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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5160
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 1033
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT REQUIRING CHILD CARE CENTERS, GROUP CHILD CARE
HOMES AND FAMILY CHILD CARE HOMES TO MAINTAIN LIABILITY
INSURANCE COVERAGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 19a-79 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2024): 3
(a) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall adopt regulations, in 4
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the purposes 5
of sections 19a-77 to 19a-80, inclusive, and 19a-82 to 19a-87, inclusive, 6
and to assure that child care centers and group child care homes meet 7
the health, educational and social needs of children utilizing such child 8
care centers and group child care homes. Such regulations shall (1) 9
specify that before being permitted to attend any child care center or 10
group child care home, each child shall be protected as age-appropriate 11
by adequate immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, 12
poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenzae type B 13
and any other vaccine required by the schedule of active immunization 14 Raised Bill No. 5160
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adopted pursuant to section 19a-7f, (2) specify conditions under which 15
child care center directors and teachers and group child care home 16
providers may administer tests to monitor glucose levels in a child with 17
diagnosed diabetes mellitus, and administer medicinal preparations, 18
including controlled drugs specified in the regulations by the 19
commissioner, to a child receiving child care services at such child care 20
center or group child care home pursuant to the written order of a 21
physician licensed to practice medicine or a dentist licensed to practice 22
dental medicine in this or another state, or an advanced practice 23
registered nurse licensed to prescribe in accordance with section 20-94a, 24
or a physician assistant licensed to prescribe in accordance with section 25
20-12d, and the written authorization of a parent or guardian of such 26
child, (3) specify that an operator of a child care center or group child 27
care home, licensed before January 1, 1986, or an operator who receives 28
a license after January 1, 1986, for a facility licensed prior to January 1, 29
1986, shall provide a minimum of thirty square feet per child of total 30
indoor usable space, free of furniture except that needed for the 31
children's purposes, exclusive of toilet rooms, bathrooms, coatrooms, 32
kitchens, halls, isolation room or other rooms used for purposes other 33
than the activities of the children, (4) specify that a child care center or 34
group child care home licensed after January 1, 1986, shall provide 35
thirty-five square feet per child of total indoor usable space, (5) establish 36
appropriate child care center staffing requirements for employees 37
certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation by the American Red Cross, 38
the American Heart Association, the National Safety Council, American 39
Safety and Health Institute, Medic First Aid International, Inc. or an 40
organization using guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and 41
emergency cardiovascular care published by the American Heart 42
Association and International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, (6) 43
specify that a child care center or group child care home (A) shall not 44
deny services to a child on the basis of a child's known or suspected 45
allergy or because a child has a prescription for an automatic prefilled 46
cartridge injector or similar automatic injectable equipment used to treat 47
an allergic reaction, or for injectable equipment used to administer 48
glucagon, (B) shall, not later than three weeks after such child's 49 Raised Bill No. 5160
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enrollment in such a center or home, have staff trained in the use of such 50
equipment on-site during all hours when such a child is on-site, (C) shall 51
require such child's parent or guardian to provide the injector or 52
injectable equipment and a copy of the prescription for such medication 53
and injector or injectable equipment upon enrollment of such child, and 54
(D) shall require a parent or guardian enrolling such a child to replace 55
such medication and equipment prior to its expiration date, (7) specify 56
that a child care center or group child care home (A) shall not deny 57
services to a child on the basis of a child's diagnosis of asthma or because 58
a child has a prescription for an inhalant medication to treat asthma, and 59
(B) shall, not later than three weeks after such child's enrollment in such 60
a center or home, have staff trained in the administration of such 61
medication on-site during all hours when such a child is on-site, (8) 62
establish physical plant requirements for licensed child care centers and 63
licensed group child care homes that exclusively serve school-age 64
children, (9) specify that a child care center or group child care home 65
shall immediately notify the parent or guardian of a child enrolled in 66
such center or home if such child exhibits or develops an illness or is 67
injured while in the care of such center or home, (10) specify that a child 68
care center or group child care home shall create a written record of any 69
such illness or injury, which shall, (A) include, but not be limited to, (i) 70
a description of such illness or injury, (ii) the date, time of occurrence 71
and location of such illness or injury, (iii) any responsive action taken 72
by an employee of such center or home, and (iv) whether such child was 73
transported to a hospital emergency room, doctor's office or other 74
medical facility as a result of such illness or injury, (B) be provided to 75
the parent or guardian of such child not later than the next business day, 76
and (C) be maintained by such center or home for a period of not less 77
than two years and be made immediately available upon the request of 78
the Office of Early Childhood, [and] (11) specify that a child care center 79
