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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6511
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3792
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT REQUIRING BAC KGROUND CHECKS FOR Y OUTH SPORTS
COACHES, TRAINERS AN D INSTRUCTORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 21a-432 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 2
(a) For purposes of this section: 3
(1) "Youth athletic activity" means an organized athletic activity 4
involving participants of not less than seven years of age, except as 5
provided in subsections (d) to (f), inclusive, of this section and not more 6
than nineteen years of age, who (A) (i) engage in an organized athletic 7
game or competition against another team, club or entity or in practice 8
or preparation for an organized game or competition against another 9
team, club or entity, or (ii) attend an organized athletic camp or clinic 10
the purpose of which is to train, instruct or prepare such participants to 11
engage in an organized athletic game or competition, and (B) (i) pay a 12
fee to participate in such organized athletic game or competition or 13
attend such camp or clinic, or (ii) whose cost to participate in such 14
athletic game or competition or attend such camp or clinic is sponsored 15 Raised Bill No. 6511
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by a municipality, business or nonprofit organization. "Youth athletic 16
activity" does not include any college or university athletic activity, or 17
an athletic activity that is incidental to a nonathletic program or lesson; 18
and 19
(2) "Operator" means any municipality, business or nonprofit 20
organization that conducts, coordinates, organizes or otherwise 21
oversees any youth athletic activity but shall not include any 22
municipality, business or nonprofit organization solely providing access 23
to, or use of, any field, court or other recreational area, whether for 24
compensation or not. 25
(b) [Not later than January 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, each] 26
Each operator of a youth athletic activity shall make available a written 27
or electronic statement regarding concussions to each youth athlete and 28
a parent or legal guardian of each youth athlete participating in the 29
youth athletic activity. Such written or electronic statement shall be 30
made available upon registration of each youth athlete and shall be 31
consistent with the most recent information provided by the National 32
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding concussions. 33
Such written or electronic statement shall include educational content 34
addressing, at a minimum: (1) The recognition of signs or symptoms of 35
a concussion, (2) the means of obtaining proper medical treatment for a 36
person suspected of sustaining a concussion, (3) the nature and risks of 37
concussions, including the danger of continuing to engage in youth 38
athletic activity after sustaining a concussion, and (4) the proper 39
procedures for allowing a youth athlete who has sustained a concussion 40
to return to athletic activity. 41
(c) No operator, or designee of such operator, shall be subject to civil 42
liability for failing to make available the written or electronic statement 43
regarding concussions pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. 44
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 45
for purposes of this subsection and subsections (e) and (f) of this section, 46
youth athletic activity also includes an organized athletic activity 47 Raised Bill No. 6511
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involving participants less than seven years of age. On and after October 48
1, 2022, an operator shall require any prospective employee, except as 49
provided in subsection (f) of this section, who is eighteen years of age or 50
older and applying for a position as a coach or instructor of a youth 51
athletic activity or as an athletic trainer, licensed under chapter 375a, to 52
submit to a comprehensive background check, including state and 53
national criminal history records checks and a check of the state child 54
abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k. The criminal 55
history records check required pursuant to this subsection shall be 56
conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. The provisions of this 57
subsection shall not apply to an athletic coach of intramural or 58
interscholastic athletics who is employed by a local or regional board of 59
education, provided such board satisfies the requirements relating to 60
state and national criminal history records checks applicable to 61
employees of such board pursuant to section 10-221d. Any criminal 62
history background check conducted pursuant to this subsection shall 63
be completed not later than five business days after receipt of the request 64
for such background check. Pending completion of all background 65
check components described in this subsection, a prospective employee 66
may begin work on a provisional basis, provided such prospective 67
employee is supervised at all times by an employee who was subjected 68
to a background check described in this subsection within the previous 69
five years. 70
(e) The comprehensive background checks required pursuant to 71
subsection (d) of this section shall be conducted, in accordance with the 72
provisions of 45 CFR 98.43, as amended from time to time, at least once 73
every five years for each coach, instructor or athletic trainer employed 74
by an operator. 75
(f) A person who is eighteen years of age or older and applies for a 76
position as a coach, instructor or athletic trainer for a youth athletic 77
activity in the state shall not be required to submit to such 78
comprehensive background checks if such person (1) is an employee of 79
an operator of a youth athletic activity in the state, or has not been 80
separated from employment as a coach, instructor or athletic trainer for 81 Raised Bill No. 6511
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a youth athletic activity in the state for a period of more than one 82
hundred eighty days, and (2) has successfully completed such 83
comprehensive background checks in the previous five years. Nothing 84
in this section prohibits an operator from requiring that a person 85
applying for a position as a coach, instructor or athletic trainer submit 86
to comprehensive background checks more than once during a five-year 87
period. 88
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 21a-432
Statement of Purpose:
To require youth sports coaches, instructors and athletic trainers 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.]