OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-2
AN ACT CONCERNING SOCIAL EQUITY AND THE HEALTH,
SAFETY AND EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.
Primary Analyst: RDP 3/31/21
Contributing Analyst(s): SB, ES
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Children & Families, Dept. GF - Cost 128,000 19,100
Social Services, Dept. GF - Cost 300,000 300,000
Office of Early Childhood GF - Cost 1,650,000 1,650,000
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Local and Regional School
Districts
STATE MANDATE
1
- Cost
See Below See Below
Local and Regional School
Districts
Potential Cost Potential Potential
Explanation
The bill, which makes changes to certain statutes concerning
children, is anticipated to result in various fiscal impacts, identified by
section number below. Other sections of the bill are not anticipated to
result in a fiscal impact to the state or municipalities.
Section 1, which requires the Youth Suicide Advisory Board
(housed within the Department of Children and Families, or DCF) and
the Office of the Child Advocate to establish a youth suicide
1
State mandate is defined in Sec. 2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a
way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues. 2021SB-00002-R000246-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
prevention program providing certification in QPR Institute
Gatekeeper Training for district health department employees, results
in a cost to DCF of approximately $28,000 in FY 22 and $9,100 in each
fiscal year thereafter. The QPR Train-the-Trainers model would
instruct a minimum of two employees at each district health
department to serve as their local QPR trainers. Currently, there are 20
district health departments in Connecticut. In the initial year,
approximately 40 employees will need to be trained at a cost to DCF of
approximately $700 per person. In subsequent years, to refresh
training and replace trainers lost due to attrition, approximately 13
employees will need to receive training.
Section 14 requires local and regional school districts to conduct
one parent-teacher conference, in addition to the two per year required
under current law, during a period when the district provides virtual
learning for more than three consecutive weeks. One additional
parent-teacher conference is required every six months after that if
sessions continue to be provided virtually. This could result in a
cost and state mandate to local and regional school districts,
associated with providing substitute teacher coverage for teachers who
are required to conduct additional parent conferences, if these
conferences are held during school hours. It is estimated that the
average substitute teacher rate is approximately $105 per day. The
actual cost to the district would be dependent on the number of days a
substitute teacher must be hired to cover the additional parent
conferences. Fifty additional substitute days results in a cost of
approximately $5,250.
Sections 16 – 18 allow, beginning in FY 22, students in grades nine
through twelve to attend class online or as part of a remote learning
model. This could result in a potential cost to local and regional school
districts if additional virtual or online materials and equipment must
be purchased to accommodate students opting to participate in a
remote learning model. However, the bill is permissive, and local and
regional school districts are not mandated to participate. 2021SB-00002-R000246-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
Section 22, which require that DCF expand its Careline to
accommodate reports of child abuse or neglect made by text message
or mobile telephone application, is anticipated to result in a fiscal
impact to DCF of approximately $100,000 in FY 22 for the development
of the mobile application and $10,000 in FY 23 and the out years for
technical support related to the application. The Careline currently
accepts reports made by telephone.
Section 24 results in a cost of approximately $1.2 million annually to
the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) associated with eliminating the
fees paid by families under the Birth to Three program.
Section 27 could result in increased staffing costs to OEC associated
with conducting screening for children found ineligible for preschool
special education services. The increased cost would depend on the
number of children eligible for the screening.
Section 28 is anticipated to result in a cost of approximately
$450,000 annually to OEC associated with extending support for
certain children transitioning out of Birth to Three. This is also
anticipated to result in an annual cost of approximately $300,000 to the
Department of Social Services for related Medicaid claims.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future.
Sources: Connecticut Department of Public Health, Local Health Administration, Online,
Available at https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Local-Health-Admin/LHA/Local-Health-
Administration
QPR Institute, Online, Available at https://www.qprinstitute.com/