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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5279
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 1696
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE
OF EARLY CHILDHOOD.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-16z of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 2
(a) There is established the Early Childhood Cabinet. The cabinet 3
shall consist of: (1) The Commissioner of Early Childhood, or the 4
commissioner's designee, (2) the Commissioner of Education, or the 5
commissioner's designee, (3) the Commissioner of Social Services, or the 6
commissioner's designee, (4) the president of the Connecticut State 7
Colleges and Universities, or the president's designee, (5) the 8
Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee, (6) the 9
Commissioner of Developmental Services, or the commissioner's 10
designee, (7) the Commissioner of Children and Families, or the 11
commissioner's designee, (8) the executive director of the Commission 12
on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity or the executive 13
director's designee, (9) the project director of the Connecticut Head Start 14
State Collaboration Office, (10) a parent or guardian of a child who 15 Raised Bill No. 5279
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attends or attended a school readiness program appointed by the 16
minority leader of the House of Representatives, (11) a representative of 17
a local provider of early childhood education appointed by the minority 18
leader of the Senate, (12) a representative of the Connecticut Family 19
Resource Center Alliance appointed by the majority leader of the House 20
of Representatives, (13) a representative of a state-funded child care 21
center appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, (14) two 22
appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom 23
is a member of a board of education for a town designated as an alliance 24
district, as defined in section 10-262u, and one of whom is a parent who 25
has a child attending a school in an educational reform district, as 26
defined in section 10-262u, (15) two appointed by the president pro 27
tempore of the Senate, one of whom is a representative of an association 28
of early education and child care providers and one of whom is a 29
representative of a public elementary school with a prekindergarten 30
program, (16) [eight] ten appointed by the Governor, one of whom is a 31
representative of the Connecticut Head Start Association, one of whom 32
is a representative of the business community in this state, one of whom 33
is a representative of the philanthropic community in this state, one of 34
whom is a representative of the Connecticut State Employees 35
Association, one of whom is an administrator of the child care 36
development block grant pursuant to the Child Care and Development 37
Block Grant Act of 1990, one of whom is responsible for administering 38
grants received under section 1419 of Part B of the Individuals with 39
Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1419, as amended from time to time, 40
one of whom is responsible for administering the provisions of Title I of 41
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 USC 6301 et seq., [and] 42
one of whom is responsible for coordinating education services to 43
children and youth who are homeless, one of whom is a licensed family 44
child care home provider and a member of a staffed family child care 45
network identified by the Commissioner of Early Childhood, and one of 46
whom is a parent recommended by a parent advisory group that has 47
been appointed by the Commissioner of Early Childhood, (17) the 48
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's 49
designee, (18) the Lieutenant Governor, or the Lieutenant Governor's 50 Raised Bill No. 5279
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designee, (19) the Commissioner of Housing, or the commissioner's 51
designee, and (20) the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction 52
Services, or the commissioner's designee. 53
(b) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall serve as a 54
cochairperson of the cabinet. The other cochairperson of the cabinet 55
shall be appointed from among its members by the Governor. The 56
cabinet shall meet at least quarterly. Members shall not be compensated 57
for their services, [. Any member who fails to attend three consecutive 58
meetings or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during 59
any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from the cabinet] 60
except the parent member recommended by a parent advisory group 61
and appointed by the Governor may, within available appropriations, 62
be compensated for any time and travel related to meetings of the 63
cabinet. 64
(c) Within available resources, the Early Childhood Cabinet shall (1) 65
advise the Office of Early Childhood, established pursuant to section 10-66
500, (2) not later than December 1, 2009, and annually thereafter, 67
develop an annual plan of action that assigns the appropriate state 68
agency to complete the tasks specified in the federal Head Start Act of 69
2007, P.L. 110-134, as amended from time to time, and (3) not later than 70
March 1, 2010, and annually thereafter, submit an annual state-wide 71
strategic report, pursuant to said federal Head Start Act, in accordance 72
with the provisions of section 11-4a, addressing the progress such 73
agencies have made toward the completion of such tasks outlined under 74
said federal Head Start Act and this subsection to the Governor and the 75
joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance 76
of matters relating to education and human services. 77
(d) The Early Childhood Cabinet shall be within the Office of Early 78
Childhood for administrative purposes only. 79
Sec. 2. Subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 10-16p of the 2022 80
supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is 81
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 82 Raised Bill No. 5279
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(b) (1) The office shall be the lead agency for school readiness. For 83
purposes of this section and section 10-16u, school readiness program 84
providers eligible for funding from the office shall include local and 85
regional boards of education, regional educational service centers, 86
family resource centers and providers of child care centers, group child 87
care homes and family child care homes, as described in section 19a-77, 88
