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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6417
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3246
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT REQUIRING BAC KGROUND CHECKS FOR C ERTAIN
EMPLOYEES OF YOUTH C AMPS.
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 Section 19a-421 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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, 2021): 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 Raised Bill No. 6417
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renewable upon payment of an eight-hundred-fifteen-dollar license fee 16
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) On and after October 1, 2022, a licensee shall require any person, 21
who is eighteen years of age or older and a prospective employee of a 22
youth camp for a position that requires the provision of care to a child 23
or involves unsupervised access to any child in such youth camp, to 24
submit to a comprehensive background check, including state and 25
national criminal history records checks and a check of the state child 26
abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k. The criminal 27
history records check required pursuant to this subsection shall be 28
conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. No licensee shall permit a 29
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 provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any 32
youth camp operated by a state agency, as defined in section 1-79, 33
provided such state agency satisfies any other requirements relating to 34
state and national criminal history records checks applicable to 35
employees of such state agency. Any criminal history background check 36
conducted pursuant to this subsection shall be completed not later than 37
five business days after receipt of the request for such background 38
check. Pending completion of all background check components 39
described in this subsection, a prospective employee may begin work 40
on a provisional basis, provided such prospective employee is 41
supervised at all times by an employee who was subjected to a 42
background check described in this subsection within the past five 43
years. 44
Sec. 2. Section 10-530 of the general statutes is repealed and the 45
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 46
(1) "Child care facility" means a "child care center", "group child care 47
home" or "family child care home" that provides "child care services", 48 Raised Bill No. 6417
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each as described in section 19a-77, or any provider of child care services 49
under the child care subsidy program established pursuant to section 50
17b-749; 51
(2) "Child care services provider or staff member" means any person 52
who is (A) a licensee, employee, volunteer or alternate staff, assistant, 53
substitute or household member of a child care facility, (B) a family child 54
care provider, or (C) any other person who provides child care services 55
under the child care subsidy program established pursuant to section 56
17b-749 but does not include a person who is providing child care 57
services under the child care subsidy program (i) exclusively to children 58
with whom such person is related, and (ii) without being issued a license 59
to provide child care services by the Office of Early Childhood; [and] 60
(3) "Family child care provider" means any person who provides 61
child care services under the child care subsidy program established 62
pursuant to section 17b-749 (A) in a family child care home, as defined 63
in section 19a-77, or (B) in a home not requiring a license pursuant to 64
subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section 19a-77; [.] and 65
(4) "Youth camp" has the same meaning as provided in section 19a-66
420. 67
(b) The comprehensive background checks required pursuant to 68
subsection (c) of section 19a-80, subsection (c) of section 19a-87b, [and] 69
subsection (a) of section 17b-749k, and subsection (b) of section 19a-421, 70
as amended by this act, shall be conducted at least once every five years 71
for each child care services provider or staff member in accordance with 72
the provisions of 45 CFR 98.43, as amended from time to time. 73
(c) Any person who is eighteen years of age or older and applies for 74
a position at a child care facility or youth camp in the state shall not be 75
required to submit to such comprehensive background checks if such 76
person (1) is an employee, a volunteer or a household member of a child 77
care facility in the state, or has not been separated from employment as 78
a child care services provider or staff member or status as a volunteer or 79
household member of a child care facility in the state for a period of 80 Raised Bill No. 6417
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more than one hundred eighty days, and (2) has successfully completed 81
such comprehensive background checks in the previous five years. 82
Nothing in this section prohibits the Commissioner of Early Childhood 83
from requiring that a person applying for a position as a child care 84
services provider or staff member submit to comprehensive background 85
checks more than once during a five-year period. 86
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 19a-421
Sec. 2 October 1, 2022 10-530
Statement of Purpose:
To require 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.]