AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD.

Substitute Senate Bill No. 137

Public Act No. 26-105

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 10 -16z of the 2026 supplement to
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof (Effective July 1, 2026):
(a) There is established the Early Childhood Cabinet. The cabinet
shall consist of: (1) The Commissioner of Early Childhood, or the
commissioner's designee, (2) the Commissioner of Education, or the
commissioner's designee, (3) the Commissioner of Social Services, or the
commissioner's designee, (4) the chancellor of the Connecticut State
Colleges and Universities, or the chancellor's designee, (5) the
Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee, (6) the
Commissioner of Developmental Servi ces, or the commissioner's
designee, (7) the Commissioner of Children and Families, or the
commissioner's designee, (8) the executive director of the Commission
on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity or the executive
director's designee, (9) the project director of the Connecticut Head Start
State Collaboration Office, (10) a parent or guardian of a child who
attends or attended a school readiness program appointed by the
minority leader of the House of Representatives, (11) a representative of
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a local provider of early childhood education appointed by the minority
leader of the Senate, (12) a representative of the Connecticut Family
Resource Center Alliance appointed by the majority leader of the House
of Representatives, (13) a representative o f a state -funded child care
center appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, (14) two
appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom
is a member of a board of education for a town designated as an alliance
district, as defined in section 10-262u, and one of whom is a parent who
has a child attending a school in an educational reform district, as
defined in section 10 -262u, (15) two appointed by the president pro
tempore of the Senate, one of whom is a representative of an association
of early education and child care providers and one of whom is a
representative of a public elementary school with a prekindergarten
program, (16) [ten] eleven appointed by the Governor, one of whom is
a representative of the Connecticut Head Start A ssociation, one of
whom is a representative of the business community in this state, one of
whom is a representative of the philanthropic community in this state,
one of whom is a representative of the Connecticut State Employees
Association, one of whom i s an administrator of the child care
development block grant pursuant to the Child Care and Development
Block Grant Act of 1990, one of whom is responsible for administering
grants received under Section 1419 of Part B of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1419, as amended from time to time,
one of whom is responsible for administering the provisions of Title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 USC 6301 et seq., one
of whom is responsible for coordinating education servi ces to children
and youth who are homeless, one of whom is a licensed family child
care home provider and a member of a staffed family child care network
identified by the Commissioner of Early Childhood, [and] one of whom
is a parent recommended by a pare nt advisory group that has been
appointed by the Commissioner of Early Childhood, and a physician
licensed pursuant to chapter 370, who is a pediatrician, (17) the
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's
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designee, (18) the Lieutenant Governor, or the Lieutenant Governor's
designee, (19) the Commissioner of Housing, or the commissioner's
designee, (20) the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction
Services, or the commissioner's designee, and (21) the executive director
of the Connecticut Library Consortium, or a cooperating library service
unit as defined in section 11-9e, or the executive director's designee.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10 -506 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2026):
(a) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and each fiscal year
thereafter, the Office of Early Childhood, in consultation with the
Department of Education, shall design and administer the Connecticut
Smart Start competitive grant program to provide gra nts to local and
regional boards of education for capital and operating expenses related
to establishing or expanding a preschool program under the jurisdiction
of the board of education for the town. A local or regional board of
education may submit an ap plication to the office, in accordance with
the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, and may receive (1) a
grant for capital expenses in an amount not to exceed seventy -five
thousand dollars per classroom for costs related to the renovation of an
existing public school to accommodate the establishment or expansion
of a preschool program, and (2) an annual grant for operating expenses
(A) in an amount not to exceed [five] six thousand five hundred dollars
per child served by such grant, or (B) in an amount not to exceed
[seventy-five] ninety-seven thousand five hundred dollars for each
preschool classroom. Each local or regional board of education that
establishes or expands a preschool program under this section shall be
eligible to receive an annual grant for operating expenses for a period of
five years, provided suc h preschool program meets standards
established by the Commissioner of Early Childhood. Such local or
regional board of education ma y submit an application for renewal of
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such grant to the office.