Head Start programs, preschool programs and other programs that 89
meet any standards established by the commissioner. The office shall 90
establish standards for school readiness programs. The office may 91
amend any such standards, including any standards relating to the staff 92
qualifications requirement described in subdivision (2) of this 93
subsection, to prevent classroom closures or the reduction of enrollment 94
in school readiness programs by responding to workforce shortages or 95
changes in workforce needs, supporting the expansion of degree 96
pathways and meeting equity goals. The standards may include, but 97
need not be limited to, guidelines for staff-child interactions, curriculum 98
content, including preliteracy development, lesson plans, parental 99
involvement, staff qualifications and training, transition to school and 100
administration. The office shall develop age-appropriate developmental 101
skills and goals for children attending such programs. The 102
commissioner, in consultation with the president of the Connecticut 103
State Colleges and Universities, the Commissioners of Education and 104
Social Services and other appropriate entities, shall develop a 105
professional development program for the staff of school readiness 106
programs. 107
Sec. 3. Subdivision (1) of section 19a-420 of the general statutes is 108
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 109
2022): 110
(1) "Youth camp" means any regularly scheduled program or 111
organized group activity [advertised as a camp or] operated only during 112
school vacations or on weekends by a person, partnership, corporation, 113
association, the state or a municipal agency for recreational or 114
educational purposes and accommodating for profit or under 115
philanthropic or charitable auspices five or more children, who are at 116 Raised Bill No. 5279
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least three years of age and under sixteen years of age, who are (A) not 117
bona fide personal guests in the private home of an individual, and (B) 118
living apart from their relatives, parents or legal guardian, for a period 119
of three days or more per week or portions of three or more days per 120
week, provided any such relative, parent or guardian who is an 121
employee of such camp shall not be considered to be in the position of 122
loco parentis to such employee's child for the purposes of this chapter, 123
but does not include (i) classroom-based summer instructional 124
programs operated by any person, provided no activities that may pose 125
a health risk or hazard to participating children are conducted at such 126
programs, (ii) public schools, or private schools in compliance with 127
section 10-188 and approved by the State Board of Education or 128
accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the State Board of 129
Education, which operate a summer educational program, (iii) licensed 130
child care centers, or (iv) drop-in programs for children who are at least 131
six years of age administered by a nationally chartered boys' and girls' 132
club; 133
Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of section 17b-749k of the 2022 supplement to 134
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 135
thereof (Effective from passage): 136
(b) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall, within available 137
appropriations, require any relative who provides child care services to 138
a child and who receives a child care subsidy from the Office of Early 139
Childhood, to submit to a check of (1) the National Sex Offender Public 140
Website maintained by the United States Department of Justice and the 141
registry established and maintained pursuant to section 54-257, (2) the 142
state child abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k, and 143
(3) the [Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communication 144
Teleprocessing System] Connecticut Criminal History Request System 145
maintained by the Department of Emergency Services and Public 146
Protection. If such check reveals that the name of any such relative 147
appears in such databases, on said registry or in said system, the 148
commissioner may require such relative to submit to state and national 149
criminal history records checks conducted in accordance with section 150 Raised Bill No. 5279
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29-17a. 151
Sec. 5. Section 10-520b of the general statutes is repealed and the 152
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 153
The Office of Early Childhood, upon receipt of a proper application 154
and in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Early Childhood, 155
shall issue an early childhood teacher credential to any person who 156
holds (1) an associate degree with a concentration in early childhood 157
education from an institution of higher education that is regionally 158
accredited, provided such associate degree program is approved by (A) 159
the Board of Regents for Higher Education or the Office of Higher 160
Education, and (B) the Office of Early Childhood, or (2) a bachelor's 161
degree with a concentration in early childhood education from an 162
institution of higher education that is regionally accredited, provided 163
such bachelor's degree program is approved by (A) the Board of Regents 164
for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education, and (B) the Office 165
of Early Childhood. [Any early childhood teacher credential issued 166
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this section shall be valid until June 30, 167
2021.] For purposes of this section, "concentration in early childhood 168
education" has the same meaning as provided in section 10-16p, as 169
amended by this act. 170
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 10-16z
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 10-16p(b)(1)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2022 19a-420(1)
Sec. 4 from passage 17b-749k(b)
Sec. 5 from passage 10-520b
Statement of Purpose:
To expand the membership of the Early Childhood Cabinet, to authorize
the Office of Early Childhood to amend the standards for school
readiness programs in certain circumstance, to revise the definition of
youth camp to delete the requirement that a youth camp advertises as a
camp, to update the reference to the Connecticut Criminal History Raised Bill No. 5279
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Request System in the statute background checks, and to extend the
term of validity for the early childhood teacher credential.
[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.]