(a) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall, within available appropriations, require any person, other than a relative, who provides child care services to a child and who receives a child care subsidy from the Office of Early Childhood, to submit to comprehensive background checks, including state and national criminal history records checks. The criminal history records checks required pursuant to this subsection shall be conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. The commissioner shall also request a check of the state child abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k.
(b) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall, within available appropriations, require any relative who provides child care services to a child and who receives a child care subsidy from the Office of Early Childhood, to submit to a check of (1) state and national sexual offender registry databases, (2) the state child abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k, and (3) the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communication Teleprocessing System maintained by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. If such check reveals that the name of any such relative appears in such databases, on said registry or in said system, the commissioner may require such relative to submit to state and national criminal history records checks conducted in accordance with section 29-17a.
(c) The commissioner shall have the discretion to refuse payments for child care under any financial assistance program administered by him or her if the person or relative providing such child care 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, 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, or of 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, or has a criminal record or was the subject of a substantiated report of child abuse in this state or any other state that the commissioner reasonably believes renders the person or relative unsuitable to provide child care.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 38, 41; P.A. 01-175, S. 11, 32; P.A. 03-243, S. 9; P.A. 05-207, S. 7; P.A. 14-39, S. 42; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 176; P.A. 18-172, S. 7; P.A. 19-189, S. 4.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 01-175 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing language re criminal records checks as a permissive request with language re mandatory state and national criminal history records checks pursuant to Sec. 29-17a, deleting language re fee and making technical changes, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-243 amended Subsec. (a) by adding “for perpetrator information”; P.A. 05-207 amended Subsec. (a) to delete requirement that commissioner check state child abuse registry for perpetrator information; P.A. 14-39 replaced references to Commissioner and Department of Social Services with references to Commissioner and Office of Early Childhood and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2014; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting “, other than a relative,” and “in the child's home”, and adding “comprehensive background checks, including”, effective October 31, 2017; P.A. 18-172 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “providing” with “other than a relative, who provides” and making technical and conforming changes, added new Subsec. (b) re checks of relatives who provide child care services, and redesignated existing Subsec. (b) re discretion to refuse payments as Subsec. (c), and amended same to add “or relative”, effective July 1, 2018; P.A. 19-189 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “53a-70b” with “section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2019” and made a technical change.