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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 452
January Session, 2019
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CHILD WELFARE AN D POLICY
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) There is established a 1
Child Welfare Policy and Oversight Committee that shall monitor and 2
evaluate the policies and practices implemented by state agencies that 3
affect the state's child welfare system with the goals of ensuring that 4
(1) children are protected from abuse and neglect, (2) preventable child 5
fatalities are reduced or eliminated, (3) children have permanency and 6
stability in their living situations, are placed with family members 7
whenever possible and do not exit the child welfare system into 8
homelessness, (4) minority populations are not disproportionately 9
placed in the child welfare system, (5) children receive timely 10
appropriate and adequate services to meet their physical, mental 11
health and developmental needs, (6) children do not remain in 12
institutional settings longer than is necessary, and (7) state agencies 13
collaborate to establish protocols for achieving the goals described in 14
this subsection. 15
(b) The Child Welfare Policy and Oversight Committee shall consist 16
of the following members: 17
(1) Two members appointed by the speaker of the House of 18 Substitute Bill No. 452
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Representatives, who shall be advocates for children and families; 19
(2) Two members appointed by the president pro tempore of the 20
Senate, who shall be attorneys licensed in this state with expertise in 21
legal issues affecting children; 22
(3) One member appointed by the majority leader of the House of 23
Representatives, who shall be a pediatrician licensed in this state; 24
(4) One member appointed by the minority leader of the House of 25
Representatives, who shall be a provider of behavioral health services 26
for children; 27
(5) One member appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, 28
who shall be a child psychiatrist licensed in this state; 29
(6) One member appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, 30
who shall be a school superintendent; 31
(7) Five members appointed by the Commissioner of Children and 32
Families, two of whom shall be providers of therapeutic or support 33
services for families served by the Department of Children and 34
Families, two of whom shall be representatives of nonprofit 35
organizations that provide services to children and families in the 36
state, and one of whom shall be the parent or guardian of a child 37
diagnosed with mental, emotional or behavioral health issues; 38
(8) Three members appointed by the Commissioner of Early 39
Childhood, two of whom shall be providers of behavioral health 40
services to children under the age of three, and one of whom shall be 41
the parent or guardian of a child who has received such services; 42
(9) Two members appointed by the Commissioner of 43
Developmental Services, one of whom shall be a provider of services to 44
children with developmental disabilities, and one of whom shall be the 45
parent or guardian of a child who has received such services; 46 Substitute Bill No. 452
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(10) The Commissioner of Children and Families, or the 47
commissioner's designee; 48
(11) The Commissioner of Developmental Services, or the 49
commissioner's designee; 50
(12) The Commissioner of Early Childhood, or the commissioner's 51
designee; 52
(13) The Child Advocate, or the Child Advocate's designee; 53
(14) The Chief Court Administrator, or the Chief Court 54
Administrator's designee; 55
(15) The Chief Public Defender, or the Chief Public Defender's 56
designee; 57
(16) The executive director of the Commission on Women, Children 58
and Seniors, or the executive director's designee; and 59
(17) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 60
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 61
relating to children, or the chairpersons' and ranking members' 62
designees. 63
(c) All appointments to the committee shall be made not later than 64
thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any member of the 65
committee appointed under subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) 66
or (9) of subsection (b) of this section shall serve a three-year term, 67
except that the members first appointed shall serve a two-year term. 68
Any member may be reappointed. Any vacancy shall be filled by the 69
appointing authority for the unexpired portion of the term not later 70
than thirty days after such vacancy. 71
(d) The chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General 72
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, or the 73
chairpersons' designees, and the executive director of the Commission 74 Substitute Bill No. 452
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on Women, Children and Seniors, or the executive director's designee, 75
shall serve as chairpersons of the committee. Such chairpersons shall 76
schedule the first meeting of the committee, which shall be held not 77
later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. The 78
committee shall meet not less than quarterly. 79
(e) Each member shall be entitled to one vote on the committee. A 80
majority of the committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 81
of any business, the exercise of any power or the performance of any 82
duty authorized or imposed by law. 83
(f) Not later than January 1, 2020, and not less than annually 84
thereafter, the committee shall submit a report and any 85
recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General 86
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, in 87
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 88
Such report shall include, but not be limited to, (1) a description of the 89
activities of the committee, (2) an evaluation of the efficacy of policies 90
and practices being implemented within the state's child welfare 91
system with respect to the goals set forth pursuant to subsection (a) of 92
this section, and (3) recommendations for the improvement of such 93
policies and practices. 94
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
KID Joint Favorable Subst.