Sec. 3. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) For purposes of this
section, "licensee" means any person licensed pursuant to section 19a -
421 of the general statutes and "youth camp" has the same meaning as
provided in section 19a-420 of the general statutes, as amended by this
act.
(b) Each licensee shall provide written contact information for the
licensee's youth camp, including the name, address and telephone
number of the youth camp, to the Office of Early Childhood . Each
licensee shall verify and update, as appropriate, such contact
information.
(c) The Office of Early Childhood shall share, in accordance with a
memorandum of understanding or other agreement, any information
collected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section with the Department
of Emergency Services and Public Protection for use in an emergency
notification system, as defined in section 28 -25 of the general statutes,
that notifies licensees of an emergency situation in the vicinity of a youth
camp that may endanger the safety or welfare of the children at such
youth camp. Such em ergency situation may include, but need not be
limited to, a fire, a criminal act, an emergency or an act of nature such
as an earthquake, a tornado, a hurricane or a storm.
Sec. 4. Section 19a -87e of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026):
(a) The Commissioner of Early Childhood may (1) refuse to license
under section 19a-87b, a person to own, conduct, operate or maintain a
family child care home, as defined in section 19a -77, (2) refuse to
approve under section 19a -87b, a person to act as an assistant or
substitute staff member in a family child care home, as defined in section
19a-77, or (3) suspend or revoke the license or approval or take any other
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action that may be set forth in regulation that may be adopted pursuant
to section 19a -79 if the person who owns, conducts, maintains or
operates the family child care home, the person who acts as an assistant
or substitute staff member in a family child care home, a person
employed in such family child care home in a position connected with
the provision of care to a child receiving child care services or a
household member, as defined in subsection (c) of section 19a-87b, who
is [sixteen] eighteen years of age or older and resides therein, has been
convicted, in this state or any other state of a felony, as defined in section
53a-25, involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical
force against another person, or has a criminal record in this state or any
other state that the commissioner reasonably believes renders the
person unsuitable to own, conduct, operate or maintain or be employed
by a family child care home, or act as an assistant or substitute staff
member in a family child care home, or if such persons or a household
member has been convicted in this state or any other state of cruelty to
persons under section 53 -20, injury or risk of injury to or impairing
morals of children under section 53-21, abandonment of children under
the age of six years under section 53-23, or any felony where the victim
of the felony is a child under eighteen years of age, a violation of section
53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1,
2019, or section 53a -70, 53a -70a, 53a -71, 53a -72a, 53a -72b or 53a -73a,
illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription, dispensing or
administration under section 21a -277 or 21a -278, or illegal possession
under section 21a-279, or if such person, a person who acts as assistant
or substitute staff member in a family child care home or a person
employed in such family child care home in a position connected with
the provision of care to a child receiving child care services, either fails
to substantially comply with the regulations adopted p ursuant to
section 19a -87b, or conducts, operates or maintains the home in a
manner which endangers the health, safety and welfare of the children
receiving child care services. Any refusal of a license or approval
pursuant to this section shall be rendere d in accordance with the
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provisions of sections 46a -79 to 46a -81, inclusive. Any person whose
license or approval has been revoked pursuant to this section shall be
ineligible to apply for a license or approval for a period of one year from
the effective date of revocation.
(b) When the commissioner intends to suspend or revoke a license or
approval or take any other action against a license or approval set forth
in regulation adopted pursuant to section 19a -79, the commissioner
shall notify the licensee or approved staff member in writing of the
commissioner's intended action. The licensee or approved staff member
may, if aggrieved by such intended action, make application for a
hearing in writing over the licensee's or approved staff member's
signature to the commissioner. T he licensee or approved staff member
shall state in the application in plain language the reasons why the
licensee or approved staff member claims to be aggrieved. The
application shall be delivered to the commissioner within thirty days of
the licensee's or approved staff member's receipt of notification of the
intended action. The commissioner shall thereupon hold a hearing
within sixty days from receipt of such application and shall, at least ten
days prior to the date of such hearing, mail a notice, giving the time and
place of the hearing, to the licensee or approved staff member. The
provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the denial of an initial
application for a license or approval under section 19a-87b, provided the
commissioner shall noti fy the applicant of any such denial and the
reasons for such denial by mailing written notice to the applicant at the
applicant's address shown on the license or approval application.
