AN ACT CONCERNING CONNECTICUT WING CIVIL AIR PATROL YOUTH CAMPS.

Senate
SB372 / File No. 280 1

General Assembly File No. 280
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 372

Senate, March 31, 2026

The Committee on Public Safety and Security reported through
SEN. GASTON of the 23rd Dist., Chairperson of the Committee
on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

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 2026 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2026): 3
(a) No person shall establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp 4
without a license issued by the office. Applications for such license shall 5
be made in writing at least thirty days prior to the opening of the youth 6
camp on forms provided and in accordance with procedures established 7
by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by a fee of eight 8
hundred fifteen dollars or, if the applicant is a nonprofit, nonstock 9
corporation or association, a fee of three hundred fifteen dollars or, if 10
the applicant is a day camp affiliated with a nonprofit organization, for 11
no more than five days duration and for which labor and materials are 12
donated, no fee. All such licenses shall be valid for a period of one year 13
from the date of issuance unless surrendered for cancellation or 14
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suspended or revoked by the commissioner for violation of this chapter 15
or any regulations adopted under section 19a -428, shall be 16
nontransferable and shall be renewable upon receipt by the 17
commissioner of a renewal application and payment of an eight -18
hundred-fifteen-dollar license fee or, if the licensee is a nonprofit, 19
nonstock corporation or association, a three -hundred-fifteen-dollar 20
license fee or, if the applicant is a day camp affiliated with a nonprofit 21
organization, for no more than five days duration and for which labor 22
and materials are donated, no fee. 23
(b) On and after October 1, 2022, any licensee shall require any 24
prospective employee eighteen years of age or older, who is applying 25
for a position at a youth camp that requires the provision of care to a 26
child or involves unsupervised access to a child, to submit to a 27
comprehensive background check. The background check shall include, 28
but not be limited to, a (1) (A) criminal history records check conducted 29
(i) in accordance with section 29 -17a, or (ii) by searching the electronic 30
criminal record system maintained on the Internet web site of the 31
Judicial Department for convictions matching the prospective 32
employee's name and date of birth, (B) state child abuse registry 33
established pursuant to section 17a -101k, (C) registry established and 34
maintained pursuant to section 54 -257, and (D) National Sex Offender 35
Registry Public Website maintained by the United States Department of 36
Justice, or (2) check by a third -party provider of national criminal 37
history record checks that is conducted through a centralized database 38
utilizing the prospective employee's fingerprints, provided such 39
provider appears on a list of such providers published on the Internet 40
web site of the Office of Early Childhood. Prior to each check of the state 41
child abuse registry conducted pursuant to this subsection, a licensee 42
shall submit to the office an authorization for the release of personal 43
information signed by the prospective employee, on a form prescribed 44
by the office, and the office shall submit such authorization to the 45
Department of Children and Families. Any prospective employee who 46
holds a J -1 visa, H -1B visa or R -1 visa issued by the United States 47
Department of State shall not be required to submit to a background 48
check under this section. 49
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(c) Pending completion of all comprehensive background check 50
components described in subsection (b) of this section, a prospective 51
employee may begin work on a provisional basis, provided such 52
prospective employee is supervised at all times by an employee who 53
was subjected to a comprehensive background check described in 54
subsection (b) of this section within the past five years. 55
(d) Each licensee shall require any employee of a youth camp holding 56
a position that requires the provision of care to a child or involves 57
unsupervised access to a child to submit to a comprehensive 58
background check described in subsection (b) of this section not later 59
than five years after the date such employee was hired, and at least once 60
every five years thereafter. Nothing in this section prohibits a licensee 61
from requiring any such employee to submit to a comprehensive 62
background check more than once during a five-year period. 63
(e) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall have the discretion to 64
refuse to license under sections 19a -420 to 19a -429, inclusive, a person 65
to establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp, as described in section 66
19a-420, or to suspend or revoke the license or take any other action set 67
forth in any regulation adopted pursuant to section 19a -428 if, the 68
person who establishes, conducts or maintains such youth camp or a 69
person employed therein in a position connected with the provision of 70
care to a child or involving unsupervised access to a child, has (1) been 71
convicted in this state or any other state of (A) a felony as defined in 72
section 53a -25 involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of 73
physical force against another person, (B) cruelty to persons under 74
section 53 -20, (C) injury or risk of injury to or impairing morals of 75
children under section 53 -21, (D) abandonment of children under the 76
age of six years under section 53 -23, (E) any felony where the victim of 77
the felony is a child under eighteen years of age, or (F) a violation of 78
section 53a -70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to 79
January 1, 2019, 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a, (2) 80
a criminal record in this state or any other state that the commissioner 81
reasonably believes renders the person unsuitable to establish, conduct 82
or maintain or be employed by a youth camp, or (3) held a license to 83
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establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp in another state that was 84
revoked by such state's licensing authority. However, no refusal of a 85
license shall be rendered except in accordance with the provisions of 86
sections 46a-79 to 46a-81, inclusive. 87
(f) Any person who is licensed to establish, operate or maintain a 88
youth camp shall notify the Commissioner of Early Childhood if such 89
licensee or any person employed by such youth camp is convicted of a 90
crime listed in subsection (e) of this section, if such licensee or person 91
employed by such youth camp is employed in a position connected with 92
the provision of care to a child or involving unsupervised access to a 93
child, immediately upon obtaining knowledge of the conviction. Failure 94
to comply with the notification requirement may result in the 95
suspension or revocation of the license or the imposition of any action 96
set forth in regulation, and shall subject the licensee to a civil penalty of 97
not more than one hundred dollars per day for each day after the 98
licensee obtained knowledge of the conviction, provided such civil 99
penalty shall not exceed the aggregate sum of four thousand five 100
hundred dollars. 101
(g) Each licensee shall maintain, and make available for inspection 102
upon request of the Office of Early Childhood, any documentation 103
associated with a comprehensive background check described in 104
subsection (b) of this section, for a period of not less than five years from 105
the date of (1) completion of such background check, if the subject of the 106
comprehensive background check was not hired by the licensee, or (2) 107
separation from employment, if the subject of the comprehensive 108
background check was hired by the licensee. 109
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 368r, the Connecticut 110
Wing Civil Air Patrol within the Department of Emergency Services and 111
Public Protection may establish, conduct or maintain a youth camp 112
without obtaining a license issued by the office, provided the 113
Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol (1) establishes, conducts or maintains 114
any such youth camp on property owned or leased by the state and 115
utilizes a facility operated exclusively by the Military Department or the 116
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armed forces of the United States in accordance with Title 10 of the 117
United States Code, and (2) complies with the guidelines set forth in the 118
Civil Air Patrol pamphlet entitled "CAPP 79 -10 Cadet Medication 119
Management", as amended from time to time, during any overnight 120
youth camp. 121
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 19a-421

