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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5219
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1479
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING YO UTH CAMPS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-421 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 2
(a) No person shall establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp 3
without a license issued by the office. Applications for such license shall 4
be made in writing at least thirty days prior to the opening of the youth 5
camp on forms provided and in accordance with procedures established 6
by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by a fee of eight 7
hundred fifteen dollars or, if the applicant is a nonprofit, nonstock 8
corporation or association, a fee of three hundred fifteen dollars or, if 9
the applicant is a day camp affiliated with a nonprofit organization, for 10
no more than five days duration and for which labor and materials are 11
donated, no fee. All such licenses shall be valid for a period of one year 12
from the date of issuance unless surrendered for cancellation or 13
suspended or revoked by the commissioner for violation of this chapter 14
or any regulations adopted under section 19a-428 and shall be 15
renewable upon payment of an eight-hundred-fifteen-dollar license fee 16 Raised Bill No. 5219
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or, if the licensee is a nonprofit, nonstock corporation or association, a 17
three-hundred-fifteen-dollar license fee or, if the applicant is a day camp 18
affiliated with a nonprofit organization, for no more than five days 19
duration and for which labor and materials are donated, no fee. 20
(b) A licensee shall require any person who is eighteen years of age 21
or older and a prospective employee of a youth camp for a position that 22
requires the provision of care to a child or involves unsupervised access 23
to any child in such youth camp, to submit to comprehensive 24
background checks, including state and national criminal history 25
records checks. The criminal history records checks required pursuant 26
to this subsection shall be conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. 27
The licensee shall also request a check of the state child abuse registry 28
established pursuant to section 17a-101k. A licensee shall not permit any 29
such prospective employee to begin work at such youth camp until the 30
provisions of 45 CFR 98.43(d)(4), as amended from time to time, have 31
been satisfied. The office shall notify each licensee of the provisions of 32
this subsection. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any 33
youth camp operated by a state agency, as defined in section 1-79, 34
provided such state agency satisfies any other requirements relating to 35
state and national criminal history records checks applicable to 36
employees of such state agency. 37
Sec. 2. Section 10-530 of the 2020 supplement to the general statutes 38
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 39
October 1, 2020): 40
(a) As used in this section: 41
(1) "Child care facility" means a "child care center", "group child care 42
home" or "family child care home" that provides "child care services", 43
each as described in section 19a-77, or any provider of child care services 44
under the child care subsidy program established pursuant to section 45
17b-749; 46
(2) "Child care services provider or staff member" means any person 47
who is (A) a licensee, employee, volunteer or alternate staff, assistant, 48 Raised Bill No. 5219
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substitute or household member of a child care facility, (B) a family child 49
care provider, or (C) any other person who provides child care services 50
under the child care subsidy program established pursuant to section 51
17b-749 but does not include a person who is providing child care 52
services under the child care subsidy program (i) exclusively to children 53
with whom such person is related, and (ii) without being issued a license 54
to provide child care services by the Office of Early Childhood; [and] 55
(3) "Family child care provider" means any person who provides 56
child care services under the child care subsidy program established 57
pursuant to section 17b-749 (A) in a family child care home, as defined 58
in section 19a-77, or (B) in a home not requiring a license pursuant to 59
subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section 19a-77; [.] and 60
(4) "Youth camp" has the same meaning as provided in section 19a-61
420. 62
(b) The comprehensive background checks required pursuant to 63
subsection (c) of section 19a-80, subsection (c) of section 19a-87b, [and] 64
subsection (a) of section 17b-749k, and subsection (b) of section 19a-421, 65
as amended by this act, shall be conducted at least once every five years 66
for each child care services provider or staff member in accordance with 67
the provisions of 45 CFR 98.43, as amended from time to time. 68
(c) Any person who is eighteen years of age or older and applies for 69
a position at a child care facility or youth camp in the state shall not be 70
required to submit to such comprehensive background checks if such 71
person (1) is an employee, volunteer or household member of a child 72
care facility in the state, or has not been separated from employment or 73
association as a child care services provider or staff member in the state 74
for a period of more than one hundred eighty days, and (2) has 75
successfully completed such comprehensive background checks in the 76
previous five years. Nothing in this section prohibits the Commissioner 77
of Early Childhood from requiring that a person applying for a position 78
as a child care services provider or staff member submit to 79
comprehensive background checks more than once during a five-year 80 Raised Bill No. 5219
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period. 81
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 19a-421
Sec. 2 October 1, 2020 10-530
Statement of Purpose:
To require licensed youth camp employees who are eighteen years of
age or older to submit to a comprehensive background check.
[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.]