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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1381
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING CONNECTICUT WING CIVIL AIR PATROL
YOUTH CAMPS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-421 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
(a) No person shall establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp 3
without a license issued by the office. Applications for such license shall 4
be made in writing at least thirty days prior to the opening of the youth 5
camp on forms provided and in accordance with procedures established 6
by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by a fee of eight 7
hundred fifteen dollars or, if the applicant is a nonprofit, nonstock 8
corporation or association, a fee of three hundred fifteen dollars or, if 9
the applicant is a day camp affiliated with a nonprofit organization, for 10
no more than five days duration and for which labor and materials are 11
donated, no fee. All such licenses shall be valid for a period of one year 12
from the date of issuance unless surrendered for cancellation or 13
suspended or revoked by the commissioner for violation of this chapter 14
or any regulations adopted under section 19a-428 and shall be 15
renewable upon payment of an eight-hundred-fifteen-dollar license fee 16
or, if the licensee is a nonprofit, nonstock corporation or association, a 17
three-hundred-fifteen-dollar license fee or, if the applicant is a day camp 18
affiliated with a nonprofit organization, for no more than five days 19 Substitute Bill No. 1381
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duration and for which labor and materials are donated, no fee. 20
(b) On and after October 1, 2022, any licensee shall require any 21
prospective employee eighteen years of age or older, who is applying 22
for a position at a youth camp that requires the provision of care to a 23
child or involves unsupervised access to a child, to submit to a 24
comprehensive background check. The background check shall include, 25
but not be limited to, a (1) (A) criminal history records check conducted 26
(i) in accordance with section 29-17a, or (ii) by searching the electronic 27
criminal record system maintained on the Internet web site of the 28
Judicial Department for convictions matching the prospective 29
employee's name and date of birth, (B) state child abuse registry 30
established pursuant to section 17a-101k, (C) registry established and 31
maintained pursuant to section 54-257, and (D) National Sex Offender 32
Registry Public Website maintained by the United States Department of 33
Justice, or (2) check by a third-party provider of national criminal 34
history record checks that is conducted through a centralized database 35
utilizing the prospective employee's fingerprints, provided such 36
provider appears on a list of such providers published on the Internet 37
web site of the Office of Early Childhood. Prior to each check of the state 38
child abuse registry conducted pursuant to this subsection, a licensee 39
shall submit to the office an authorization for the release of personal 40
information signed by the prospective employee, on a form prescribed 41
by the office, and the office shall submit such authorization to the 42
Department of Children and Families. Any prospective employee who 43
holds a J-1 visa, H-1B visa or R-1 visa issued by the United States 44
Department of State shall not be required to submit to a background 45
check under this section. 46
(c) Pending completion of all comprehensive background check 47
components described in subsection (b) of this section, a prospective 48
employee may begin work on a provisional basis, provided such 49
prospective employee is supervised at all times by an employee who 50
was subjected to a comprehensive background check described in 51
subsection (b) of this section within the past five years. 52 Substitute Bill No. 1381
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(d) Each licensee shall require any employee of a youth camp holding 53
a position that requires the provision of care to a child or involves 54
unsupervised access to a child to submit to a comprehensive 55
background check described in subsection (b) of this section not later 56
than five years after the date such employee was hired, and at least once 57
every five years thereafter. Nothing in this section prohibits a licensee 58
from requiring any such employee to submit to a comprehensive 59
background check more than once during a five-year period. 60
(e) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall have the discretion to 61
refuse to license under sections 19a-420 to 19a-429, inclusive, a person 62
to establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp, as described in section 63
19a-420, or to suspend or revoke the license or take any other action set 64
forth in any regulation adopted pursuant to section 19a-428 if, the 65
person who establishes, conducts or maintains such youth camp or a 66
person employed therein in a position connected with the provision of 67
care to a child or involving unsupervised access to a child, has (1) been 68
convicted in this state or any other state of (A) a felony as defined in 69
section 53a-25 involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of 70
physical force against another person, (B) cruelty to persons under 71
section 53-20, (C) injury or risk of injury to or impairing morals of 72
children under section 53-21, (D) abandonment of children under the 73
age of six years under section 53-23, (E) any felony where the victim of 74
the felony is a child under eighteen years of age, or (F) a violation of 75
section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to 76
January 1, 2019, 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a, (2) 77
a criminal record in this state or any other state that the commissioner 78
reasonably believes renders the person unsuitable to establish, conduct 79
or maintain or be employed by a youth camp, or (3) held a license to 80
establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp in another state that was 81
revoked by such state's licensing authority. However, no refusal of a 82
license shall be rendered except in accordance with the provisions of 83
sections 46a-79 to 46a-81, inclusive. 84
(f) Any person who is licensed to establish, operate or maintain a 85
youth camp shall notify the Commissioner of Early Childhood if such 86 Substitute Bill No. 1381
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licensee or any person employed by such youth camp is convicted of a 87
crime listed in subsection (e) of this section, if such licensee or person 88
employed by such youth camp is employed in a position connected with 89
the provision of care to a child or involving unsupervised access to a 90
child, immediately upon obtaining knowledge of the conviction. Failure 91
to comply with the notification requirement may result in the 92
suspension or revocation of the license or the imposition of any action 93
set forth in regulation, and shall subject the licensee to a civil penalty of 94
not more than one hundred dollars per day for each day after the 95
licensee obtained knowledge of the conviction, provided such civil 96
penalty shall not exceed the aggregate sum of four thousand five 97
hundred dollars. 98
(g) Each licensee shall maintain, and make available for inspection 99
upon request of the Office of Early Childhood, any documentation 100
associated with a comprehensive background check described in 101
subsection (b) of this section, for a period of not less than five years from 102
the date of (1) completion of such background check, if the subject of the 103
comprehensive background check was not hired by the licensee, or (2) 104
separation from employment, if the subject of the comprehensive 105
background check was hired by the licensee. 106
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 368r, the Connecticut 107
Wing Civil Air Patrol within the Department of Emergency Services and 108
Public Protection may establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp 109
without obtaining a license issued by the office, provided the 110
Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol (1) establishes, conducts or maintains 111
any such youth camp on property owned or leased by the state and 112
utilizes a facility operated exclusively by the Military Department, and 113
(2) complies with any regulations adopted by the commissioner 114
pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-428 relating to the 115
administration of (A) tests to monitor glucose levels in children with 116
diagnosed diabetes mellitus, and (B) medicinal preparations to children. 117 Substitute Bill No. 1381
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 19a-421
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (h)(2), "pursuant to section 19a-428 relating to (A) the
administration of medication, or (B) the monitoring of diabetes" was
changed to "pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-428 relating to the
administration of (A) tests to monitor glucose levels in children with
diagnosed diabetes mellitus, and (B) medicinal preparations to children"
for accuracy and consistency with other provisions of the general
statutes.
PS Joint Favorable Subst.