AN ACT REQUIRING MEDICAL EMERGENCY DRILLS AT CERTAIN CHILD CARE FACILITIES AND YOUTH CAMPS.

House of Representatives
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General Assembly File No. 147
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5379

House of Representatives, March 24, 2026

The Committee on Children reported through REP. PARIS of
the 145th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the
House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT REQUIRING MEDICAL EMERGENCY DRILLS AT CERTAIN
CHILD CARE FACILITIES AND YOUTH CAMPS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 19a -79 of the 2026 supplement to 1
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 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
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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, nasal spray 47
or any other medical equipment approved by the United States Food 48
and Drug Administration that is used to treat an allergic reaction, or for 49
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injectable equipment, nasal spray or any other medical equipment 50
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration that is 51
used to administer glucagon, (B) shall, not later than three weeks after 52
such child's enrollment in such a center or home, have staff trained in 53
the use of such equipment on-site during all hours when such a child is 54
on-site, (C) shall require such child's parent or guardian to provide the 55
equipment and a copy of the prescription for such medication upon 56
enrollment of such child, and (D) shall require a parent or guardian 57
enrolling such a child to replace such medication and equipment prior 58
to its expiration date, (7) specify that a child care center or group child 59
care home (A) shall not deny services to a child on the basis of a child's 60
diagnosis of asthma or because a child has a prescription for an inhalant 61
medication to treat asthma, and (B) shall, not later than three weeks after 62
such child's enrollment in such a center or home, have staff trained in 63
the administration of such medication on -site during all hours when 64
such a child is on -site, (8) establish physical plant requirements for 65
licensed child care centers and licensed group child care homes that 66
exclusively serve school-age children, (9) specify that a child care center 67
or group child care home shall immediately notify the parent or 68
guardian of a child enrolled in such center or home if such child exhibits 69
or develops an illness or is injured while in the care of such center or 70
home, (10) specify that a child care center or group child care home shall 71
create a written record of any such illness or injury, which shall, (A) 72
include, but not be limited to, (i) a description of such illness or injury, 73
(ii) the date, time of occurrence and location of such illness or injury, (iii) 74
any responsive action taken by an employee of such center or home, and 75
(iv) whether such child was transported to a hospital emergency room, 76
doctor's office or other medical facility as a result of such illness or 77
injury, (B) be provided to the parent or guardian of such child not later 78
than the next business day, and (C) be maintained by such center or 79
home for a period of not less than two years and be made immediately 80
available upon the request of the Office of Early Childhood, [and] (11) 81
specify that a child care center or group child care home shall maintain 82
any video recordings created at such center or home for a period of not 83
less than thirty days, and make such recordings immediately available 84
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upon the request of the Office of Early Childhood, and (12) specify that 85
a child care center or group child care home shall conduct a medical 86
emergency drill not less than once every six months, during which the 87
roles and responsibilities of staff members who are certified in 88
cardiopulmonary resuscitation or have received training in the 89
administration of first aid, as well as staff members who are not certified 90
or have not received such training, are identified . When establishing 91
such requirements, the Office of Early Childhood shall give 92
consideration to child care centers and group child care homes that are 93
located in private or public school buildings. With respect to 94
subdivision (8) of this subsection, the commissioner shall implement 95
policies and procedures necessary to implement the physical plant 96
requirements established pursuant to this subdivision while in the 97
process of adopting such policies and procedures in regulation form. 98
Until replaced by policies and procedures implemented pursuant to this 99
subdivision, any physical plant requirement specified in the office's 100
regulations that is generally applicable to child care centers and group 101
child care homes shall continue to be applicable to such centers and 102
homes that exclusively serve school -age children. The commissioner 103
shall post notice of the intent to adopt regulations pursuant to this 104
subdivision on the eRegulations System not later than twenty days after 105
the date of implementation of such policies and procedures. Policies and 106
procedures implemented pursuant to this subdivision shall be valid 107
until the time final regulations are adopted. For purposes of this 108
subsection, "illness" means fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, headache, 109
persistent coughing, persistent crying or any other condition deemed an 110
illness by the Commissioner of Early Childhood. 111
Sec. 2. Subsection (f) of section 19a-87b of the 2026 supplement to the 112
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 113
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 114
(f) The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the 115
provisions of chapter 54, to ensure that family child care homes, as 116
described in section 19a -77, meet the health, educational and social 117
needs of children utilizing such homes. Such regulations shall (1) ensure 118
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that the family child care home is treated as a residence, and not an 119
institutional facility, (2) specify that each child be protected as age -120
appropriate by adequate immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, 121
tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus 122
