Citizen Contributions | Arts & Culture | Connecticut Casa
The following citizen contribution was submitted by Josiah Brown, executive director of Connecticut CASA.
On a recent Wednesday, Claire Criscuolo hosted a house party—featuring a musical performance—to benefit Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), which pairs volunteer advocates with children who have experienced abuse or neglect.
The occasion was part of a "CASAs for CT CASA" series, marking five years since the child welfare nonprofit opened in the New Haven juvenile court (child protection side) in 2020. Since then, the program has expanded to Waterbury and Torrington in 2022; Willimantic, Hartford, Rockville, and New Britain in 2023; and now in 2025 to Middletown—its eighth court statewide.
Three CASA volunteers—Dwayne Jackson, Nick Ramirez, and Kyn Tolson (pictured below)—spoke and received plaudits on behalf of their fellow advocates for children, whether in Foster Care or Protective Supervision (still with their families, as long as that is deemed safely possible).
Also thanked were state legislators, including New Haven delegation members such as Rep. Toni Walker and Sens. Gary Winfield and Martin Looney, for this month passing a budget bill that will for the first time include state funding for Connecticut CASA. Speaker Matt Ritter, Gov. Ned Lamont, and many others made this possible; the CASA movement receives bipartisan backing in virtually every state.
The evening concluded on a celebratory note with a performance by the family duo of Bridgeport-raised, Brooklyn-based singer and songwriter Chynna Sherrod and her brother, Brandon, who accompanied her at the piano while singing himself, too. Brandon Sherrod is a Connecticut CASA ambassador (along with Miye Oni), musical artist, and now Yale men's basketball assistant coach.
Their rendition of Bill Withers' "Lean on Me"—evoking the theme of steady support which CASA volunteers seek to provide to children—encouraged listeners to join in.
The Sherrods reprised prior benefit events for Connecticut CASA, in 2022 by Brandon and in 2023 by Chynna—who in that instance had collaborated with Chef Claire's cooking lesson at the Dixwell Community "Q" House.
This year, Claire was recognized both for hosting the occasion and for the approaching 50th anniversary of her famed restaurant (which Paul Bass recently previewed with her while discussing her latest cookbook, to be published June 17). Claire's refrain: "Be kinder than necessary," extends especially to children, who stand to gain from a continuing fundraiser that Claire's Corner Copia has designed with Yale Child Study Center Director Linda Mayes.
Wednesday's attendees ranged from board and advisory council members to Dotty Weston-Murphy of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Amos Smith of the Community Action Agency of New Haven, and Gregory Mills of Project Longevity, for example.
Lead sponsors were Yale University and Claire's Corner Copia; other sponsors included Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, the Community Foundation, NewAlliance Foundation, and Better Rhodes. Both Better Rhodes and the Wine Thief also donated beverages, to accompany catering by Claire's.
As part of a national movement for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, Connecticut CASA’s volunteer advocates do many things, in concert with professionals from social workers and attorneys to educators and health providers. The organization works with and for children ranging from birth to 18.
Among CASA’s contributions are five “Rs. They stand for Reporting regularly to judges, to inform decisions about children’s safe, permanent homes and best interests; Resources/services identified—from birth-to-three, to special education, after-school, health, mental health, and summer jobs; Relationship-building, through visits at least monthly, and cases that can extend for years; Resilience promoted, to help children and youth overcome adversity; and Results that have seen this program grow rapidly, from a single court in New Haven in 2020 to now eight of the state’s 10 child protection courts.
This 2025 series of events follows an April 2024 musical benefit that the Arts Paper covered last year: "Shades of Support for Connecticut CASA," at which the Shades of Yale singing group performed—as well as a September 2024 community film screening with the 'r Kids Family Center.