Legislative Priorities - Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut

Education

Up to 53.3% of APAs lack English language proficiency
due to the high proportion of immigrants (about 74% of
APAs in Connecticut are foreign born).

More APAs lack a rudimentary education (3.4% have an
educational level below fourth grade), as compared with
only 1.6% of the total population and 0.6% of whites.

APAs comprise the largest minority group in two-thirds of
Connecticut school districts, yet the efforts to increase
the number of APA teachers has been lacking.

Adult education, particularly offerings in English
language instruction, is woefully inadequate, commonly
at less than the 20 hours a week prescribed as
educationally sound.

Economics

Although APAs had the highest median annual
household income ($46,637), among the nation's racial
groups in 1998, due to larger APA households (3.15 for
APAs versus 2.47 for whites), the estimated income per
household member is lower in the APA population
($19,107 for APAs versus $22,633 for whites).

The number of APAs who live below the poverty level is
significantly higher than the proportion of poor non-
Hispanic whites (12.5% of APAs versus 8.2% of non-
Hispanic whites).

Health Care:

In 1998, 21.1% of APAs lacked health insurance
coverage and could not afford health care expenses.

The lack of culturally competent health care
professionals, including hospital interpreters, is an
overwhelming, ethnicity-specific obstacle to health care
access resulting in low rates of health services
utilization, high rates of emergency room use, and
inadequacy of prenatal care.

Gambling addiction services, smoking cessation,
substance abuse services, health education and
prevention are pressing, yet unmet needs.

Mental Health Services:

The incidence of mental illness among Southeast Asians,
primarily due to war trauma, has been measured to be
as high as 75%.

Language barriers, failure of public agencies to provide
interpreters, and lack of cultural sensitivity cause
mainstream services to be inaccessible to Southeast
Asians and to other ethnic groups.

Criminal Justice and Legal Services:

In the last six years, there has been a 350% increase in
need for court interpreters.

There is a need to increase the diversity of the judiciary,
prosecutors, public defenders, court interpreters, and
law enforcement officials to reflect the proportion of
APAs in Connecticut.

Victims of crime programs need culturally responsive
support, particularly in cases of domestic violence and
sex crimes.

There are ongoing concerns for the rights of refugees
and immigrants.

Housing:

Although Connecticut’s two casinos have attracted an
influx of Asian workers, the lack of affordable housing
has often forced up to 20 people to live in a single
dwelling, some who must sleep in shifts.

In 2003, applications for 1 to 4 family home loans by
APAs comprised only 1.5% of government backed loans
and 5.4% of conventional loans compared with 64% of
government backed loans and 71.4% of conventional
loans for whites.

APAs in Connecticut comprise less than 2% of owner-
occupied housing units.

Jobs:

Contrary to the “model minority” stereotype, although
APAs have the highest percentage of college graduates
for any racial group, they make up less than 0.5% of
corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies and less
than 1.5% are Chief Executive Officers of Fortune 1000
companies.

The Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut urges
the Legislature to take this historic step towards
recognizing the accomplishments and needs of Connecticut’s
rapidly growing APA population to form and fund an Asian
Pacific American Affairs Commission. The Asian Pacific
American Affairs Commission merits strong legislative
support.