or group child care home shall maintain any video recordings created at 80
such center or home for a period of not less than thirty days, and make 81
such recordings immediately available upon the request of the Office of 82
Early Childhood, and (12) specify that a child care center or group child 83
care home shall maintain liability insurance coverage of not less than 84 Raised Bill No. 5160
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one hundred thousand dollars for damages by reason of bodily injury 85
to, or the death of, any one person. When establishing such 86
requirements, the Office of Early Childhood shall give consideration to 87
child care centers and group child care homes that are located in private 88
or public school buildings. With respect to subdivision (8) of this 89
subsection, the commissioner shall implement policies and procedures 90
necessary to implement the physical plant requirements established 91
pursuant to this subdivision while in the process of adopting such 92
policies and procedures in regulation form. Until replaced by policies 93
and procedures implemented pursuant to this subdivision, any physical 94
plant requirement specified in the office's regulations that is generally 95
applicable to child care centers and group child care homes shall 96
continue to be applicable to such centers and homes that exclusively 97
serve school-age children. The commissioner shall post notice of the 98
intent to adopt regulations pursuant to this subdivision on the 99
eRegulations System not later than twenty days after the date of 100
implementation of such policies and procedures. Policies and 101
procedures implemented pursuant to this subdivision shall be valid 102
until the time final regulations are adopted. For purposes of this 103
subsection, "illness" means fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, headache, 104
persistent coughing, persistent crying or any other condition deemed an 105
illness by the Commissioner of Early Childhood. 106
Sec. 2. Subsection (f) of section 19a-87b of the 2024 supplement to the 107
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 108
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 109
(f) The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the 110
provisions of chapter 54, to ensure that family child care homes, as 111
described in section 19a-77, meet the health, educational and social 112
needs of children utilizing such homes. Such regulations shall (1) ensure 113
that the family child care home is treated as a residence, and not an 114
institutional facility, (2) specify that each child be protected as age-115
appropriate by adequate immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, 116
tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus 117
influenzae type B and any other vaccine required by the schedule of 118 Raised Bill No. 5160
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active immunization adopted pursuant to section 19a-7f, (3) specify 119
conditions under which family child care home providers may 120
administer tests to monitor glucose levels in a child with diagnosed 121
diabetes mellitus, and administer medicinal preparations, including 122
controlled drugs specified in the regulations by the commissioner, to a 123
child receiving child care services at a family child care home pursuant 124
to a written order of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this or 125
another state, an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to 126
prescribe in accordance with section 20-94a or a physician assistant 127
licensed to prescribe in accordance with section 20-12d, and the written 128
authorization of a parent or guardian of such child, (4) specify 129
appropriate standards for extended care and intermittent short-term 130
overnight care, (5) specify that a family child care home shall 131
immediately notify the parent or guardian of a child enrolled in such 132
home if such child exhibits or develops an illness or is injured while in 133
the care of such home, (6) specify that a family child care home shall 134
create a written record of any such illness or injury, which shall, (A) 135
include, but not be limited to, (i) a description of such illness or injury, 136
(ii) the date, time of occurrence and location of such illness or injury, (iii) 137
any responsive action taken by an employee of such home, and (iv) 138
whether such child was transported to a hospital emergency room, 139
doctor's office or other medical facility as a result of such illness or 140
injury, (B) be provided to the parent or guardian of such child not later 141
than the next business day, and (C) be maintained by such home for a 142
period of not less than two years and be made immediately available 143
upon the request of the Office of Early Childhood, [and] (7) specify that 144
a family child care home shall maintain any video recordings created at 145
such home for a period of not less than thirty days, and make such 146
recordings immediately available upon the request of the Office of Early 147
Childhood, and (8) specify that a family child care home shall maintain 148
liability insurance coverage of not less than one hundred thousand 149
dollars for damages by reason of bodily injury to, or the death of, any 150
one person. The commissioner shall inform each licensee, by way of a 151
plain language summary provided not later than sixty days after the 152
regulation's effective date, of any new or changed regulations adopted 153 Raised Bill No. 5160
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under this subsection with which a licensee must comply. For purposes 154
of this subsection, "illness" means fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, 155
headache, persistent coughing, persistent crying or any other condition 156
deemed an illness by the Commissioner of Early Childhood. 157
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 19a-79(a)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 19a-87b(f)
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood to adopt
regulations requiring child care centers, group child care homes and
family child care homes to maintain liability insurance coverage.
[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.]