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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5262
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 1796
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING A SEXUAL ABUSE AND ASSAULT SURVEY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-101q of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2024): 2
(a) Not later than July 1, 2023, the Department of Children and 3
Families, in collaboration with the Department of Education and 4
Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, or a similar entity, shall 5
identify or develop a state-wide sexual abuse and assault awareness and 6
prevention program for use by local and regional boards of education. 7
Such program shall be implemented in each local and regional school 8
district and shall include: 9
(1) For school employees, as defined in section 53a-65, instructional 10
modules that may include, but not be limited to, (A) training regarding 11
the prevention and identification of, and response to, child sexual abuse 12
and assault, (B) resources to further student, teacher and parental 13
awareness regarding child sexual abuse and assault and the prevention 14
of such abuse and assault, (C) bystander training program, and (D) 15 Raised Bill No. 5262
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appropriate interaction with children training program; 16
(2) For students, age-appropriate educational materials designed for 17
children in grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, regarding child 18
sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention that may include, 19
but not be limited to, (A) the skills to recognize (i) child sexual abuse 20
and assault, (ii) boundary violations and unwanted forms of touching 21
and contact, and (iii) ways offenders groom or desensitize victims, and 22
(B) strategies to (i) promote disclosure, (ii) reduce self-blame, and (iii) 23
mobilize bystanders; [and] 24
(3) A uniform child sexual abuse and assault response policy and 25
reporting procedure that may include, but not be limited to, (A) actions 26
that child victims of sexual abuse and assault may take to obtain 27
assistance, (B) intervention and counseling options for child victims of 28
sexual abuse and assault, (C) access to educational resources to enable 29
child victims of sexual abuse and assault to succeed in school, and (D) 30
uniform procedures for reporting instances of child sexual abuse and 31
assault to school staff members; and 32
(4) On and after July 1, 2024, a sexual abuse and assault awareness 33
prevention survey that has been developed jointly by the Departments 34
of Public Health, Education and Children and Families with input from 35
stakeholders. 36
(b) For the school year commencing July 1, 2023, and each school year 37
thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall implement 38
the sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention program 39
identified or developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. 40
(c) No student in grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, shall be 41
required by any local or regional board of education to participate in the 42
sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention program offered 43
within the public schools. A written notification to the local or regional 44
board of education by the student's parent or legal guardian shall be 45
sufficient to exempt the student from such program in its entirety or 46
from any portion thereof so specified by the parent or legal guardian. 47 Raised Bill No. 5262
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(d) If a student is exempted from the sexual abuse and assault 48
awareness and prevention program pursuant to subsection (c) of this 49
section, the local or regional board of education shall provide, during 50
the period of time in which the student would otherwise be 51
participating in such program, an opportunity for other study or 52
academic work. 53
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2024 17a-101q
Statement of Purpose:
To include a sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention survey
as part of the state-wide sexual abuse and assault awareness and
prevention program implemented by school districts.
[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.]