About Us
The Asian Pacific American Affairs
Commission (APAAC) was created in 2008 by
an act of the Connecticut General Assembly.
Under Public Act 08-166 and subsequently
amended by the September Special Session,
Public Act 09-7, this 21 member bipartisan
commission generally oversees matters
concerning the Asian Pacific American (APA)
population in Connecticut.
Our Role
The Commission makes recommendations to the General
Assembly and the Governor on the health, safety,
education, economic self-sufficiency and efforts to
remain free from discrimination within the Asian Pacific
American community in Connecticut.
Current Members
M. Angela Rola - Chair
Trung Le – Vice Chair
Uswah Khan – Secretary
Arvind Shaw - Treasurer
Arlene Avery
Theodore Feng
Jack K. Hasegawa
Sylvia Ho
Theodore Hsu
George Mathanool
Dr. Atique Mirza
An-Ming Truxes
Mui Mui Hin-McCormick
Executive Director
Alok Bhatt
Legislative Analyst
The Commission reviews and comments on proposed
state legislation or recommendations that may affect the
Asian Pacific American population of the state; advises
the General Assembly and the Governor concerning the coordination and administration of state
programs that affect the Asian Pacific American population of the state.
In addition, we conduct the following activities to benefit the APA community in the state:
• Gathers and present current information regarding Connecticut’s APA community;
• Serve as a liaison between the APA community and government agencies, including the General
Assembly;
• Conducts educational and outreach to raise awareness of critical issues affecting the APA
community; and
 Information/referrals for the APA community around government and community-based
services
Address 18-20 Trinity Street, Room 202 Hartford, CT 06106
Telephone (860) 240-0080
Email apaac@cga.ct.gov
Website http://ctapaac.com
Areas of Concern for Connecticut’s APA Community
Education
• 31.9% of APA’s reported that they spoke very little English, creating barriers to social services and other resources.
• 10.7% of Connecticut APA’s over 25 have not attained their high school diploma or equivalent.
• APAs comprise the largest minority group in two-thirds of Connecticut school districts, yet efforts to increase the
number of APA teachers has been lacking.
• High school dropout rates for Southeast Asian youth hovers around a staggering 38%
• Adult education, particularly English language instruction, is commonly less than the 20 hours-per-week prescribed as
educationally sound.
• Asian-American students (18%) reported being bullied at school or cyber-bullied. More APA victims of bullying
(11.1%) said that they were bullied because of their race than did white victims (2.8%), African-American victims
(7.1%) or Latino victims (6.2%).
Business/Economics
 Approximately 14% of Connecticut’s APA single mothers live below the poverty line.
 Only 4.2% of working APA’s in Connecticut operate their own businesses.
 The ‘model minority’ myth, which frames APA’s as a homogenous group of passive overachievers, produces false
rhetoric and misconceptions regarding economic self-sufficiency, access to education, housing, as well as other social
and systemic disparities. APA populations continue to struggle for equality.
Health Care:
• Over 13% of APA’s in Connecticut lack health insurance coverage.
• Incidence rates of cervical cancer in the U.S. are highest among Laotian, Samoan, Cambodian, and Vietnamese
women
• The deficiency of culturally competent health care professionals, including hospital interpreters, is an overwhelming,
ethnicity-specific obstacle, resulting in low rates of health access and high rates of emergency room visits.
• Gambling addiction services, smoking cessation, substance abuse services are persistent yet unmet needs.
• APA’s represent over half of the 1.3-1.5 million deaths related to chronic hepatitis B in the United States. The
propensity for HIV/AIDS co-infection compounds this problem.
Mental Health Services:
• Incidence of mental illness among Southeast Asians, primarily due to war trauma, has been reported 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 other ethnic groups.
• Suicide and suicidal thoughts continue to be a pervasive problem among APA women, particularly women over 65.
Criminal Justice and Legal Services:
• Court interpretation and translation services continue to represent critical needs for Connecticut APA’s
• There is a need to increase the diversity of the judiciary, prosecutors, public defenders, court interpreters, and law
enforcement officials to serve and assist APA’s 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.
• Nearly 20% of APA’s experience discrimination in seeking property to rent or own.
• APA’s in Connecticut comprise less than 2% of owner-occupied housing units and only 54.7% of the APA population
own homes.
Jobs:
• Though APA’s have the highest percentage of college graduates for any racial group, they constitute less than 0.5% of
corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies and less than 1.5% of Chief Executive Officers in Fortune 1000
companies.
• Despite high rates of population growth in Connecticut, only 6.2% of working APA’s hold jobs in government.
• APA’s report some of the highest rates of employment discrimination among ethnic minorities.
• Despite significant employment discrimination, APA’s file roughly 3% of all complaints with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.
Address 18-20 Trinity Street, Room 202 Hartford, CT 06106
Telephone (860) 240-0080
Email apaac@cga.ct.gov
Website http://ctapaac.com