTQIA+ people in Connecticut face difficulty paying expenses, which leapt to 47% for transgender individuals; food insecurity, lower incomes and households experiencing loss of work also were more common for transgender respondents than the general queer community.
Queer individuals in Connecticut are also significantly more likely to face mental health problems, primarily anxiety and depression, than cisgender straight individuals, with these conditions reported by 39% of queer people compared to 25% of the general population. This trend continues for other forms of medical care, with queer respondents missing medical care 2.1 times more than the general population and transgender ones 3.9 times more likely to miss such care. Discrimination was also more common for queer people in health care, police and employment interactions compared to the general public. Disability rates were also higher for queer and transgender groups than cisgender ones.
The report found that while Connecticut is a leader in queer rights in many respects, more work can and should be done. It found that the best responses to these issues is to find areas of improvement, including community outreach to those in need, supporting funding efforts aiding these groups and individuals and increased communication and effort to meet the needs of organizations serving the LGBTQIA+ community.
[Excerpt of news article by Natasha Sokoloff, July 27, 2024]
HARTFORD — Despite Connecticut’s relatively strong protections of its LGBTQ+ community, a new report on the greater Hartford community says that it still faces striking disparities in areas of health, well-being, and quality of life.
At a time when other states seem to be increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ lives through discriminatory policies and lack of protections, there is a common conception of Connecticut being a “safe haven” for LGBTQ+ people, according to a report released on July 22 by DataHaven. However, both qualitative data from Hartford-area residents and federal and statewide surveys indicate that Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ community still has unique barriers to housing, financial security, health care, and employment.
The report, which was done in partnership with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, aims to illuminate the current state of the LGBTQ+ community in the Hartford area and ultimately help better direct resources to meet the needs of this community.
“There is a very vibrant and interconnected queer community in the Hartford area,” said Shannon Carter, the lead researcher on the report. “But there’s still these sort of, like, other upstream factors that disproportionately affect queer people that aren’t necessarily directly queer issues.”
According to the report, LGBTQ+ adults in Connecticut disproportionately report more difficulty affording basic needs, having lower household incomes, more likely to face housing insecurity, and overall face higher economic precarity than the cisgender heterosexual population.
“There’s definitely things that make life a little bit more difficult for folks with those identities,” said Kate Szczerbacki, director of Learning and Evaluation and Capacity Building at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. “And you see the evidence of that show up as disparities in the data.”
But as queer people themselves, both Carter and Szczerbacki said none of that was necessarily surprising.
“I think being able to look at the data, you really understand that there is sometimes greater need and greater challenge for folks with LGBTQIA identities,” Szczerbacki said. “This is just another point of verification of that reality.”
The report shows that LGBTQ+ adults in Connecticut were at least two times more likely to not get medical care when needed despite experiencing a higher burden of need, as members of this community face barriers to health care access due to lower financial means and discrimination from providers while also having higher rates of chronic and mental illness and disability.
“These things are all interrelated, and I think we understand that they’re related, but really seeing how that shows up in people’s lives and making it really tangible — we can see that in quantitative data, we can see that in data sets,” Szczerbacki said.
Carter said what was most surprising to them in the report’s findings wasn’t the clear challenges the LGBTQ+ population was faced with, but some of the stark disparities within the community itself. Transgender people were far more likely to experience housing insecurity and to have missed needed medical care than other LGBTQ+ adults, according to the report. And people of color within the LGBTQ+ community also experienced higher disparities in other quality of life issues.
So despite relatively strong protections on paper, LGBTQ+ people, and in particular transgender people, experienced discrimination in many dimensions of public life in Connecticut, with reports of discrimination based on gender identity spiking in recent years, according to the report.
“I think what’s really important is to really understand some of the dynamics that are happening, you know, out in the real world, and what sort of structures, systems, experiences that might be driving the trends and disparities that we see in the quantitative data,” Szczerbacki said.
But the lack of quantitative data available was an example of another disparity in itself, Carter said. Sexual orientation and gender identity is rarely collected at the state and federal level, according to the report, which is why the report also relies on DataHaven’s statewide survey responses over recent years and also collected qualitative data in greater Hartford specifically.
The report was commissioned by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to guide decision making for the foundation’s Equality Fund, which is focused on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ residents in greater Hartford, Szczerbacki said.
“There is a really a lack of data about this population,” Szczerbacki said. And because the foundation was seeking to understand how to best support the community, it seemed like an opportune moment to partner with DataHaven to leverage both the quantitative and qualitative data that is out there to drive grant making and strategy to address those inequities that exist in the community, she said.
That’s why, in addition to data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, DataHaven’s Community well-being Survey, and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities’ yearly discrimination data, the report also draws upon the input and experiences of greater Hartford LGBTQ+ organizations and community members.
The report referenced responses from people in qualitative interviews over a couple of months and in a discussion in April, who were able to share how these inequities show up in their lives.
