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including affordable checking, savings, and credit opportunities. Appleseed served as the catalyst for the formation of <em>&ldquo;Bank on Connecticut&rdquo;</em>, a statewide 2011 effort to better serve unbanked and underbanked residents. Nonprofit community organizations are partnering with financial institutions in 5 localized pilot tests (in Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, Derby and New Haven) that will help individuals progress gradually from financial education coursework toward long-term banking relationships.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Public School Edcation</strong></p> <ul><li>We distributed more than 6,500 copies of our 5 handbooks that demystify complex education law issues for parents and began holding  Ask a Lawyer parent forums across the state to discuss these issues. Our bilingual handbooks cover the following topics:</li> <ul> <li>Special Education: The Policies and Your Rights After the Planning and Placement Team (PPT) Process</li> <li>Zero Tolerance Suspension &amp; Expulsion Policies</a></li> <li>Bullying and Your Rights</a></li> <li>The Nuts and Bolts Of How Your School Is Funded</li> <li>Rights and Regulations in Working Proactively with your Child&rsquo;s School District &amp; Teacher</li> </ul> <li>Our  Keep Kids in School: Improving School Discipline project deployed a team of pro bono attorneys to interview officials and teachers in 9 key school districts across the state to find cost-effective means of conducting in-school suspension. Our findings, intended to redirect school districts disciplinary policies toward retention and away from suspension and expulsion, was issued in a <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/pdfs/707/Keep_Kids_in_School-Improving_School_Discipline.pdf" target="_blank">major report</a> on Feb. 7, 2011.<br /><br />We shared copies of the report with state legislators and education officials, as well as to school districts statewide. Every school board chairman and board member in the state, as well as every high school and middle school principal, received a copy. In November, 2011 Appleseed Board member Mike D Agostino led a panel discussion on in-school suspension at a joint convention of the CT Association of School Superintendents (CAPSSS) and the CT Association of Boards of Education (CABE).<br /><br /></li> <li>In early 2012, we put the finishing touches on a separate project to apply the same interview format cited above to accelerate compliance by school districts with Connecticut's 2008 Anti-Bullying statute. A team of more than 20 pro bono attorneys from Travelers was trained to conduct these interviews by bullying experts from the Governor s Prevention Partnership. <br /><br /> The "Best Practices" and related anti-bullying strategies that our report surfaced in the eleven participating districts will assist schools and districts statewide in accepting the increased responsibility for protecting children that is prescribed by the 2008 statute. The <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/pdfs/Bullying_in_CTs_Public_Schools-Final_Report.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> was printed in early March, 2012 and similarly distributed to every school board member, administrator, principal and legislator in the state.</li></ul> <p><strong>Improving Children's Access to Dental Care </strong></p> <ul> <li> A collaborative 2007 advocacy success in which Appleseed had helped to persuade the state&nbsp; to fix the state&rsquo;s dental Medicaid program is paying big dividends.&nbsp; After materially increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates, the number of dentists treating Medicaid children rose by more than 700 in just two years. </li> <li>In 2012, for a fifth consecutive year, Board member Dr. Mike Perl led the fund-raising for a weekend-long dental clinic where 1,800 volunteers provided free dental care to 2,000 patients at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury. Appleseed provided pro bono lawyers to draft release forms for dentists at this &ldquo;Connecticut Mission of Mercy&rdquo; (CTMOM).</li> </ul> <p><strong>Homelessness</strong></p> <ul> <li>We partnered to launch the Hartford &ldquo;H.E.L.P.&rdquo; program which provides pro bono legal assistance to homeless individuals each week at two Hartford shelters. Connecticut Appleseed recruits the local attorneys, ensures that volunteer lawyers and adequately trained and administers the program. In its first 24 months, roughly 85 free legal clinics provided assistance to more than 300 individuals.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Elder Law Education</strong></p> <ul> <li>We distributed free copies to over 1,650 seniors of the 100-page book &ldquo;<a href="http://ctappleseed.org/pdfs/707/elderlawresourcebooklet.