(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 established 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, assistant, substitute or household member of a child care facility, (B) a family child care provider, or (C) any other 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 whom 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 license pursuant to subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section 19a-77.
(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.
(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 prohibits the Commissioner of Early Childhood from requiring that a person applying for a position as a child care services provider or staff member submit to comprehensive background checks more than once during a five-year period.
(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 177; P.A. 19-121, S. 4.)
History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 effective October 31, 2017; P.A. 19-121 added Subsec. (a) re definitions of “child care facility”, “child care services provider or staff member” and “family child care provider”, designated existing provision re comprehensive background check to be conducted at least once every 5 years as Subsec. (b) and amended same to add “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”, designated existing provision re persons not required to submit to comprehensive background checks as Subsec. (c) and amended same to replace “was previously an employee of a child care facility in the state during the previous one hundred eighty days” with “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” in Subdiv. (1), replace “an employee or prospective employee of a child care facility to” with “a person applying for a position as a child care services provider or staff member” in Subdiv. (2), and delete former definition re “child care facility”, effective July 1, 2019.