(c) Any person who applies or is licensed to conduct, operate or
maintain a family child care home or approved to act as an assistant or
substitute staff member in a family child care home shall notify the
commissioner of any conviction or placement on the child abuse and
neglect registry, established pursuant to section 17a-101k, of the owner,
conductor, operator or maintainer of the family child care home or of
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any household member, as defined in subsection (c) of section 19a -87b,
who is [sixteen] eighteen years of age or older, or any person employed
in such family child care home in a position connected with the
provision of care to a child receiving child care services, [of a crime
which affects the commissioner's discretion under subsection (a) of this
section,] immediately upon obtaining knowledge of such conviction or
placement on the registry . Failure to comply with the notification
requirement of this subsection may result in the suspension or
revocation of the license or approval or the taking of an y other action
against a license or approval set forth in regulation adopted pursuant to
section 19a-79 and shall subject the licensee or approved staff member
to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars per day for each
day after the person obtained knowledge of the conviction or placement
on the registry.
(d) It shall be a class A misdemeanor for any person seeking
employment in a position connected with the provision of care to a child
receiving family child care home services to make a false written
statement regarding prior criminal convictions pursuant to a form
bearing notice to the effect that such false statements are punishable,
which statement such person does not believe to be true and is intended
to mislead the prospective employer.
(e) Any person having reasonable cause to believe that a family child
care home, as defined in section 19a -77, is operating without a current
and valid license or in violation of the regulations adopted under section
19a-87b or in a manner which may pose a potential danger to the health,
welfare and safety of a child receiv ing child care services, may report
such information to the Office of Early Childhood . The office shall
investigate any report or complaint received pursuant to this subsection.
The name of the person making the report or complaint shall not be
disclosed unless (1) such person consents to such disclosure, (2) a
judicial or administrative proceeding results from such report or
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complaint, or (3) a license action pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section results from such report or complaint. All records obtained by
the office in connection with any such investigation shall not be subject
to the provisions of section 1 -210 for a period of thirty days from the
date of the petition or other event initiating such investigation, or until
such time as the investigation is terminated pursuant to a withdrawal
or other informal disposition or until a hearing is convened pursuant to
chapter 54, whichever is earlier. A formal statement of charges issued
by the office shall be subject to the provisions of section 1 -210 from the
time that it is served or mailed to the respondent. Records which are
otherwise public records shall not be deemed confidential merely
because they have been obtained in connection with an inves tigation
under this section.
(f) If the commissioner finds that public health, safety or welfare
imperatively requires emergency action, and incorporates a finding to
that effect in his or her order, the commissioner may order summary
suspension or summary probation of a license issued under section 19a-
87b pending proceedings for revocation or other action. These
proceedings shall be promptly instituted and determined.