“One thing that came up in the qualitative interviews a lot is just Connecticut as this state that is, like fairly affirming for queer people, and has been sort of ahead of the curve on a lot of these legal protections,” Carter said.
Having legalized same-sex marriage seven years before federal legalization, a robust record of judicial wins regarding parental rights of same-sex couples, and recently passing the Parentage Act that further advanced these rights, Connecticut has created a strong foundation for its LGBTQ+ community, according to the report.
“And for a lot of folks, that was very comforting and kind of helped them feel safer here, or folks have come to Connecticut for specifically the queer protections,” Carter said.
But not everyone they spoke to in the greater Hartford community felt that way.
“There was also folks that were like, ‘Oh, I came to Connecticut for the safety and then when I got here, I didn’t realize that there were all these other issues, like, things are really expensive here,'” Carter said. “If you’re a person that’s not making a lot of money, or you’re on disability, it can be really difficult to carve out a living here.”
“So lots of folks were like, yes, we really love these legal protections, but it doesn’t always translate into equal treatment,” they said.
Based on the report’s findings, while Connecticut’s policies put the state near the top of the list for protections of the LGBTQ+ community, actual experiences, as seen in both the quantitative and qualitative responses, tell a more harrowing story about inherent challenges, structural stigma and interpersonal bias.
But in spite of the systemic barriers that exist, Carter said that if there’s anything they learned from this study, it’s that there is a lot of strength and resilience in Connecticut’s, and greater Hartford within it, LGBTQ+ community.
And ongoing and improved data collection will allow for a better understanding of the needs of this community, so that organizations like the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving can target funding and resources to where it is needed most.
[Excerpt of news article by Jamil Ragland, CT News Junkie, July 23, 2024]
A new report shows that despite advances in the rights that LGBTQIA+ residents in Greater Hartford enjoy, they still face greater challenges than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts in areas ranging from financial stability to housing insecurity.
The report, titled LGBTQIA+ Resident Wellbeing in Greater Hartford, was published by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in collaboration with DataHaven. The document gathers information from several sources, including the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, DataHaven’s Community Wellbeing Survey, and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities’ annual discrimination data. The Hartford Foundation also facilitated conversation during which they gathered qualitative data. It is thought to be the first comprehensive survey on the condition of LGBTQIA+ residents in Greater Hartford.
“The combination of qualitative and quantitative data in this report highlights a rich story of a resilient and passionate community of LGBTQIA+ people and resources in Greater Hartford,” said Shannon Carter, a DataHaven Research Associate and lead author of the study. “As indicated by the data, this community has unique barriers to housing, healthcare, and employment due to structural stigma and interpersonal bias. This is evident in the disparities in outcomes on these measures.”
The report covers three broad areas: financial security, health and healthcare, and social conditions. In all three areas, the report shows that LGBTQIA+ residents in Greater Hartford lag behind their heterosexual and cisgender neighbors. LGBTQIA+ adults have a harder time paying for their basic needs and face greater instances of housing insecurity.
The report also shows that different members within the LGBTQIA+ community face greater challenges than others. Of the people who identify as either LGBT or queer, 15% report facing food insecurity. That number jumps to nearly one fourth of all people who identify as transgender. 19% of queer-identified people in the survey reported missing needed medical care within the last year; that number more than doubles to 39% for transgender individuals.
Connecticut has a reputation for being a leader in protecting LGBTQIA+ rights. It was the second state in the nation to pass a civil union law which gave LGBTQIA+ couples the same rights as marriage in 2005, after Vermont. It was also the second state to make gay marriage legal in 2008, behind neighboring Massachusetts. In 2021, the state passed the Connecticut Parentage Act to extend protections for parents and children to same-sex families.
Yet the disparities revealed in the LGBTQIA+ Resident Wellbeing survey underscores how even a robust set of legal protections can fail to translate into the lived experiences of individuals who have typically been marginalized. The report shows that LGBTQIA+ residents are far more likely to experience discrimination at the hands of healthcare workers, police and employers than heterosexual and cisgender residents, with transgender people receiving the most discrimination.
“There’s still a lot of room for improvement,” Carter said in a phone interview. “And I think some of that is discussed in the qualitative section about Connecticut’s national role, in that Connecticut has been a leader compared to the rest of the states, but that’s not necessarily the ceiling of how good the protections can be.”
Carter believes that while policy and law are important, the most critical thing necessary to bridge the gap between legal frameworks and lived experience is for leaders to hear about the lives of LGBTQIA+ people and what they experience.
