Mental health funds released for displaced hurricane victims

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut is receiving a $750,000 federal grant to provide mental health support to families and especially children who were evacuated from their homes in Puerto Rico and have been living in Connecticut as a result of Hurricane Maria last September.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says the Department of Health and Human Services grant will be used at child guidance clinics in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Britain for services such as outpatient counselling, medication management, and school outreach.

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College estimates that 135,000 people evacuated Puerto Rico to the mainland United States in the first six months after the hurricane and approximately 10 per cent of them relocated to Connecticut.

The state has been providing housing, education and other assistance to those families.