PS Joint Favorable

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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 purpose. 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 $
Resources of the General Fund GF - Precludes
Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill allows the Connecticut Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) to
open, operate, and maintain a youth camp without an Office of Early
Childhood (OEC) license.
While the CAP does not currently run a camp in the state, any future
establishment of such a facility precludes the revenue gain from
licensure fees that would otherwise be collected.
For context, standard licensure fees are $815 for for -profit
organizations and $315 for non-profits.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to any changes to the OEC licensure fee
schedule.

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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 372

AN ACT CONCERNING CONNECTICUT WING CIVIL AIR PATROL
YOUTH CAMPS.

SUMMARY
This bill allows the Connecticut Wing of the Civil Air Patrol to open,
operate, and maintain a youth camp without an Office of Early
Childhood (OEC) license. However, to be exempt, the camp must (1) be
opened, operated, and maintained on state -owned or -leased property
and use a facility operated exclusively by the Connecticut Military
Department or U.S. Armed Forces , and (2) comply with the guidelines
set forth in the “CAPP 79-10 Cadet Medication Management” Civil Air
Patrol pamphlet during any overnight youth camp.
Generally, the current, April 2025 version of the pamphlet outlines
tasks to be done by commanders, project officers, and event health
service officers before, during, and after an overnight activity , such as
(1) receiving, appropriately label ing, and securely stor ing all received
medications; (2) s upervising cadets as they self -administer their
medications and maintaining a log of all self-administered medications;
and (3) contacting parents or guardians in cases when the cadet does not
show up at the appr opriate time for medication self -administration, or
when there are lost, damaged, contaminated, or refused medications .
Among other things, it requires that state laws be followed, regardless
of the guidelines in the pamphlet.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
BACKGROUND
Civil Air Patrol
The Civil Air Patrol is a congressionally chartered, federally funded
nonprofit corporation and serves as the volunteer civilian auxiliary of
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the U.S. Air Force (see 36 U.S.C. § 40301, et seq.).
Youth Camps
By law, among other criteria, a “youth camp ” is any regularly
scheduled program or organized group activity advertised as a camp or
operated only during school vacations or on weekends by a person,
entity, or state or municipal agency for recreational or educational
purposes that accommodates at least five children from ages 3 through
15 (CGS § 19a-420).
For youth camps to operate in the state, they generally must complete
a comprehensive licensing process OEC runs, including background
checks for employees who provide care or have unsupervised access to
a child. There is generally a license fee of $315 or $815 depending on the
entity.
Related Bill
sHB 5291, § 14, favorably reported by the Public Safety and Security
Committee, has identical provisions.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 29 Nay 0 (03/17/2026)