Committee on Children
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-6113
AN ACT REQUIRING THE PROVISION OF INFORMATION CONCERNING
Title: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE.
Vote Date: 2/25/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 2/4/2021
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:
This bill creates a task force required to disseminate information to people who get to work
with children about how to properly and appropriately have an interaction with a child. In
addition, part of the disseminated information will be about child sexual abuse. This bill has
the goal, by the dissemination of information, to reduce the number of child abuse cases
across Connecticut.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes, Department of Children and Families: Testimony
offers certain recommendations for this bill. It is recommended that the bill be amended to
have the responsibility for producing this information with the Governor's Task Force on
Justice for Abused Children (GTF). The GTF has professionals who are experts in the subject
of child abuse and other forms of maltreatment and therefore the concept in this bill fits
perfectly within the mission of the GTF. In addition, the DCF is a member of the GTF and will
be part of the process in developing the language. The Department believes this entity is best
suited for producing materials for educating adults and youth participants, as well as the
public.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Connecticut Conference of Municipalities: The conference supports this bill but asks for
an amendment. They believe that the potential for towns and cities to be held liable for a
private operators or 3rd partys failure to disseminate this information properly is extremely
problematic and may cause municipalities to deny leagues or 3rd parties' access to these
areas. Therefore, the following language is asked to be added to the bill: No operator or
designee of such operator shall be subject to civil liability for failing to make available the
written or electronic statement regarding child sexual abuse nor shall a municipality be
subject to civil liability for a private operator or designee of such private operator failing to
make available the written or electronic statement regarding child sexual abuse.
Valerie Stolfi Collins, CRPA Executive Director: The CRPA supports this bill, but
recommends the following modifications to the proposed bill:
Organizations/operators be allowed to post this information on their websites in order
to comply with the proposed new law rather than distributing it via email.
Adding the following language:
No operator, or designee of such operator, shall be subject to civil liability for failing to
make available the written or electronic statement regarding child sexual abuse.
CRPA believes that by giving a great amount of information to individuals regarding this
subject, the importance of this information will be unwillingly undermined due to the sheer
volume of it.
John L. Cattelan, Executive Director of Connecticut Alliance of YMCAs: He supports this
bill. He states the commitment of the Y regarding the creating of safe environments for youth
as well as how people do not realize how frequently child sexual abuse happen,
unfortunately. Due to the data regarding child sexual abuse brought to his testimony, John
Cattelan states that is why this legislation is so important and will hopefully educate parents,
youth league administrations and coaches about how to prevent child sexual abuse.
He suggested to include the following language to amend the legislation: No operator, or
designee of such operator, shall be subject to civil liability for failing to make available the
written or electronic statement regarding child sexual abuse.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
No Opposition to this bill offered
Reported by: Gabriela Dos Santos Date: March 6th 2021
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