influenzae type B and any other vaccine required by the schedule of 123
active immunization adopted pursuant to section 19a -7f, (3) specify 124
conditions under which family child care home providers may 125
administer tests to monitor glucose levels in a child with diagnosed 126
diabetes mellitus, and administer medicinal preparations, including 127
controlled drugs specified in the regulations by the commissioner, to a 128
child receiving child care services at a family child care home pursuant 129
to a written order of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this or 130
another state, an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to 131
prescribe in accordance with section 20 -94a or a physician assistant 132
licensed to prescribe in accordance with section 20-12d, and the written 133
authorization of a parent or guardian of such child, (4) specify 134
appropriate standards for extended care and intermittent short -term 135
overnight care, (5) specify that a family child care home shall 136
immediately notify the parent or guardian of a child enrolled in such 137
home if such child exhibits or develops an illness or is injured while in 138
the care of such home, (6) specify that a family child care home shall 139
create a written record of any such illness or injury, which shall, (A) 140
include, but not be limited to, (i) a description of such illness or injury, 141
(ii) the date, time of occurrence and location of such illness or injury, (iii) 142
any responsive action taken by an employee of such home, and (iv) 143
whether such child was transported to a hospital emergency room, 144
doctor's office or other medical facility as a result of such illness or 145
injury, (B) be provided to the parent or guardian of such child not later 146
than the next business day, and (C) be maintained by such home for a 147
period of not less than two years and be made immediately available 148
upon the request of the Office of Early Childhood, [and] (7) specify that 149
a family child care home shall maintain any video recordings created at 150
such home for a period of not less than thirty days, and make such 151
recordings immediately available upon the request of the Office of Early 152
Childhood, and (8) specify that a family child care home shall conduct a 153
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medical emergency drill not less than once every six months, during 154
which the roles and responsibilities of providers and assistants who are 155
certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation or have received training in 156
the administration of first aid, as well as providers and assistants who 157
are not certified or have not received such training, are identified . The 158
commissioner shall inform each licensee, by way of a plain language 159
summary provided not later than sixty days after the regulation's 160
effective date, of any new or changed regulations adopted under this 161
subsection with which a licensee must comply. For purposes of this 162
subsection, "illness" means fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, headache, 163
persistent coughing, persistent crying or any other condition deemed an 164
illness by the Commissioner of Early Childhood. 165
Sec. 3. Section 19a -422 of the general statutes is repealed and the 166
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 167
To be eligible for the issuance or renewal of a youth camp license 168
pursuant to this chapter, the camp shall satisfy the following 169
requirements: (1) The location of the camp shall be such as to provide 170
adequate surface drainage and afford facilities for obtaining a good 171
water supply; (2) each dwelling unit, building and structure shall be 172
maintained in good condition, suitable for the use to which it is put, and 173
shall present no health or fire hazard as so certified by the office and the 174
State Fire Marshal or local fire marshal, as indicated by a current fire 175
marshal certificate dated within the past year and available on site when 176
the youth camp is in operation; (3) there shall be an adequate and 177
competent staff, which includes the camp director or assistant director, 178
one of whom shall be on site at all times the camp is in operation, 179
activities specialists, counselors and maintenance personnel, of good 180
character and reputation; (4) prior to assuming responsibility for 181
campers, staff shall be trained, at a minimum, on the camp's policies and 182
procedures pertaining to behavioral management and supervision, 183
emergency health and safety procedures and recognizing, preventing 184
and reporting child abuse and neglect; (5) all hazardous activities, 185
including, but not limited to, archery, aquatics, horseback riding and 186
firearms instruction, shall be supervised by a qualified activities 187
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specialist who has adequate experience and training in such specialist's 188
area of specialty; (6) the staff of a resident and nonresident camp shall 189
at all times include an adult trained in the administration of first aid as 190
required by the commissioner [;] and, prior to assuming responsibility 191
for campers, staff shall conduct a medical emergency drill during which 192
the roles and responsibilities of staff members who are certified in 193
cardiopulmonary resuscitation or have received training in the 194
administration of first aid, as well as staff members who are not certified 195
or have not received such training, are identifie d; and (7) records of 196
personal data for each camper shall be kept in any reasonable form the 197
camp director may choose, and shall include (A) the camper's name, age 198
and address, (B) the name, address and telephone number of the parents 199
or guardian, (C) the dates of admission and discharge, and (D) such 200
other information as the commissioner shall require. Any youth camp 201
licensed under this chapter shall operate only as the type of camp 202
authorized by such license. Such camps shall not advertise any service 203
they are not equipped or licensed to offer. The license shall be posted in 204
a conspicuous place at camp headquarters and failure to so post the 205
license shall result in the presumption that the camp is being operated 206
in violation of this chapter. 207
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 19a-79(a)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 19a-87b(f)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 19a-422

