Committee on Children
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-5336
AN ACT REQUIRING BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES
Title: OF LICENSED YOUTH CAMPS.
Vote Date: 3/10/2020
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 3/3/2020
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
REASONS FOR BILL:
For camp employees who are eighteen years of age and older be required to submit to a
comprehensive background check.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Beth Bye, Commissioner, Office of Early Childhood
This bill is supported. Background checks help to protect the health and safety of children.
This requirement would align background check policy with that which is currently applied
universally to all licensed family child care homes, group child care homes, and child care
centers. Current federal Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) law requires that any youth
camp - licensed or license-exempt - that receives Care 4 Kids child care subsidy must have
staff undergo comprehensive fingerprint-based background checks. The OEC has concerns
that if background checks do not apply to all licensed youth camps, camps that have a long
history of accepting Care 4 Kids will stop doing so, leaving hundreds of lower-income
households with no care for their children during the summer months. This would potentially
leave young children in unsafe conditions without access to licensed youth camp care.
Vanessa Dorantes, Commissioner, Department of Children and Families
This bill is supported. It is long overdue that the state requires youth camp employees age
eighteen and older to obtain a full background check, including a check of the Departments
Child Abuse and Neglect Registry. The Department recognizes that there have been delays
in conducting background checks for youth camp employees, but the Department is
committed to working with other agencies on continual improvements.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
John Cattelan, Executive Director, Connecticut Alliance of YMCAs
This bill is supported, but the following concerns are as follows. The Office of Early Childhood
(OEC) is currently taking six to eight weeks to conduct a background check. If a background
check is completed in eight weeks, camp is completed for the summer. Therefore, the results
would be received once the camp counselors have returned to school. It is recommended
that there should also be legislative language that will allow camp staff to work while the
background check is being conducted. It is important to note that Y camps already do
everything required of a background check except for the fingerprinting. Another area of
concern is that the Governors Budget does not call for any additional staff for the Office of
Early Childhood and neither does this bill. Camps have thousands of counselors and it was
expressed that the OEC purchasing two portable fingerprint machines will still not solve the
problem. Lastly, the provision is going to cost the Y residential and day camps over $250,000
($88.25 for each background check). The cost will result in many children receiving less
financial aid to attend camp. It was expressed that the OEC or the Department of Education
provide the funds to pay for the background checks.
Aly Molina and Jane Hussey, Center for Youth Leadership
This bill is supported. The following recommendations were made for the bill. It is
recommended to include in line 22 or volunteer so that the only person who does not have
to complete a background check is the adult who provides the camp with a one-time paid or
volunteer service in the presence of a camp administrator and/or licensed camp counselor. It
is also noted that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) did not have a field for
reports of abuse at summer camps in its data collection system. If this remains true, it is
recommended that DCF to revise its data system to include such a field. It is suggested HB
5336 include a statement about who will pay for the state and national criminal background
checks. There are a few options: the prospective employee/volunteer pays; the camp pays;
or the camp and the prospective employee/volunteer split the cost. Another suggestion is that
the Office of Early Childhood update its website to include the number of confirmed abuse
cases by camp.
Rev. Ryan Gackenheimer, Silver Lake Conference Center, United Church of Christ
(SLCC)
This bill is supported. The safety of campers is of the utmost importance to Silver Lake
Conference Center. Silver Lake is not opposed to background checks, as most youth camps
currently do them; especially those that are American Camp Association (ACA) Accredited
Camps, such as: YMCA Camps, Boy and Girl Scout Camps, and United Church of Christ
camps, as well as many others. The following concerns have been brought up. They feel the
process of the fingerprint background check is unrealistic with the hiring manner seasonal
summer camps tend to follow. Most camps are hiring staff almost up until the first day of staff
training and under the proposed legislation that staff member would not be able to work until
the background check is 100% complete. With the rollout of fingerprinting for youth camps
that participate in the Care 4 Kids program, there have been circumstances in which
fingerprint background check processing has taken upwards of two months. In addition, many
are being returned with smudging or other problems experienced during the fingerprint
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process that were submitted way back in November in some cases. With the current backlog
based on the Care 4 Kids rollout, Silver Lake anticipate the volume to increase significantly
for 2021 should this legislation pass. The cost of background checks each summer would be
over $30,000/year. And even more impactful would be the necessity to have all 300+
volunteers lined up 3 months in advance of the summer. This would require finding nearly 75
more volunteers/year because of the high rate of smudged and unreadable fingerprints that
occur on a regular basis. It is also recommended to add that if any legislation that does move
forward should also address or consider the issue of Municipal Camps and background
checks for those that work with campers at those camps. Municipal Camps are not licensed
or inspected by the Office of Early Childhood and therefore would not be subject to this
legislation.
