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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5279
February Session, 2022
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 Section 10-16z of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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
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 Substitute Bill No. 5279
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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
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 Substitute Bill No. 5279
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(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. Subsection (b) of section 17b-749k of the 2022 supplement to 80
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 81
thereof (Effective from passage): 82
(b) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall, within available 83
appropriations, require any relative who provides child care services to 84
a child and who receives a child care subsidy from the Office of Early 85 Substitute Bill No. 5279
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Childhood, to submit to a check of (1) the National Sex Offender Public 86
Website maintained by the United States Department of Justice and the 87
registry established and maintained pursuant to section 54-257, (2) the 88
state child abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k, and 89
(3) the [Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communication 90
Teleprocessing System] Connecticut Criminal History Request System 91
maintained by the Department of Emergency Services and Public 92
Protection. If such check reveals that the name of any such relative 93
appears in such databases, on said registry or in said system, the 94
commissioner may require such relative to submit to state and national 95
criminal history records checks conducted in accordance with section 96
29-17a. 97
Sec. 3. Section 10-520b of the general statutes is repealed and the 98
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 99
The Office of Early Childhood, upon receipt of a proper application 100
and in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Early Childhood, 101
shall issue an early childhood teacher credential to any person who 102
holds (1) an associate degree with a concentration in early childhood 103
education from an institution of higher education that is regionally 104
accredited, provided such associate degree program is approved by (A) 105
the Board of Regents for Higher Education or the Office of Higher 106
Education, and (B) the Office of Early Childhood, or (2) a bachelor's 107
degree with a concentration in early childhood education from an 108
institution of higher education that is regionally accredited, provided 109
such bachelor's degree program is approved by (A) the Board of Regents 110
for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education, and (B) the Office 111
of Early Childhood. [Any early childhood teacher credential issued 112
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this section shall be valid until June 30, 113
2021.] For purposes of this section, "concentration in early childhood 114
education" has the same meaning as provided in section 10-16p, as 115
amended by this act. 116
Sec. 4. Subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 19a-77 of the general 117
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 118 Substitute Bill No. 5279
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(Effective July 1, 2022): 119
(3) A "family child care home" which consists of a private family 120
home [caring] providing care (A) for (i) not more than six children, 121
including the provider's own children not in school full time, [where the 122
children are cared] without an assistant or substitute staff member 123
approved by the commissioner of Early Childhood, pursuant to section 124
19a-87b, present and assisting the provider, or (ii) not more than nine 125
children, including the provider's own children, with an assistant or 126
substitute staff member approved by the Commissioner of Early 127
Childhood present and assisting the provider, and (B) for not less than 128
three or more than twelve hours during a twenty-four-hour period and 129
where care is given on a regularly recurring basis except that care may 130
be provided in excess of twelve hours but not more than seventy-two 131
consecutive hours to accommodate a need for extended care or 132
intermittent short-term overnight care. During the regular school year, 133
for providers described in subparagraph (A)(i) of this subdivision, a 134
maximum of three additional children who are in school full time, 135
including [the] such provider's own children, shall be permitted, except 136
that if [the] such provider has more than three children who are such 137
provider's own children and in school full time, all of [the] such 138
provider's children shall be permitted. During the summer months 139
when regular school is not in session, for providers described in 140
subparagraph (A)(i) of this subdivision, a maximum of three additional 141
children who are otherwise enrolled in school full time [, including the 142
provider's own children,] shall be permitted if there is an assistant or 143
substitute staff member approved by the Commissioner of Early 144
Childhood, pursuant to section 19a-87b, present and assisting [the] such 145
provider, except that [(A)] (i) if [the] such provider has more than three 146
such additional children who are [the] such provider's own children, all 147
of [the] such provider's own children shall be permitted, and [(B)] (ii) 148
such approved assistant or substitute staff member shall not be required 149
if all of such additional children are [the] such provider's own children; 150
Sec. 5. Subsection (a) of section 10-16p of the 2022 supplement to the 151 Substitute Bill No. 5279
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general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 152
thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 153
(a) As used in sections 10-16o to 10-16r, inclusive, 10-16u, 17b-749a 154
and 17b-749c: 155
(1) "School readiness program" means a nonsectarian program that 156
(A) meets the standards set by the Office of Early Childhood pursuant 157
to subsection (b) of this section and the requirements of section 10-16q, 158
and (B) provides a developmentally appropriate learning experience of 159
not less than four hundred fifty hours and one hundred eighty days for 160
eligible children, except as provided in subsection (d) of section 10-16q; 161
(2) "Eligible children" means children three and four years of age and 162
children five years of age who are not eligible to enroll in school 163
pursuant to section 10-15c, or who are eligible to enroll in school and 164
will attend a school readiness program pursuant to section 10-16t; 165
(3) "Priority school" means a school in which forty per cent or more 166
of the lunches served are served to students who are eligible for free or 167
reduced price lunches pursuant to federal law and regulations, 168
excluding such a school located in a priority school district pursuant to 169
section 10-266p or in a former priority school district receiving a grant 170
pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and, on and after July 1, 2001, 171
excluding such a school in a transitional school district receiving a grant 172
pursuant to section 10-16u; 173
(4) "Severe need school" means a school in a priority school district 174
pursuant to section 10-266p or in a former priority school district in 175
which forty per cent or more of the lunches served are served to students 176
who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches; 177
(5) "Accredited" means accredited by the National Association for the 178
Education of Young Children, National Association for Family Child 179
Care, a Head Start on-site program review instrument or a successor 180
instrument pursuant to federal regulations, or otherwise meeting such 181
criteria as may be established by the commissioner, unless the context 182 Substitute Bill No. 5279
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otherwise requires; 183
(6) "Year-round" means [fifty] forty-eight weeks per year, except as 184
provided in subsection (d) of section 10-16q; 185
(7) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Early Childhood; 186
(8) "Office" means the Office of Early Childhood; 187
(9) "Seeking accreditation" means a school readiness program seeking 188
accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young 189
Children, National Association for Family Child Care or a Head Start 190
on-site program review instrument or successor instrument pursuant to 191
federal regulations, or attempting to meet criteria as may be established 192
by the commissioner; and 193
(10) "Concentration in early childhood education" means a program 194
of study in early childhood education, including, but not limited to, 195
early childhood education, child study, child development or human 196
growth and development.197
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 10-16z
Sec. 2 from passage 17b-749k(b)
Sec. 3 from passage 10-520b
Sec. 4 July 1, 2022 19a-77(a)(3)
Sec. 5 July 1, 2022 10-16p(a)
ED Joint Favorable Subst.