HARTFORD, CT -- The 2016 Connecticut Health Index measures citizen engagement in the constitution state in voting, volunteerism and community involvement. A coalition of groups — including the Secretary of the State, Everyday Democracy, the National Conference on Citizenship and DataHaven — launched the 2016 Civic Health Index Report today. The survey evaluates the depth of citizen engagement through a variety of indicators such as voting, volunteering and other forms of community involvement.
The report gives Connecticut relatively high marks compared to the national average for volunteering (29.1% vs. 26.2%) and charitable giving (57.9% vs. 50.7%) in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Residents in Connecticut are also more likely than the rest of the country to have attended a public meeting (10.5% vs. 8.7%) or worked with neighbors to fix or improve something in the community (9.2% vs. 8.2%) during those years.