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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 929
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4026
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL
MANDATED REPORTERS, THE DURATION OF CHILD ABUSE AND
NEGLECT INVESTIGATIO NS AND THE REPEAL OF CERTAIN
REPORTING REQUIREMEN TS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 17a-101 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 2
1, 2019): 3
(b) The following persons shall be mandated reporters: (1) Any 4
physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 370, (2) 5
any resident physician or intern in any hospital in this state, whether 6
or not so licensed, (3) any registered nurse, (4) any licensed practical 7
nurse, (5) any medical examiner, (6) any dentist, (7) any dental 8
hygienist, (8) any psychologist, (9) any school employee, as defined in 9
section 53a-65, (10) any social worker, (11) any person who holds or is 10
issued a coaching permit by the State Board of Education, is a coach of 11
intramural or interscholastic athletics and is eighteen years of age or 12
older, (12) any individual who is employed as a coach or director of 13 Raised Bill No. 929
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youth athletics and is eighteen years of age or older, (13) any 14
individual who is employed as a coach or director of a private youth 15
sports organization, league or team and is eighteen years of age or 16
older, (14) any paid administrator, faculty, staff, athletic director, 17
athletic coach or athletic trainer employed by a public or private 18
institution of higher education who is eighteen years of age or older, 19
excluding student employees, (15) any police officer, (16) any juvenile 20
or adult probation officer, (17) any juvenile or adult parole officer, (18) 21
any member of the clergy, (19) any pharmacist, (20) any physical 22
therapist, (21) any optometrist, (22) any chiropractor, (23) any 23
podiatrist, (24) any mental health professional, (25) any physician 24
assistant, (26) any person who is a licensed or certified emergency 25
medical services provider, (27) any person who is a licensed or 26
certified alcohol and drug counselor, (28) any person who is a licensed 27
marital and family therapist, (29) any person who is a sexual assault 28
counselor or a domestic violence counselor, as defined in section 52-29
146k, (30) any person who is a licensed professional counselor, (31) any 30
person who is a licensed foster parent, (32) any person paid to care for 31
a child in any public or private facility, child care center, group child 32
care home or family child care home licensed by the state, (33) any 33
employee of the Department of Children and Families or any person 34
who, in the performance of such person's duties, has regular contact 35
with and provides services to or on behalf of children pursuant to a 36
contract with or credential issued by the Department of Children and 37
Families, (34) any employee of the Department of Public Health, (35) 38
any employee of the Office of Early Childhood who is responsible for 39
the licensing of child care centers, group child care homes, family child 40
care homes or youth camps, (36) any paid youth camp director or 41
assistant director, (37) the Child Advocate and any employee of the 42
Office of the Child Advocate, (38) any person who is a licensed 43
behavior analyst, [and] (39) any family relations counselor, family 44
relations counselor trainee or family services supervisor employed by 45
the Judicial Department, (40) any victim services supervisor employed 46
by the Office of Victim Services within the Judicial Department, and 47
(41) any employee of a juvenile justice program operated by or 48 Raised Bill No. 929
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pursuant to a contract with the Court Support Services Division of the 49
Judicial Department. 50
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 17a-101g of the general statutes is 51
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 52
1, 2019): 53
(a) Upon receiving a report of child abuse or neglect, as provided in 54
sections 17a-101a to 17a-101c, inclusive, or section 17a-103, in which 55
the alleged perpetrator is (1) a person responsible for such child's 56
health, welfare or care, (2) a person given access to such child by such 57
responsible person, or (3) a person entrusted with the care of a child, 58
the Commissioner of Children and Families, or the commissioner's 59
designee, shall cause the report to be classified and evaluated 60
immediately. If the report contains sufficient information to warrant an 61
investigation, the commissioner shall make the commissioner's best 62
efforts to commence an investigation of a report concerning an 63
imminent risk of physical harm to a child or other emergency within 64
two hours of receipt of the report and shall commence an investigation 65
of all other reports within seventy-two hours of receipt of the report. A 66
report classified by the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, 67
as lower risk may be referred for family assessment and services 68
pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. Any such report may 69
thereafter be referred for standard child protective services if safety 70
concerns for the child become evident. A report referred for standard 71
child protective services may be referred for family assessment and 72
services at any time if the department determines there is a lower risk 73
to the child. If the alleged perpetrator is a school employee, as defined 74
in section 53a-65, or is employed by an institution or facility licensed or 75
approved by the state to provide care for children, the department 76
shall notify the Department of Education or the state agency that has 77
issued such license or approval to the institution or facility of the 78
report and the commencement of an investigation by th e 79
Commissioner of Children and Families. The department shall 80
complete any such investigation not later than [forty-five calendar] 81
thirty-three business days after the date of receipt of the report. If the 82 Raised Bill No. 929
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report is a report of child abuse or neglect in which the alleged 83
perpetrator is not a person specified in subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of this 84
subsection, the Commissioner of Children and Families shall refer the 85
report to the appropriate local law enforcement authority for the town 86
in which the child resides or in which the alleged abuse or neglect 87
occurred. 88
Sec. 3. Sections 17a-62 and 17a-103c of the general statutes are 89
repealed. (Effective July 1, 2019) 90
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 17a-101(b)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 17a-101g(a)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 Repealer section
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) include as mandated reporters (A) persons who have regular
contact with children and provide services to or on behalf of children
pursuant to a contract with or credential issued by the Department of
Children and Families, (B) victims services supervisors employed by
the Judicial Department, and (C) employees of the juvenile justice
program operated by or pursuant to a contract with the Court Support
Services Division of the Judicial Department, (2) require the
completion of investigations of child abuse and neglect not later than
thirty-three business days after receipt of a report, and (3) repeal (A)
reporting requirements concerning certain children and youths in the
custody of the Department of Children and Families, and (B) written
notification requirements concerning reports of abuse and neglect.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]