Keith Garbart, Connecticut Camping Association
This bill is supported. The CCA is in favor of comprehensive background checks for all camp
staff. The CCA is not opposed to background checks, as most youth camps currently do
them; especially those that are American Camp Association (ACA) Accredited Camps. The
following concerns have been brought up regarding the language of the bill. They believe that
asking camp staff to submit to an FBI Fingerprint Background check is not necessarily the
best way to go about this under the current circumstances of reasonable cost and timely
response. The CT Camping Association does feel that the third-party companies that are
currently conducting background checks for camps throughout the country are accurate,
dependable, and achieve the same result in a timely manner. These third-party companies
check state and national databases for criminal convictions based on name, social security
number, birthdate, and addresses lived at in the past 7-10 years, in most cases. Also
investigated is a thorough review of the National Sex Offender Registry public website.
Brian Lanoue, State Representative, 45th
This bill is supported. The testimony sheds light on cases of abuse in camps that went
unknown for many years. In December 2018, CBS This Morning did a groundbreaking report
where they reported there were more than 500 documented cases of sexual abuse at
childrens camps over the past 55 years. From the 1990s where a Connecticut man after
convicted of violating a nine-year- old child went across state lines to Westchester County
and got a job at as a childrens camp counselor. Equally disturbing, in 2006, the New York
Times had an article that reported on a chat room for self- proclaimed pedophiles discussed
how camps are one of the ideal places to target kids. In 2018 alone there were 21 cases
reported of sexual abuse at overnight camps across the United States. Recently, in 2020, a
Connecticut Newspaper did a large expose on a camp counselor from Eastern Connecticut
who was convicted of sexually molesting several children as young ten years old.
Considering all this data, it is believed time has come for Connecticut to require full and
proper background checks on all employees who have direct access to children.
Lucy Nolan, Director of Policy and Public Relations, Connecticut Alliance to End
Sexual Violence
This bill is supported. Requiring background checks put organizations such as Boys and Girls
Clubs, Churches, and the Boy Scouts on notice that they have to be paying attention and not
ignore potential perpetrators in their midst. This will remind them that not all abusers will be
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parents, guardians and families send their children to places that they intrinsically trust, and
their employees must be properly vetted. It is recommended that the wording of the bill add in
that the Sex Offender Registry also be checked.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
Stan Soby, Vice President for Public Policy and External Affairs, Oak Hill
As the safety and well-being of campers is first priority, Oak Hill already conducts
comprehensive background checks for all prospective employees, including camp staff, but is
opposed to the language in the proposed bill as written that includes FBI Fingerprinting as
part of a comprehensive background check. They believe that the third-party companies that
are currently conducting background checks for camps throughout the country are accurate,
dependable, and achieve the same result in a timely manner. These third-party companies
check state and national databases for criminal convictions based on name, social security
number, birthdate, and addresses lived at in the past 7-10 years, in most cases. There is a
thorough review of the National Sex Offender Registry public website. These companies
provide full reports for all potential staff members checked and if anything is listed, a follow up
check or in-depth search can be conducted as required. There is also concern about how
international staff would be handled, as typically they are not even in the country until a week
or two before camp begins and this will lead to a major problem in processing that many
applicants in a timely and efficient manner. This is cohort of staff that already go through a
rigorous background check through their sponsoring organization and must obtain a J-1 visa
prior to even entering the country. Any disruption is the hiring of these staff will lead to a
disruption or reduction in the number of campers who can be supported in our camp
programs.
Reported by: Theresa Mazzuca Date: 04/7/2020
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Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: