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Eleni Kavros DeGraw

@repkavrosdegraw

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State Representative for CT-17 (Avon/Canton) #TeamEleni #Connecticut #Canton #Collinsville

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Today serves as a reminder of the importance of safely disposing of medications you no longer use.

In Avon, you can drop off your prescriptions in the lobby of the Avon Police Department, 60 West Main Street.

In Canton, you can drop off your prescriptions at the green collection box in the police department lobby at 45 River Road any time.

To find a secure medication disposal site, go to MyOldMeds.com to find the closest location to your community. by @repkavrosdegraw

The impact of Italian Americans in CT is impossible to deny, and we are thankful everyday for the way their culture is interwoven into our state’s identity.
Happy Italian American Heritage month to all of us who celebrate our families! by @repkavrosdegraw

Happy Birthday to the Navy! Thanks to all those who served and especially my husband and grandfather! by @repkavrosdegraw

Connecticut has a rich history and on Indigenous People’s Day, it’s a good time to learn more about Connecticut tribes.

In the Farmington Valley, we had the Tunxis, but you’ll learn more about the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes below.

Our tribes are recognized as living on this land for 12,000 years! And even the word Connecticut comes from the Mohegan Pequot word “Quinnehtukqut” meaning “beside the long tidal river.”

The contributions of these native people include companion planting like the Three Sisters (corn, beans, squash) and their incredible environmental stewardship. by @repkavrosdegraw

Recently, I’ve spent some time researching the Italian side of my family and I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about it during National Italian American Heritage Month.

Pasquale D’Amato, my great grandfather, emigrated to America in 1899 and became a miner in West Virginia. My great-grandmother Serafina arrived in 1906 and by 1910 they were married. They went on to have many children, not all of whom survived to adulthood and, like many immigrants, were woven into the fabric of a changing America. I can only imagine the challenges they faced as new arrivals to such a vast country and how that shaped their and their children’s lives. Their son, Salvatore (Samuel) went on to become a police officer and his son, my biological father, became a doctor (also having served multiple tours as a naval medical officer in Vietnam).

October is a wonderful month to mark the accomplishments of the Italians both in Italy and America with their many cultural and scientific contributions. by @repkavrosdegraw

Childcare for many is a big part of the affordability crisis. It’s why we set up the Childcare Endowment Fund. Beginning July 1, 2027, families enrolled in Early Start CT earning up to $100,000 per year will receive FREE childcare, and costs for families earning more than $100,000 per year will be capped at 7% of household income.

The Endowment serves as a permanent funding source dedicated to strengthening Connecticut’s early childhood education system and supporting the largest expansion of early childhood education services in state history.

Combined with the $300 million deposited at the end of fiscal year 2025, this latest investment positions Connecticut to pursue a sustainable, long-term strategy for expanding access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education.

Connecticut Early Childhood Education Endowment by the numbers:
FY 2025 deposit: $300 million
FY 2026 deposit: $411.7 million
Total invested in the endowment: over $700 million by @repkavrosdegraw

It was brought to my attention that my opponent said I voted to expand flock cameras statewide this year. It’s an outright lie so let’s break down what I actually voted for.

#connecticut by @repkavrosdegraw

Head Start matters to children and families across Connecticut! I’m joining 360+ state legislators from all 50 states in calling on RFK Jr. to rescind the recent HHS proposal to gut the quality and standards of the essential early childhood development program. https://tinyurl.com/mws5u8r6 by @repkavrosdegraw

This week is #bannedbooksweek Week and I thought I’d share some of my favorites below.

But, Eleni, if you’re able to read them and if I can buy them at my local bookstore, how are they banned? Well, dear reader, books are banned every day in places across the country when they are removed from school or public libraries. Any effort to ban books is an infringement on free speech and your right to read.

Many of the most frequently banned books these days seem to have commonality in that they often feature LGBTQ+ or non-white characters (according to the American Library Association (ALA) they account for 40% or more of current book challenges).

According to ALA’s website: “In 2025, 92 percent of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials and decision makers, up from 72 percent in 2024. Less than 3 percent of challenges originated from individual parents.

“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” said Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals and communities.””

Free societies read freely and I’m proud to support both books and their protectors, our librarians.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of commonly banned or challenged books from Bookshop.org https://tinyurl.com/h2hbmytj

Happy Reading! by @repkavrosdegraw

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and we kicked it off with a press conference at the Capitol. Thank you to Interval House CT for inviting me to speak alongside Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. WTNH News 8 covered the event here: https://tinyurl.com/4xynx42e

As I shared at the conference, Connecticut has often been at the forefront of domestic violence policy, but we have much more work to do to protect women in a year that has already seen 10 deaths in Connecticut alone: Appropriately funding our shelters and the hotline, training for judges to recognize the coercive control we put into statute five years ago, and teaching our children and young adults that they can break the cycle.

For resources on how to spot domestic violence and how you can help, visit: https://intervalhousect.org/domestic-violence/what-is-domestic-violence/

For immediate help: you are encouraged to call Interval House’s 24/7 hotline at 860-838-8467 or the domestic violence hotline at 800-799-7233. by @repkavrosdegraw

🐶Always a fun and interesting visit to the CT Humane Society in Newington. They continue to serve the pets of our state and their families so well. We had a fascinating discussion on some of their upcoming legislative properties and if you ever want to take one of their dogs for a “field trip” for the day, reach out to them. It’s a great way for the public to see some of the dogs available for adoption. My husband is grateful I left the kittens for others to take home. 😸 by @repkavrosdegraw

This morning, I had the opportunity to visit Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton.

While my children spent many a happy hour here, it had been a while, and it was so nice to be back at this beloved spot.

Hartford Performs is an organization that, in addition to bringing Hartford artists into the Hartford Public Schools, also brings Hartford students to area cultural organizations to give them a broader sense of their community.

This year, all of Hartford’s approximately 1,000 second graders have the chance to visit the nature center for a workshop called “Changing Seasons” in conjunction with their literacy module “A Season of Change.”

The kids were very excited and engaged, and it was fun to see them nail their vocabulary words like “hibernate” and “migrate” as they discussed the season changes for plants and animals. After their classroom portion, they moved on to the beautiful trails.

I was able to secure $100,000 in the budget to help keep this wonderful resource going and thriving. by @repkavrosdegraw