Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 17a - Social and Human Services and Resources › 101k - Child Abuse and Neglect Registry › Section 17a-101k-1 - Definitions

Current through July 10, 2024
As used in sections 17a-101k-1 to
				17a-101k-16,
				inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:
(1) "Department" means Department of Children
			 and Families;
(2) "Commissioner"
			 means the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families;
(3) "Child" means any person under eighteen
			 (18) years of age;
(4) "Reports of
			 child abuse or neglect" or "referrals" means complaints received by the
			 department alleging that a person under the age of eighteen (18) has had
			 physical injury or injuries inflicted upon him or her by a person responsible
			 for such child's health, welfare or care, by a person entrusted with the care
			 of such child, or by a person given access to such child, other than by
			 accidental means or has injuries that are at variance with the history given of
			 them, or is in a condition that is the result of maltreatment such as, but not
			 limited to, malnutrition, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, deprivation of
			 necessities, emotional maltreatment, or cruel punishment, or has been abandoned
			 or is being denied proper care and attention, physically, educationally,
			 emotionally, or morally, or is being permitted to live under conditions,
			 circumstances or associations injurious to his or her well-being;
(5) "A person responsible for such child's
			 health, welfare or care" means a child's or youth's parent, guardian or foster
			 parent; an employee of a public or private residential home, agency or
			 institution or other person legally responsible in a residential setting, or
			 any staff person providing out-of-home care, including center-based child day
			 care, family day care or group day care;
(6) "A person entrusted with the care of a
			 child" means a person given access to a child by a person responsible for the
			 health, welfare or care of a child for the purpose of providing education,
			 child care, counseling, spiritual guidance, coaching, training, instruction,
			 tutoring or mentoring of such child;
(7) "A person given access to a child" means
			 a person who is permitted to have personal interaction with a child by a person
			 responsible for such child's health, welfare or care or a person entrusted with
			 the care of a child under circumstances in which the person responsible for
			 such child's health, welfare or care or the person entrusted with the care of a
			 child has a reasonable expectation that the person given access will exercise
			 some responsibility, control, influence or supervisory role with the
			 child;
(8) "Guardian" means the
			 person who has the obligation of care and control, the right to custody, and
			 the duty and authority to make major decisions affecting a minor's
			 welfare;
(9) "Hotline" means the
			 Department of Children and Families' centralized intake unit which receives all
			 reports of child abuse or neglect made to the department;
(10) "Individual responsible" means a person
			 substantiated by the department, after an investigation of a report of child
			 abuse or neglect, as a perpetrator of abuse or neglect;
(11) "Substantiated" means that the
			 department has found after investigation of a report, pursuant to section
			 17a-101g
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes, that there is reasonable cause to believe
			 that child abuse or neglect has occurred and that a specific person is the
			 individual responsible for an act or acts of child abuse or neglect;
(12) "Substantiation" means the designation
			 given by the department to a report of alleged child abuse or neglect that has
			 been substantiated after investigation;
(13) "Registry finding" means the
			 determination by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee, based on a
			 standard of reasonable cause, that a person who has been substantiated as an
			 individual responsible for abuse or neglect of a child poses a risk to the
			 health, safety or well-being of children consistent with the requirements of
			 subsection (b) of section
			 17a-101g
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes and sections 17a-101k-1 to
			 17a-101k-16,
			 inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies;
(14) "Central registry" or "registry" means
			 the confidential data file maintained as part of the department's computerized
			 database, of persons who have been substantiated as individuals responsible for
			 an act or acts of child abuse or neglect and for whom the commissioner has made
			 a determination, based upon a standard of reasonable cause, that the individual
			 poses a risk to the health, safety or well-being of children; and
(15) "Expunged" means the deletion from the
			 department's computerized database of unsubstantiated reports and the
			 associated investigation protocols five years from the completion of the last
			 unsubstantiated allegation provided that no referrals have been made on the
			 case and there are no other substantiated reports.