The Connecticut Junior Republic recently announced new officers and three new members of its Board of Directors. At the Board of Directors’ Annual meeting, Declan Murphy was elected as President for a three-year term, succeeding Patrick J. Boland. Mr. Boland continues to serve on the CJR Board of Directors. Mr. Murphy (photograph attached) has been a member of the Junior Republic’s Board of Directors since 2011. He is the Founder and President of Novens, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Litchfield. Prior to Novens, Mr. Murphy co-founded BKP Biologicals and directed the business development of the company. He was also a representative at the World Health Organization in Geneva and has served on the Board of Directors of AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research) and on the Advisory Board of Union Savings Bank. He holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of Salamanca, Spain and a Master of Arts degree in philosophy and an STL in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Mr. Murphy and his wife, Deborah Hartnett Murphy, reside in Litchfield.
Matthew P. Karpas was elected Vice President. Mr. Karpas has served on the Junior Republic’s Board of Directors since 2011. He is Managing Member of Karpas Strategies, LLC, an Investment Management firm based in New York City and Litchfield. He has served as President of the Board of Trustees of the Oliver Wolcott Library and is currently Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Montessori School. Mr. Karpas holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado. He resides in Litchfield with his wife, Emily Dalton, and their two daughters.
Joseph J. Greco was re-elected as Treasurer. Mr. Greco has served on the Junior Republic’s Board of Directors since 2005. Prior to his retirement, Mr. Greco served as Chief Executive Officer of the New Haven-based Bank of Southern Connecticut. He was previously Executive Vice President and Corporate Development Officer of Union
Savings Bank. Following his retirement, he provided leadership to the United Way of Northwest Connecticut as Interim Executive Director. Mr. Greco holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from the University of Hartford. He and his wife, Lori, reside in Litchfield.
Carol G. Bramley of Litchfield was re-elected as Secretary. Ms. Bramley has served on the Junior Republic’s Board of Directors since 1991. She recently retired as manager for the New Hartford-based Branig Capital Markets and actively volunteers in the Litchfield community. Ms. Bramley is a member of the Litchfield Planning and Zoning Commission and the Litchfield Design Review Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Board of The Greater Litchfield Preservation Trust and a past president of the Litchfield Aid of CJR, a charitable, voluntary auxiliary organization that supports the work of the Connecticut Junior Republic. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University. She resides in the Milton section of Litchfield.
Martha Bernstein, Frederick F. Judd III, and Jessica O. Travelstead have been elected to serve on the Board of Directors. Ms. Bernstein is the Chairman of the Board of the Connecticut Community Foundation and also serves on the boards of the Litchfield Community Center, Naugatuck Valley Community College Foundation, and the Torrington Area Health District. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Prime Time House and has previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Litchfield Historical Society, as a member of the Board of the Oliver Wolcott Library, on the Litchfield Board of Selectmen and as a Burgess for the Town of Litchfield. Ms. Bernstein holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College and resides in Litchfield with her husband, Robert Bernstein, MD.
Frederick F. Judd III, CFP, is Executive Vice President, Investments, Insurance, Treasury Service and Branch Banking, of Union Savings Bank. He is Chairman of the Board of Camp Boyd; a Trustee of the First Congregational Church of Litchfield and a member of the Board of the Litchfield Community Center. He also chairs the Parents’ Council of The Gunnery School. Mr. Judd holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from St. Michael’s College and is a Certified Financial Planner. He resides in Litchfield with his wife, Lisa, and their three children.
Jessica O. Travelstead is a realtor with the Matthews Group, a part of the William Raveis Real Estate Brokerage. She currently serves on the Board of Litchfield Hills Youth Lacrosse and the Washington Montessori School, where she is the Development Chair, and has served on the Boards of the Taft Day Care Center, Joyful Noise, and the Litchfield Country Club. Ms. Travelstead holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Denver. She represents the third generation of Oneglia family members to serve on the CJR Board of Directors, and resides in Litchfield with her husband, Jason, and their two daughters.
Patrick J. Boland of Litchfield is the immediate past president of the Board. In recognizing Mr. Boland for his three years of leadership, incoming President Declan Murphy cited the Connecticut Junior Republic’s significant growth during this time. When Mr. Boland became president in 2012, CJR had a budget of just over $14 million and served 1,430 boys and girls annually through 10 program locations. In its most recently completed fiscal year 2015, CJR had an operating budget of approximately $20 million and served nearly 2,500 children through 12 program sites across Connecticut – an increase of more than 60 percent in the number of young people and families helped. Over the term of Mr. Boland’s presidency, the Junior Republic also opened two new program sites in Manchester, significantly increasing the number of children and families served in eastern Connecticut.
During this time, the organization also launched its new Wellness Center Program, which provides behavioral and mental health services and adds an entirely new level of treatment to CJR’s continuum of care. Officially opened in May of 2015, the Wellness Center Program is based in the Michael P. Mortara Family Center on CJR’s Litchfield campus and accepts self-referrals from families and individuals who need assistance, as well as referrals made by other social services and health care organizations. CJR is licensed to provide Wellness Center services at eight of its program sites, including Danbury, Litchfield, Manchester, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, Torrington and Waterbury.
As a result of this new program and the establishment in 2014 of seven new Child, Youth and Family Support Centers in sites across Connecticut, including Danbury (serving towns in northern Fairfield County and southern Litchfield county) and Torrington (serving northern Litchfield County), CJR is now serving significantly more children, youth and families from Litchfield County and northwestern Connecticut than ever before in its history.
Founded in 1904, the Connecticut Junior Republic (CJR) provides care, treatment, education and family support for vulnerable at-risk, special needs and troubled young people so they can become productive and fulfilled members of their homes, schools and communities.
The Junior Republic conducts residential programs for court-referred young men on its Litchfield campus. Regular, special, vocational and alternative education programs are provided for boys from communities throughout Connecticut at CJR’s Cable Academic and Vocational Education Center, which is located on its Litchfield campus. Enhancement, transition and related services are also provided.
CJR provides additional residential services for boys at its group homes in East Hartford and Winchester and short-term, residential crisis intervention for girls at its CARE Community Residential Program in Waterbury. A broad spectrum of prevention, early intervention, family support, and intensive home-based services, and aftercare programs are provided for boys and girls through CJR’s locations in Danbury, East Hartford, Manchester (two sites), Meriden, New Haven, New Britain (two sites), Torrington and Waterbury. Behavioral and mental health services are provided in all of the above locations, as well.
A private charitable organization, the Connecticut Junior Republic is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). CJR is supported by gifts from individuals, businesses, foundations and organizations, and through service contracts funded by the Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division (CSSD), the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS), and by Connecticut’s public schools. For further information, please contact Hedy Barton, Director of Development and Public Relations (860) 567-9423, extension 252; or by email: hbarton@cjryouth.org.