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Sections 1(a)(12), 2(f)(8) and 3(6), " training in first aid " was changed
to "training in the administration of first aid" for clarity.

KID Joint Favorable Subst.

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any pur pose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Children & Families, Dept. GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Various Municipalities Potential
Cost
See Below See Below

Explanation
The bill results in a potential cost to the state 1 and municipalities
beginning in FY 27 to the extent additional resources are required for
medical emergency drills at state and municipally run youth camps
(e.g., staff coverage) and these drills are not already occurring .
Municipalities that do not have municipal youth camps will have no
fiscal impact.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.

1 The Department of Children and Families ' Wilderness School is a youth camp
licensed by the Office of Early Childhood and is subject to the requirements of the bill.
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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5379

AN ACT REQUIRING MEDICAL EMERGENCY DRILLS AT CERTAIN
CHILD CARE FACILITIES AND YOUTH CAMPS.

SUMMARY
This bill requires licensed child care centers, group child care homes,
and family child care homes to conduct a medical emergency drill at
least once every six months. The purpose of the drills is to identify the
roles and responsibilities of (1) staff certified in cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) or trained in administering first aid and (2)
noncertified or untrained staff.
The bill also (1) adds an emergency drill requirement, with the same
staff identification goal as for the child care facilities, to the law’s youth
camp licensure eligibility criteria and (2) requires that a drill happen
before a camp can be responsible fo r campers. Under existing license
requirements, camp staff must be trained, among other things, on the
camp’s policies and procedures for emergency health and safety
procedures and camps must at all times have an adult trained in
administering first aid as the Office of Early Childhood ( OEC)
commissioner requires.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
CHILD CARE CENTERS AND HOMES
Specifically, the bill requires the OEC commissioner to add the drills
requirement to regulations that she must adopt for licensed child care
centers and group child care homes (see BACKGROUND). By law the
commissioner must already adopt health and safety regulations on child
care center requirements for employees certified in CPR by certain
qualified organizations.
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For family child care homes (child care usually offered in the private
home of the provider and which generally serves six to nine children) ,
the bill adds the same drill requirement to state regulations except it
applies to the child care provider (the licensee) and any assistants
working there.
By law, child care centers offer or provide care to more than 12
children outside their own homes on a regular basis. Group child care
homes (1) offer or provide care to between 7 and 12 children (related or
unrelated) on a regular basis or (2) meet the family child care home
definition, except that they do not operate in a private home (CGS § 19a-
77(a)(1) & (2)).
BACKGROUND
Child Care Center and Home Regulations
State child care center and group child care home regulations require
each new staffer of either a center or home to complete health and safety
training in accord with federal regulations, including pediatric first aid
and CPR. Staff must also have annual training equal to at least 1% of the
total hours worked in the same safety procedures (Conn Agencies Regs.,
§ 19a-79-4a(f) & (h)).
A family child care home provider must have and maintain a current
certification in first aid and CPR. Assistants do not need to meet this
requirement, but they can only work while helping a provider or a
substitute (the regulations require the substitute to have the same
training and certification as the provider) (Conn Agencies Regs., §§ 19a-
87b-6(c) & -8).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Committee on Children
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 13 Nay 4 (03/05/2026)