Connecticut SB 372: AN ACT CONCERNING CONNECTICUT WING CIVIL AIR PATROL YOUTH CAMPS.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 372
February Session, 2026 LCO No. 1418

Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY

Introduced by:
(PS)

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statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2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
suspended or revoked by the commissioner for violation of this chapter 15

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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 suspe