Sec. 5. Section 10 -530 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026):
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Child care facility" means a "child care center", "group child care
home" or "family child care home" that provides "child care services",
each as described in section 19a-77, or any provider of child care services
under the child care subsidy program est ablished pursuant to section
17b-749;
(2) "Child care services provider or staff member" means any person
who is (A) a licensee, employee, volunteer, [or alternate] staff, program
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staff, assistant, substitute staff member or household member of a child
care facility, (B) a family child care provider, or (C) [any other] a person
who provides child care services under the child care subsidy program
established pursuant to section 17b -749 but does not include a person
who is providing child care services under the child care subsidy
program (i) exclusively to children with w hom such person is related,
and (ii) without being issued a license to provide child care services by
the Office of Early Childhood; [and]
(3) "Family child care provider" means any person who provides
child care services under the child care subsidy program established
pursuant to section 17b-749 (A) in a family child care home, as defined
in section 19a -77, or (B) in a home not requiring a lice nse pursuant to
subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section 19a-77;
(4) "Licensee" means any person licensed under section 19a-80 or 19a-
87b to provide child care services;
(5) "Employee" means any person paid to work for a family child care
provider as a substitute staff member or assistant or as staff or program
staff in a child care center or group child care home;
(6) "Volunteer" means any person who is not an employee of a child
care center or group child care home and whose activities involve the
direct care of children or the opportunity for unsupervised access to
children;
(7) "Staff" means any person employed by a child care center or group
child care home, sixteen years of age or older, who is not responsible for
providing direct care of children or does not have unsupervised access
to children;
(8) "Program staff" means any person employed by a child care center
or group child care home, sixteen years of age or older, responsible for
the direct care of children;
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(9) "Assistant" means any person who has been approved pursuant
to section 19a -87b to provide child care services in a family child care
home;
(10) "Substitute staff member" means any person who has been
approved pursuant to section 19a-87b to provide child care services in a
family child care home; and
(11) "Household member" means any person, other than the licensee,
who is eighteen years of age or older and resides in the family child care
home.
(b) The comprehensive background checks required pursuant to
subsection (c) of section 19a -80, subsection (c) of section 19a -87b and
subsection (a) of section 17b-749k, shall be conducted at least once every
five years for each child care services provider or staff member [in
accordance with the provisions of 45 CFR 98.43, as amended from time
to time] and shall include a national and state criminal history records
check conducted in accordance with section 29 -17a, a check of the state
and national sex offe nder registries, a check of the state child abuse or
neglect registry maintained by the Department of Children and Families
pursuant to section 17a -101k, and a check of the child abuse or neglect
registry for any other state in which such child care services provider or
staff member resided in the previous five years.
(c) Any person who applies for a position at a child care facility in the
state shall not be required to submit to such comprehensive background
checks if such person (1) is an employee of a child care facility in the
state, or has not been separated from employment as a child care
services provider or staff member in the state for a period of more than
one hundred eighty days , and (2) has successfully completed such
comprehensive background checks in the previous five years. Nothing
in this section prohibi ts the Commissioner of Early Childhood from
requiring that a person applying for a position as a child care services
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provider or staff member submit to comprehensive background checks
more than once during a five-year period.
(d) Any person required to submit to comprehensive background
checks pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a -80, subsection (c) of
section 19a -87b and subsection (a) of section 17b -749k, may submit a
request, in writing, to the Commissioner of Early Childhoo d for a
waiver of the requirement to submit fingerprints. Such request shall
include such person's name and date of birth, and evidence that such
person is unable to satisfy such fingerprints requirement due to a
medical condition, including, but not limited to, a birth defect, physical
deformity, skin condition or psychiatric condition. Upon the granting of
a waiver to a person under this subsection, the Office of Early Childhood
shall conduct a state criminal history records check of such person by
using the name and date of birth that was provided in the request for a
waiver by such person.
Sec. 6. Subsection (b) of section 19a -87a of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2026):
(b) Any person who is licensed to conduct, operate or maintain a
child care center or group child care home shall notify the commissioner
of any criminal conviction or placement on the child abuse and neglect
registry, established pursuant to section 17a -101k, of the owner,
conductor, operator or maintainer of the center or home or of any person
employed therein in a position connected with the provision of care to
a child receiving child care services, immediately upon obtaining
knowledge of the conviction or placement on the registry . Failure to
comply with the notification requirement may result in the suspension
or revocation of the license or the imposition of any action set forth in
regulation, and shall subject the licensed person to a civil penalty of not
more than one hundred d ollars per day for each day after the person
obtained knowledge of the conviction or placement on the registry.
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