Committee on Children
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-5243
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING ADULT SEXUAL MISCONDUCT.
Vote Date: 3/15/2022
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 3/1/2022
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Committee on Children
COSPONSORS OF BILL:
Rep. Mitch Bolinsky
Sen. Saud Anwar
REASONS FOR BILL:
H.B. 5243 will protect children from sexual misconduct perpetrated by adults, particularly
adults employed at schools or in academic programs. This bill aims to address gaps through
which predatory adults have avoided prosecution for their behavior by moving to a different
school or institution before charges are pressed.
5243 implements safeguards through assessment tools (survey), prevention training and
establishing safe hiring practices. It incentivizes timely reporting by mandated reporters by
extending the statute of limitations for prosecution for failure to act to 3 years.
DPH shall administer the Connecticut School Health Survey (option to revoke consent)
including questions designed to assess the risk of youths becoming victims of sexual assault
or misconduct by an adult. According to the results of this survey, DCF shall provide training
and resources to the school. School employees shall complete bystander training.
The Department of Education and the Office of Early Childhood will develop a screening
checklist for the purpose of hiring prospective employees in order to vet applicants who have
prior reported incidents of sexual misconduct and to prevent those individuals from interacting
from students at all. This bill makes such training programs available to youth-serving and
religious organizations, to ensure that children in all educational settings are protected from
adult sexual misconduct.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Beth Bye, Commissioner of Office of Early Childhood, supports the bill with recommended
changes. OEC suggests that as indicated in Section 10, childcare programs would be
responsible for the investigation of child abuse and neglect allegations when it is a statutory
responsibility of DCF. OEC also states that the time restriction of 12 hours for mandated
reporters to report abuse may not be practical or possible as there is a realistic possibility of
delay. OEC also highlights the importance of clear language in the statute to not absolve
schools or childcare programs from their responsibilities as mandated reporters. OEC and
DCF are in alignment concerning these proposed changes to Section 10. In reference to
Section 13, OEC states that the intent and scope of the intended checklist for prospective
employee screening is unclear.
Manisha Juthani, Commissioner of Connecticut Department of Public Health, supports the bill
with recommended changes. In section 1, they state that increasing participation in the
survey will positively impact health equity and identify health disparities across genders,
races, Hispanic ethnicity, and sexual minorities. In section 2, they state that questions cannot
be added to the YRBS because it falls outside of the CDC Cooperative Agreement
guidelines. In section 4, they identify that school-level responses would violate the terms of
the Cooperative Agreement and jeopardize the funding for the survey altogether, which will
ultimately hinder assist survivors of sexual assault and misconduct.
Vanessa Dorantes, Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families supports the
bill with recommended changes. In sections 4-6 of the bill, instead of DCF and SDE providing
the training to school staff, teachers, and administrators, DCF wishes to work in collaboration
with SDE and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to further
enhance mandated reporter training modules. In section 8, DCF wishes for further
discussions regarding the intent of the legislation that permits SDE to revoke, suspend or
place on probation a person for substantiated allegation. In section 10, DCF is concerned that
the language regarding developing a protocol and checklist for investigations would shift
investigation responsibility to schools or childcare providers.
Sarah Healy Eagan, Child Advocate from Office of the Child Advocate, supports the bill with
recommended changes. Training regarding Adult Sexual Misconduct with students be
"mandatory for all school personnel who have direct contacts with students". Training should
specifically address the unique risks and vulnerabilities for children with disabilities. OCA also
recommends establishing a framework for information-sharing, transparency and
accountability for investigative findings regarding child abuse and neglect in schools.
Charlene Russell-Tucker, Commissioner Designate of the State Department of Education,
opposes this bill because they do not agree with making this survey a mandatory collection
but rather continuing to work with the districts selected by the CDC. State Department of
Education states that section 4 outlines requirements that are already required under Section
17a-101q of the Connecticut General Statutes. In section 7, State Department of Education
opposes that mandated reporters could be exempt from prosecution. In section 10&11, State
Department of Education opposes the fact that there could be multiple investigations. In
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section 13, State Department of Education cannot impose additional screening tools on
districts when hiring is solely a local district decision.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Adrienne R. DeLucca, Legal Counsel for Connecticut Education Association, supports the bill
with recommended changes. In sections 1 and 3 of the bill, CEA is concerned that parents
could "opt-out" of the survey, leading to unrepresentative results. They also disagree with the
survey being administered anonymously, because it is incongruous that reporting of such
abuses would be met only with training. In sections 4 and 5, CEA wants to know who the
results of the survey will be disclosed to and wants clarification on the term "bystander
training." In section 7, CEA suggests removal of a teaching license for up to 3 years is
unnecessary and extremely punitive. In section 8, CEA states that revoking or suspending a
teaching certification is unnecessary because it ends innocent people's careers without due
process. In sections 10 and 11, CEA recommends the removal of the mandatory language to
retain the ability to permit DCF to take jurisdiction.
Bethany Hamilton, Executive Director of CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence supports the bill
with recommended changes. They urge to consider the scope of the questions as proposed
in the bill, not to focus solely on sexual assault or misconduct by an adult, but extending the
scope to youths experiencing sexual violence perpetrated by peers or near-peers. This
testimony also encouraged committee members to consider the "Statewide K-12 Sexual
Assault & Abuse Prevention & Awareness Program Guidelines (2016)."
Dr. Glenn Lungarini, Executive Director of CAS CIAC, supports the bill because it proactively
addresses sexual misconduct through ongoing education for public school employees and
interscholastic athletic coaches.
Zachary McKeown, Senior Legislative Associate of CT Conference of Municipalities, supports
the bill because CCM has zero tolerance for substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct,
and is supportive of suspending educator's teaching license.
Krystal Rich, Executive Director of Connecticut Children's Alliance, supports the bill with
recommended changes. In section 1-3, the CCA believes that the questions on the survey
should more accurately capture experience those who have been victimized. In section 4,
CCA suggests convening a working group charged with reviewing the successes and
challenges of the existing 2016 Sexual Assault and Abuse Prevention and Awareness
Program Guidelines. In Section 5, they request that if training is developed for coaches on
these topics, the work be done in collaboration with the task force to ensure consistency. In
section 10, CCA expresses concern about multiple investigations being conducted
simultaneously.
David Acquaah-Mensah, Pia Baldwin Edwards, Saskia Braden, Maia Cook, Roxana
Grunenwald, Josh Guo, Tione Hoeckner, Evelyn Letona Robles, Yaz Liow, Bradley Nowacek,
Ted Shepard, Brook Smith, and Julia Sulkowski strongly support the bill through written
testimony. These residents of New Haven believe that by setting standards for investigating
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abuse and potential abusers and removing offenders from the school system entirely, sexual
misconduct would be prevented before it even occurs.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
Melani Dykas, Division of Criminal Justice, takes no position on the majority of the bill, but
raises concerns regarding language 10 which may have unintended consequences. They
expressed concern the language could enable boards of education or childcare service
providers to conduct their own investigation, which would interfere with the statutory
investigation conducted by DCF.
Reported by: Molly Lukiwsky, Jean Rienzo Date: 3/21/2022
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Statutes affected:
KID Joint Favorable Substitute: 10-145a
File No. 274: 10-145a
File No. 514: 54-240, 54-240a, 54-240c
Public Act No. 22-87: 54-240, 54-240a, 54-240c