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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5399
AN ACT CONCERNING PROJECT LONGEVITY.
SUMMARY
By law, the Project Longevity Initiative is a comprehensive,
community-based initiative to reduce gun violence that operates in
Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury. This bill requires the
Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary, or any entity
awarded funding to coordinate the program’s four sites (i.e.,
coordinating entity), to maximize the educational, employment, and
career services offered to Project Longevity’s clients.
Specifically, the bill requires the OPM secretary or coordinating
entity to (1) coordinate with certain workforce development, higher
education, and labor groups, among others, and (2) implement specified
initiatives to expand the initiative’s educational and employment
opportunities. The bill also eliminates an obsolete provision that
required OPM, by February 1, 2022, to create a plan to implement the
initiative statewide and submit it to the legislature.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
PLANNING AND COORDINATION
Under the bill, the Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR),
Governor’s Workforce Council, and regional workforce development
board serving each applicable city must coordinate with the secretary or
coordinating entity, as appropriate, to develop strategies for delivering
educational, employment, and career services to the initiative’s clients.
The secretary or coordinating entity must also consult with:
1. trade unions and other entities that can assist in offering
employment opportunities and career pathways for program
clients and 2022HB-05399-R000301-BA.DOCX
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2. private providers and the Department of Motor Vehicles on the
availability of commercial driver’s license training for the clients.
EXPANDING EDUCATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
The bill requires the OPM secretary or coordinating entity to
supplement the initiative’s programs and services by:
1. helping clients’ career development by increasing connections to
nonprofit and public agencies with a primary mission of
vocational education and workforce development;
2. expanding employment services to meet client needs and align
with in-state job opportunities;
3. increasing the use of the job training programs operated by
regional workforce development boards and community
providers specializing in vocational education and workforce
development services for people facing employment barriers
(e.g., criminal record or lack of, or inconsistent, work history);
4. increasing client participation in the Technical Education and
Career System and higher education;
5. developing partnerships with the judicial branch’s Court
Support Services Division, Department of Correction, and other
criminal justice agencies to coordinate programs for people who
may become clients after release from incarceration or
supervision;
6. expanding connections to social service and other community-
based service organizations;
7. identifying business and training programs committed to hiring
or providing services to clients;
8. increasing coordination with the motor vehicles and social
services departments to increase clients’ access to driver’s
licenses and other supports; 2022HB-05399-R000301-BA.DOCX
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9. developing relationships with local chambers of commerce to
coordinate community reentry services and expand training and
employment opportunities with businesses;
10. supporting the development of short- and long-term public and
private investments in clients;
11. improving coordination with federal, state, and local violence
reduction strategies and programs;
12. including providers and employers who have successfully
helped clients reach other prospective clients; and
13. analyzing program and service delivery to ensure that it is
coordinated and aligned with the initiative’s goals.
BACKGROUND
Project Longevity
Project Longevity was first launched in 2012 in New Haven and
subsequently expanded to Hartford and Bridgeport in 2013 and
Waterbury in 2021. Since October 2021, the nonprofit The Justice
Education Center, Inc. has served as the program administrator,
provided statewide coordination and technical assistance, and
supervised personnel and fiduciary responsibilities at the four program
sites.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 23 Nay 0 (03/22/2022)