“I think that the main thing that would go the farthest is for the people that are in positions of power, whether that’s grant making or policy making, to be listening to queer people from the community,” they said. “Population level data is great to understand kind of the the breadth of a situation. But there are so many queer community members that are interacting with people in power and telling them the same stories that are played out in this data. I think it would go a really long way for that to be taken at face value rather than to be endlessly validated.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Answer the Call to Improve Your Community”: DataHaven and Partners Urge Residents to Participate in Landmark Wellbeing Survey of Connecticut
Thousands of randomly-selected residents from all 169 Connecticut towns will participate in the 2024 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, the seventh wave of a large survey on happiness and quality of life that has been fielded since 2012
HARTFORD, CT, May 7, 2024 – How happy are you? Are the public parks in your area in excellent, good, fair, or poor condition? When was the last time you saw a dentist?
These are just a few of the types of questions included in interviews by friendly survey-takers helping DataHaven and dozens of leading community, health care, and charitable groups across Connecticut complete what is believed to be the nation’s largest neighborhood-level well-being survey.
“We include well-established questions that people like to answer,” says Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven. “They are answering questions about their own happiness and well-being, their experiences and relationships within their community, and how their neighborhoods are doing. These questions show that we care deeply about the aspects of life that are most important to everyone’s day-to-day happiness and quality of life.”
DataHaven, the nonprofit group that leads the collection and sharing of public data about Connecticut, said that the 2024 program will track trends on key issues such as economic security, institutional trust, access to healthcare, and public safety. The latest data will allow DataHaven to create even more granular portraits of Connecticut towns and neighborhoods, as well as statistical data for groups that share specific demographics or life experiences.
Over time, 45,000 randomly-selected adults in every Connecticut ZIP code have participated in the DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, which was also fielded in 2012, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. This year, thousands more will participate in in-depth, multilingual interviews.
As with prior years, Connecticut’s leading hospitals, non-profits, and charitable organizations are supporting the program (see below). To ensure that the survey topics reflect the interests of communities, an Advisory Council of representatives from 300 different organizations around the state once again helped choose the questions to include this year. For example, the parents and caregivers who are selected to take the survey may receive a significantly expanded set of questions about child well-being and mental health, which emerged as a top issue of concern during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the spring and summer, randomly-selected residents in each town will receive phone calls from survey-takers at the Siena College Research Institute – typically appearing as a 203, 860, or 518 area code – and in some cases, may receive a letter, package, or text message with information on how to participate. Beginning this fall, survey results will be included in many local and statewide publications and community health needs assessments, including DataHaven’s widely-used Town Equity Reports.
“Make a difference: Pick up your cell phone, help your community learn more about your needs, and tell us what you want to see to promote greater happiness and well-being in your neighborhood,” says Abraham.
“UNITED BY DATA”: SPONSORS OF THE 2024 DATAHAVEN COMMUNITY WELLBEING SURVEY
Many organizations throughout Connecticut, including those listed below, provide funding to support the 2024 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey. Major sponsors are highlighted in bold font.
Foundations and Philanthropy
• Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
• Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
• Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
• Connecticut Health Foundation
• The Connecticut Project
• Connecticut Community Foundation
• Valley Community Foundation
• Main Street Community Foundation
• American Savings Foundation
• United Way of Greater New Haven
• United Way of Coastal and Western CT
• United Way of Central and Northeastern CT
• NewAlliance Foundation
• Tremaine Foundation
Health Care
• Yale-New Haven Health*
• Hartford HealthCare*
• Stamford Health
• Trinity Health of New England*
• Nuvance Health*
• Yale Cancer Center
• Connecticut Children’s
• Eastern Connecticut Health Network*
• Waterbury Health
• Griffin Health
• Middlesex Health
• Day Kimball Healthcare
• Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
• Valley Council of Health and Human Services
*Multiple hospitals represented
Government / Agency / Community
• Naugatuck Valley Health District
• Stamford Health Department
• Bridgeport Health Department
• Hartford Dept. of Health and Human Services
• Yale University
• University of Hartford
• Connecticut State Office of Rural Health
• New Haven Health Department
• Danbury Health Department
• Norwalk Health Department
• Ledge Light Health District
• Eastern Highlands Health District
• Central Connecticut Health District
• Northeast District Department of Health
• North Central District Health Department
• Quinnipiack Valley Health District
• Newtown Health District
• Stratford Health Department
• Fairfield Health Department
• Trumbull Health Department
• Monroe Health Department
• Milford Health Department
• City of Bristol
• Town of Bethel
• Capitol Region Council of Governments
• Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments
• South Central Regional Council of Governments
• Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance
• Workforce Alliance
• Trinity College
• Southern Connecticut State University
• DMHAS Center for Prevention Evaluation and Statistics at UConn Health
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For more details, please contact Mark Abraham at 203.500.7059, info [at] ctdatahaven.org. Promotional graphics are attached below and may be shared.
About DataHaven
DataHaven is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization with a 30-year history of public service to Connecticut. DataHaven is a formal partner of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a collaborative national effort by the Urban Institute and approximately 40 local partners. For more information, visit www.ctdatahaven.org.