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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1394
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE
SERVICES TO INMATES IN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Department of Public 1
Health, in collaboration with the Department of Correction, shall 2
annually evaluate the health care services and mental health care 3
services provided to inmates in correctional institutions in the state to 4
assess, from a public health and a corrections perspective, whether (1) 5
best practices utilized in the provision of such services at health care 6
facilities and mental health care facilities are being utilized in the 7
provision of such services at such correctional institutions, and (2) best 8
practices in the provision of such services in correctional institutions, 9
which best practices have been identified by a national commission on 10
correctional health care or a national association of practitioners in the 11
correctional profession, are being utilized in the provision of such 12
services at such correctional institutions. Not later than January 1, 2026, 13
and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Public Health shall report, 14
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, 15
to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 16
cognizance of matters relating to public health on such evaluation. 17
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) Not later than January 1, 2026, the 18
Correction Ombuds appointed pursuant to section 18-81jj of the general 19 Substitute Bill No. 1394
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statutes shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 20
of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 21
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health 22
regarding the provision of health care services and mental health care 23
services to inmates of correctional institutions, including, but not 24
limited to, the number of personnel needed in correctional institutions 25
to (1) provide an appropriate level of health care to inmates, and (2) 26
inform inmates and their family members and representatives 27
regarding the (A) provision of health care services and mental health 28
care services in correctional institutions, and (B) method by which such 29
family members and representatives may inquire of a correctional 30
institution about the inmate's health or health care services or mental 31
health care services received by the inmate. 32
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to 33
study barriers in the recruitment and retention of health care and mental 34
health care personnel within the Department of Correction. 35
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 36
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 37
one of whom is a representative of a collective bargaining unit that 38
represents health care personnel within the Department of Correction; 39
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 40
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 41
Representatives; 42
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 43
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 44
Representatives; 45
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 46
(7) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 47
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 48 Substitute Bill No. 1394
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relating to public health, or the chairpersons' and ranking members' 49
designees; 50
(8) The Commissioners of Correction, Public Health, Mental Health 51
and Addiction Services and Administrative Services, or the 52
commissioners' designees; 53
(9) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 54
secretary's designee; and 55
(10) A representative of a collective bargaining unit representing 56
health care personnel within the Department of Correction, who shall 57
be appointed by the Governor. 58
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 59
(2), (3), (4), (5), (6) or (7) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 60
of the General Assembly. 61
(d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 62
than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 63
be filled by the appointing authority. 64
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 65
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 66
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 67
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 68
days after the effective date of this section. 69
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 70
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 71
health shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 72
(g) Not later than January 1, 2026, the task force shall submit a report 73
on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 74
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 75
health, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 76
statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such 77
report or January 1, 2026, whichever is later. 78 Substitute Bill No. 1394
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Sec. 4. (Effective from passage) Not later than January 1, 2026, the 79
Commissioner of Correction shall report, in accordance with the 80
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 81
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 82
relating to public health regarding the policies of the Department of 83
Correction concerning (1) the provision of health care services and 84
mental health care services to inmates of correctional institutions, (2) 85
communication with health care providers and mental health care 86
providers outside of the department regarding an inmate's medical 87
history while in a correctional institution, including, but not limited to, 88
obtaining and disclosing an inmate's medical and mental health records 89
when appropriate, and (3) a primary care provider's ability to obtain a 90
former inmate's medical and mental health history and records from the 91
department after an inmate's discharge from a correctional institution. 92
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(2), "as" was changed to "which best practices have been" for
clarity; and in Section 4, the second instance of the words "medical and
mental health" was deleted to avoid repetition.
PH Joint Favorable Subst.