O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-171—sHB 6558
Education Committee
Appropriations Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING IS SUES RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUC ATION AND SERVICES IN
CONNECTICUT
SUMMARY: This act allows the Office of Early Childhood (OEC)
commissioner to issue up to seven family child care home licenses to a person or
group of people, in a partnership with an association, organization, corporation,
institution, or public or private agency, to provide child care services in a
commissioner-approved space outside of a family home (§ 1). Under prior law,
OEC issued family child care home licenses only for child care services provided
in the licensee’s private home.
The act also does the following:
1. allows family child care home licensees to use an OEC-approved
substitute staff member to provide more than an hour of child care under
specific circumstances (§ 1),
2. creates a 13-member task force to analyze and make recommendations on
issues relating to Connecticut’s early childhood workforce development
needs (§ 2),
3. expands eligibility for Care 4 Kids child care subsidies to include families
with a parent or caretaker enrolled or participating in certain
postsecondary education and workforce training programs (§ 3),
4. requires the OEC commissioner to add new categories of parents and
caretakers to the list of people who must receive preference in the Care 4
Kids priority intake and eligibility system (§ 3), and
5. requires OEC to allow Care 4 Kids-eligible families to participate in a
state-contracted child care center program in FYs 22 and 23 (§ 4).
The act also makes technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
§ 1 — FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME LICENSE EXPANSION
License Terms and Applicant Eligibility
These licenses must be issued in accordance with existing law (unless
otherwise specified under the act) and may be issued in FYs 22-26 for up to one
space in each of the following cities: Bridgeport, Danbury, Hartford, New Britain,
New Haven, Stamford, or Waterbury. They expire on June 30, 2026, subject to
the commissioner’s authority to suspend or revoke them at any time under the
law. O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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Application Process
The act requires prospective licensees for the seven family child care home
licenses to submit the following items as part of their licensure application: (1) a
copy of the current fire marshal certificate of compliance with the Fire Safety
Code and (2) written verification of compliance with the State Building Code,
local zoning and building requirements, and local health ordinances. Additionally,
the act allows the OEC commissioner to (1) require applicants to comply with
additional conditions related to the health and safety of children to be served in
these facilities and (2) waive any requirement that does not apply to these
facilities.
§ 1 — SUBSTITUTE STAFF IN FAMILY CHILD CARE HOMES
The act allows family child care home licensees to use an OEC-approved
substitute staff member to provide child care for more than one hour while the
absent licensee attends a medical appointment, receives medical treatment, or
completes education or training. The act specifies that using a substitute staff
member for these purposes does not constitute a transfer or franchise of the family
child care home. The licensee must (1) provide advance notice to the enrolled
children’s parents and guardians about the dates and times the substitute will be
providing child care and (2) continue to maintain control of day-to-day operations
of the family child care home.
§ 2 — EARLY CHILDHOOD WORK FORCE DEVELOPMENT TA SK FORCE
Scope
The act requires the task force to examine the following:
1. ways to encourage equity-based practices in early childhood education
preparation and professional development;
2. ways to address inequity in access to employment opportunities and
compensation in the early childhood workforce;
3. the feasibility of creating a new, co-authored license that would offer
multiple levels of flexibility to address the range of ages, settings, and
roles in the early childhood field (including a professional continuum for
assistants, lead teachers, generalists, and specialists, such as early
intervention, mental health, integrated special education, and rehabilitation
therapies); and
4. workforce demands in the state related to the need for early childhood
educators providing child care services for infants and toddlers and
children up to ages six, seven, or eight.
Additionally, the act requires the task force to make recommendations about
the following topics:
1. legislation for early childhood educator preparation requirements; O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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2. creating a new early childhood teacher license or credential jointly issued
by OEC and the State Department of Education (SDE);
3. developing a unifying framework for early childhood educator
preparation, in accordance with the National Association for the Education
of Young Children and the Council for Exceptional Children – Division of
Early Childhood, to define levels for competencies and compensation such
as (a) professional development and alternative routes for aides or
classroom assistants; (b) associate degree preparation and alternative
routes for assistant teachers; (c) bachelor’s degree preparation or post-
baccalaureate work for head teachers; (d) bachelor’s degree preparation,
post-baccalaureate work, or graduate degree attainment for specialists; and
(e) alignment with competencies to address adult learners, experience in
the field, as well as capacity in languages, community content, and
cultural norms;
4. methods for increasing compensation related to competency and degree
attainment that will work across all sectors of the early care and education
sector, including subsidized and parent fee supported programs; and
5. early childhood workforce development and job opportunity creation.
Membership
The table below describes the required expertise for the 13 task force
members and their respective appointing authorities. The act allows any members
appointed by legislative leaders to be General Assembly members.
Task Force Membership
Appointing Authority Member(s) and Required Expertise
House speaker (2)
Early childhood education professor at a
Connecticut public higher education
institution
Representative of a school readiness
program or state-funded child care
center
Senate president pro tempore (2)
Community college faculty member
Representative of a private child care
provider that is not receiving state
financial assistance for the development
or operation of his or her child care
center or school readiness funding
House majority leader
Representative of the Capitol Region
Education Council
Senate majority leader
Family child care home operator or
representative of an organization that
represents or supports family child care O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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homes
House minority leader
Representative of the Connecticut Early
Childhood Alliance
Senate minority leader
Representative of a state or national
early childhood accrediting organization
N/A
OEC commissioner, or the
commissioner’s designee
N/A
SDE commissioner, or the
commissioner’s designee
N/A
Co-chairs of the Connecticut Consortium
for the Advancement of Early Childhood
Educators
N/A
State Education Resource Center
executive director, or the director’s
designee
The act requires the above appointments to be made by July 31, 2021, and
appointing authorities to fill any vacancies that may arise.
Leadership, Staff, and Meetings
Under the act, the House speaker’s and Senate president pro tempore’s
appointees must serve as the task force chairpersons, and the Education
Committee administrative staff must serve as task force staff. The chairpersons
must schedule the first meeting by August 30, 2021.
The task force must report its findings to the Education Committee by January
1, 2023. It must terminate on the date it submits the report or on January 1, 2023,
whichever is later.
§ 3 — EXPANDED CARE 4 KIDS ELIGIBILITY
The act expands eligibility for Care 4 Kids child care subsidies to families
with a parent or caretaker who is enrolled or participating in any of the following:
1. a public or private degree-granting college or university,
2. a private occupational school,
3. a job training or employment program administered by a regional
workforce development board,
4. a Department of Labor (DOL)-administered apprenticeship program,
5. a State Board of Education-approved alternate route to certification
program,
6. an adult education program or other high school equivalency program, or
7. a local Even Start program or other adult education program approved by
the OEC commissioner.
Under the act, these groups are only eligible for and may receive Care 4 Kids
benefits if certain COVID-19 related relief funds are available under federal law
(i.e., the Coronavirus Response and Relied Supplemental Appropriations Act O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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(P.L. 116-260) or the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2)) and designated by
the commissioner to fund the benefits.
Additionally, it requires the OEC commissioner to add new categories to the
list of people who must receive preference in the Care 4 Kids priority intake and
eligibility system. The categories are parents or caretakers who are:
1. participating in a DOL apprenticeship program,
2. enrolled in an adult education program or other high school equivalency
program,
3. participating in a job training or employment program administered by a
regional workforce development board, or
4. enrolled in a public or private degree-granting college or university.