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Connecticut Elder Law Resources</em></a>&rdquo; in almost 60 attorney-led workshops at more than 45 senior centers across the state.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System</strong></p> <ul> <li>We partnered with NAMI-CT to develop and distribute a 57-page guide entitled &ldquo;<a href="http://ctappleseed.org/pdfs/707/mi-criminallawhandbook.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Understanding the Criminal Justice System: A Guide for Adults with Mental Illness, Advocates and Families</em></a>&quot;. Appleseed printed 1,000 copies for NAMI-CT to distribute. NAMI reports that response to the guide has been excellent.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Connecting Through Literacy Inmates with their Children ( CLICC )</strong></p> <ul> <li>In 2009, after recruiting partners and training volunteer mentors, Appleseed successfully conducted a successful pilot test at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT of our literacy program that helps children stay connected with their incarcerated and distant parents by jointly reading books and discussing them over secure e-mail. Grant applications currently in process will determine the degree to which Connecticut Appleseed and our partner organizations will be able to fully implement this program and replicate it at correctional facilities both within and beyond the state. </li> </ul> <!-- #EndEditable --></td> <td width="43" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><img src="../images/spacer2.gif" width="43" height="12"></td> </tr> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="277" valign="top" bgcolor="#194632"> <table width="270" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="index_bodysmall" valign="top"> <tr> <td colspan="3"><img src="../images/spacer-green.gif" width="270" height="6"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="10" background="../images/bg-green.gif"><img src="../images/bg-green.gif" width="10" height="12"></td> <td width="250" background="../images/bg-green.gif" valign="top"><br><!-- #BeginEditable "Signup%20Form" --> <!--#include virtual="../includes/signup.htm" --> <b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">QUICK LINKS TO OUR PROJECTS: </font></b> <!--#include virtual="../includes/quick.htm" --> <p>&nbsp;</p><table width="250" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="FFFFFF"> <tr> <td bgcolor="63755F" class="index_bodysmall"> <div style="padding-top:17px;padding-bottom:17px;padding-left:17px;padding-right:17px;text-align:left;"><strong>A PART OF THE APPLESEED NETWORK</strong> <span class="white"><a href="http://www.appleseednetwork.org" target="_blank">www.appleseednetwork.org</a></span> Appleseed, a non-partisan and non-profit organization, is a network of public interest law Centers working to identify and address injustices in their communities. Appleseed works to build a just society through education, legal advocacy, community activism and policy expertise, addressing root causes and producing practical solutions. As one of the nation's largest legal pro bono networks, Appleseed Centers work both independently and collectively, bringing their own experiences to create local solutions that are nationally relevant. We connect the top private practice lawyers, corporate counsel, law schools, civic leaders, and other professionals to tackle problems locally, at their root cause.</div></td> </tr> </table> <!-- #EndEditable --></td> <td width="12" background="../images/bg-green.gif"><img src="../images/bg-green.gif" width="10" height="12"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="63755F" valign="middle"> <td colspan="2" height="26" class="index_footer"> <div align="center" class="white"><a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/index.shtml">Home</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/about/index.shtml">About Us</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/projects/index.shtml">Projects</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/communications/index.shtml">Communications</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/contribute/index.shtml">Contribute</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/join/index.shtml">Join Our Mailing List</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/contact/index.shtml">Contact Us</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/sitemap/index.shtml">Site Map</a> | <a href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/privacy/index.shtml">Privacy Policy</a> | &copy; CTA 2004</div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <map name="Map"> <area shape="rect" coords="1,28,152,68" href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/join/index.shtml" alt="Join Our Mailing List" title="Join Our Mailing List"> </map> <map name="Map2"> <area shape="rect" coords="1,32,104,66" href="http://www.ctappleseed.org/contribute/index.shtml" alt="Contribute" title="Contribute"> </map> </body> <!-- #EndTemplate --></html>