OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS

Legislative Office Building, Room 5200

Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200

http: //www. cga. ct. gov/ofa

sHB-5908

AN ACT CONCERNING PROCEEDINGS AND OPERATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

Section 1 enables a municipality to delay or preclude a pending license or contract (to be entered into by a state agency) involving any residential facility previously operated by a person or entity licensed as a child-care facility by the Department of Children and Families (DCF). While no such change in operation is expected at this time, should it occur in the future, fiscal impacts might result to the extent that this may delay or preclude payments of state funds to a provider and/or result in the need for a state agency to incur different costs to secure an alternate site.

Provisions within Section 2, which specify provisions that must be included within certain DCF contracts, are not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact.

Section 3 requires DCF employees to report unauthorized disclosure of confidential records by co-workers to the commissioner. This will result in no fiscal impact.

Section 4 includes whistleblower protections for persons who report unauthorized disclosure of confidential DCF records pursuant to Section 3. Extending whistleblower protections to these employees is not anticipated to result in any additional costs to the Auditors of Public Accounts or the Office of the Attorney General.

Sections 5 – 7 modify existing laws that allocate burdens of proof concerning placement of children involved in certain child welfare or probate proceedings. These modifications have no associated fiscal impact.

Section 8, which makes changes concerning disregards of voluntary services applications, has no associated fiscal impact.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.