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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 308
February Session, 2022
AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE
OF THE CHILD ADVOCATE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 46a-13k of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 2
(a) (1) There is established, within the Office of Governmental 3
Accountability established under section 1-300, an Office of the Child 4
Advocate. The Governor, with the approval of the General Assembly, 5
shall appoint a person with knowledge of the child welfare system and 6
the legal system to fill the Office of the Child Advocate. Such person 7
shall be qualified by training and experience to perform the duties of the 8
office as set forth in section 46a-13l, as amended by this act. Upon any 9
vacancy in the position of Child Advocate, the advisory committee 10
established pursuant to section 46a-13r shall meet to consider and 11
interview successor candidates and shall submit to the Governor a list 12
of not fewer than three and not more than five of the most outstanding 13
candidates, not later than sixty days after the occurrence of said vacancy, 14
except that upon any vacancy in said position occurring after January 1, 15
2012, but before June 15, 2012, the advisory committee shall submit such 16
list to the Governor on or before July 31, 2012. Such list shall rank the 17
candidates in the order of committee preference. Not later than eight 18
weeks after receiving the list of candidates from the advisory committee, 19 Substitute Bill No. 308
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the Governor shall designate a candidate for Child Advocate from 20
among the choices on such list. If at any time any of the candidates 21
withdraw from consideration prior to confirmation by the General 22
Assembly, the designation shall be made from the remaining candidates 23
on the list submitted to the Governor. If, not later than eight weeks after 24
receiving the list, the Governor fails to designate a candidate from the 25
list, the candidate ranked first shall receive the designation and be 26
referred to the General Assembly for confirmation. If the General 27
Assembly is not in session, the designated candidate shall serve as 28
acting Child Advocate and be entitled to the compensation, privileges 29
and powers of the Child Advocate until the General Assembly meets to 30
take action on said appointment. The person appointed Child Advocate 31
shall serve for a term of four years and may be reappointed, in 32
accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection, or 33
shall continue to hold office until such person's successor is appointed 34
and qualified. Upon any vacancy in the position of Child Advocate and 35
until such time as a candidate has been confirmed by the General 36
Assembly or, if the General Assembly is not in session, has been 37
designated by the Governor, the Associate Child Advocate shall serve 38
as the acting Child Advocate and be entitled to the compensation, 39
privileges and powers of the Child Advocate. 40
(2) At the conclusion of the Child Advocate's four-year term, such 41
person may submit a request for reappointment to the advisory 42
committee. The advisory committee shall meet to consider such request 43
for reappointment and may, not later than sixty days after receipt of 44
such request for reappointment, submit to the Governor a 45
recommendation that such person be reappointed. Not later than eight 46
weeks after receiving such recommendation for reappointment from the 47
advisory committee, the Governor may reappoint such person as the 48
Child Advocate. If, not later than eight weeks after receiving such 49
recommendation for reappointment, the Governor fails to reappoint 50
such person, such person shall be referred to the General Assembly for 51
confirmation. If the General Assembly is not in session, such person 52
shall serve as acting Child Advocate and be entitled to the 53 Substitute Bill No. 308
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compensation, privileges and powers of the Child Advocate until the 54
General Assembly meets to take action on such reappointment. 55
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, the 56
Child Advocate shall act independently of any state department in the 57
performance of the advocate's duties. 58
(c) The Child Advocate may, within available funds, appoint such 59
staff as may be deemed necessary provided, for the fiscal years ending 60
June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1997, such staff shall not exceed one and one-61
half full-time positions or the equivalent thereof. The duties of the staff 62
may include the duties and powers of the Child Advocate if performed 63
under the direction of the Child Advocate. 64
(d) The General Assembly shall annually appropriate such sums as 65
necessary for the payment of the salaries of the staff and for the payment 66
of office expenses and other actual expenses incurred by the Child 67
Advocate in the performance of his or her duties. Any legal or court fees 68
obtained by the state in actions brought by the Child Advocate shall be 69
deposited in the General Fund. 70
(e) The Child Advocate shall annually submit, in accordance with the 71
provisions of section 11-4a, to the Governor, the joint standing 72
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 73
relating to the judiciary, children and human services and the advisory 74
committee established pursuant to section 46a-13r a detailed report 75
analyzing the work of the Office of the Child Advocate. 76
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, the 77
salary of the Child Advocate shall be equal to that established for 78
executive pay plan salary group three by the Commissioner of 79
Administrative Services, except that the Child Advocate shall not 80
receive a salary less than that provided to a family support magistrate, 81
as defined in section 46b-231. 82
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 46a-13l of the general statutes is 83
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 84 Substitute Bill No. 308
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2022): 85
(a) The Child Advocate shall: 86
(1) Evaluate the delivery of services to children by state agencies and 87
those entities that provide services to children through funds provided 88
by the state; 89
(2) Review periodically the procedures established by any state 90
agency providing services to children to carry out the provisions of 91
