Representative Lanoue’s Background Check Bill For Youth Camp Employees Becomes State Law

HARTFORD- Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D), signed H.B. No. 6417, An Act Requiring Background Checks For Certain Employees Of Youth Camps And Youth Sports Coaches, Trainers And Instructors, into law after three years of unwavering advocacy by State Representative Brian Lanoue (R-45). The new law aims to help protect children from sexual predators while attending camps, and was expanded to include youth sports coaches by the Committee on Children.

The bill requires prospective employees age 18 or older to submit to comprehensive background checks when applying for these positions. The State Police Bureau of Identification would run these background checks which would match the employees name and birth dates. A check of the state child abuse registry state sex offender registry and a search of National Sex Offender Registry would be conducted in accordance with the new state law.  Alternatively, the law also offers options for background checks to be completed by a third-party source.  The background check component will also be part of the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) inspection verification process at children’s camps.

Rep. Lanoue was surprised these safeguards were not already written into law to protect children from sexual predators and violent felons. Over the last three years, Rep. Lanoue has been submitting this legislation to address this issue receiving strong, bi-partisan support and co-sponsorship from his colleagues. Last year, the bill passed through the committee process, but a vote was never taken on the House floor due to the COVID-19 shutdown. The law will add another layer of protection to those that have access to children when they are away from home at camp. Rep. Lanoue began advocating for this legislation in his freshman year in the legislature after watching a news report on “CBS This Morning” about a nine year old little boy in Texas, who was victimized by a sexual predator while attending a children’s camp.

After watching the report, Rep. Lanoue reached out to Rania Mankarious, CEO of Crime Stoppers in Houston, who was featured in the report. With assistance from Crime Stoppers, Rep. Lanoue immediately began researching ways to strengthen laws in Connecticut to help protect children while attending children’s camps. The proposal was introduced as a committee bill with numerous bi-partisan, co-sponsors during the 2021 legislative session.

“I want to thank Governor Lamont for protecting children across Connecticut by signing this very important legislation into law. Additionally, I want to thank all my colleagues from the Children’s and Appropriations Committees, as well as the resounding, overwhelming support from the legislature at large for supporting this vitally important legislation,” said Rep. Lanoue. “I am very proud of all the work this legislature and administration did together to make this proactive legislation a state law. It certainly shows we can all work together to do what is right for our children and the people we all represent.”

A member of the Committee on Children, Representative Lanoue will continue to research and work to introduce legislation in the future to strengthen laws that further protect the children of Connecticut.

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