General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 536
January Session, 2015 LCO No. 2759
*02759*
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
SEN. BYE, 5th Dist. REP. WALKER, 93rd Dist.
General Assembly
Proposed Bill No. 536
January Session, 2015
LCO No. 2759
*02759*
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
SEN. BYE, 5th Dist.
REP. WALKER, 93rd Dist.
AN ACT CONCERNING A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR CHILDREN AGES BIRTH TO THREE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
That title 17a of the general statutes be amended to require the Office of Early Childhood and the Commissioners of the Departments of Children and Families, Public Health and Social Services, and the Office of the Child Advocate, to file an annual report on Connecticut's strategic plan to ensure the health and well-being of children from ages birth to three with the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters concerning children and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies. The annual report shall be reviewed at an annual public hearing scheduled by said committees and shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Agency-led and interagency coordinated efforts to report or address the identification of high risk or high need children; (2) engagement and service delivery for such children and their families; (3) child fatality prevention; (4) outcomes achieved for such children; (5) reporting by the Departments of Social Services, Public Health, Children and Families and the Office of Early Childhood on maximization of private and public funding streams to support medical, mental health and behavioral health service delivery for high need children ages birth to three and their caregivers; (6) information provided by the Office of the Child Advocate, in consultation with the state child fatality review panel, on child mortality rates and critical incidents involving children ages birth to three and causes, with attention to state-wide trends; (7) recommendations concerning necessary changes in state policy, including the state Medicaid plan and insurance coverage rules, as well as health, mental health and child care funding for the reduction of preventable child deaths and improved health and well-being outcomes for high risk and high need children ages birth to three; (8) data from the Department of Children and Families on the number of children who: (A) Were referred to said department's telephone hot line to report suspected abuse and neglect by type of referral, (B) were deemed substantiated victims of abuse or neglect, (C) were referred to the state's Family Assessment Response program, (D) were referred for parent-child educational or clinical supports, or (E) were removed to foster care, including kinship care, along with data on their retention in foster care or their return to the family. The Department of Children and Families shall also include in said report data on the well-being and safety outcomes for all such children, including results of assessment of developmental and emotional needs, the interventions provided, needs met, and rates of repeat referral for maltreatment concerns, by type of referral, and information on the development, implementation and efficacy of said department's child protective services response model for children ages birth to three.
Statement of Purpose:
To require annual reporting and public hearings on Connecticut's strategic plan to improve health and well-being outcomes for children ages birth to three.