sections 46a-13k to 46a-13p, inclusive, as amended by this act, with a 92
view toward the rights of the children and recommend revisions to such 93
procedures; 94
(3) Review complaints of persons concerning the actions of any state 95
or municipal agency providing services to children and of any entity 96
that provides services to children through funds provided by the state, 97
make appropriate referrals and investigate those where the Child 98
Advocate determines that a child or family may be in need of assistance 99
from the Child Advocate or that a systemic issue in the state's provision 100
of services to children is raised by the complaint; 101
(4) Pursuant to an investigation, provide assistance to a child or 102
family who the Child Advocate determines is in need of such assistance 103
including, but not limited to, advocating with an agency, provider or 104
others on behalf of the best interests of the child; 105
(5) Periodically review the facilities and procedures of any and all 106
institutions or residences, public or private, where a juvenile has been 107
placed by any agency or department; 108
(6) Recommend changes in state policies concerning children 109
including changes in the system of providing juvenile justice, child care, 110
foster care and treatment; 111
(7) Take all possible action including, but not limited to, conducting 112
programs of public education, undertaking legislative advocacy and 113 Substitute Bill No. 308
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making proposals for systemic reform and formal legal action, in order 114
to secure and ensure the legal, civil and special rights of children who 115
reside in this state; 116
(8) Provide training and technical assistance to attorneys 117
representing children and guardians ad litem appointed by the Superior 118
Court; 119
(9) Periodically review the number of special needs children in any 120
foster care or permanent care facility and recommend changes in the 121
policies and procedures for the placement of such children; 122
(10) Serve or designate a person to serve as a member of the child 123
fatality review panel established in subsection (b) of this section; 124
(11) Take appropriate steps to advise the public of the services of the 125
Office of the Child Advocate, the purpose of the office and procedures 126
to contact the office; [and] 127
(12) Prepare an in-depth report on conditions of confinement, 128
including, but not limited to, compliance with section 46a-152, 129
regarding children [twenty] twenty-one years of age or younger who 130
are held in secure detention or correctional confinement in any facility 131
operated by a state agency. Such report shall be submitted, in 132
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing 133
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 134
relating to children not later than March 1, 2017, and every two years 135
thereafter; and 136
(13) Present to the advisory committee, established pursuant to 137
section 46a-13r, at least twice annually, a report on the goals of and 138
projects undertaken by the Office of the Child Advocate, within 139
available appropriations, that are consistent with the responsibilities of 140
the Child Advocate. 141
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 46a-13m of the general statutes is 142
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 143 Substitute Bill No. 308
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2022): 144
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes concerning 145
the confidentiality of records and information, the Child Advocate may 146
request and shall have access to, including the right to promptly inspect 147
and copy, any records necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the 148
Child Advocate as provided in [subsection (a) of] section 46a-13l, as 149
amended by this act. Such records shall be provided to the Child 150
Advocate not later than fourteen days from the date of such request. If 151
the Child Advocate is denied access to any records necessary to carry 152
out said responsibilities, [he] the Child Advocate may issue a subpoena 153
for the production of such records as provided in subsection (c) of this 154
section. 155
Sec. 4. Section 46a-13n of the general statutes is repealed and the 156
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 157
(a) The name, address and other personally identifiable information 158
of a person who makes a complaint to the Child Advocate as provided 159
in section 46a-13l, as amended by this act, all information obtained or 160
generated by the office in the course of an investigation and all 161
confidential records obtained by the Child Advocate or a designee shall 162
be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom 163
of Information Act or otherwise, except that such information and 164
records, other than confidential information concerning a pending law 165
enforcement investigation or a pending prosecution, may be disclosed 166
if the Child Advocate determines that disclosure is (1) in the general 167
public interest or (2) necessary to enable the Child Advocate to perform 168
his responsibilities under subsection (a) of section 46a-13l, as amended 169
by this act. If the Child Advocate determines that disclosure of 170
confidential information is not in the public interest but is necessary to 171
enable the Child Advocate to perform responsibilities under subsection 172
(a) of section 46a-13l, as amended by this act, or to identify, prevent or 173
treat the abuse or neglect of a child, the Child Advocate may disclose 174
such information to the appropriate agency responsible for the welfare 175
of such child or the legal representative for such child. 176 Substitute Bill No. 308
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(b) No state or municipal agency or any agency or entity providing 177
publicly funded services shall discharge, or in any manner discriminate 178
or retaliate against, any employee who in good faith makes a complaint 179
to the Child Advocate or cooperates with the Office of the Child 180
Advocate in an investigation. 181
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 46a-13k
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 46a-13l(a)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2022 46a-13m(a)
Sec. 4 July 1, 2022 46a-13n
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 2(a)(13), "advisory committee" was changed to "advisory
committee, established pursuant to section 46a-13r," for clarity.
KID Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO