Connecticut intends to restructure its approach to child sexual abuse claims with a new task force.
The group, created by the legislative Committee on Children, aims to monitor the means by which state agencies — such as the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the probate and judiciary courts — investigate these allegations.
The Committee on Children is spearheaded by co-chairs Rep. Liz Linehan (D, Cheshire) and Sen. Ceci Maher (D-Wilton), focuses on all matters related to children in the state.
A bill establishing the task force’s creation, HB 5159, was introduced last Friday. A public hearing is set for Thursday. The bill is proposing “the establishment of a task force to study the responsiveness of state agencies to issues concerning child sexual abuse” and identifies the primary aims of passage as the ability ‘to examine state agency policies and practices that relate to and impact children, with the goal of identifying ways to detect, mitigate, prevent, and effectively respond to child sexual abuse”.
The bill seeks out to tackle what some consider an epidemic among the youth. One in ten children (one in seven girls and one in 25 boys) will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday, according to the Connecticut Children’s Alliance (CCA), with the median age of reported abuse being nine years old. According to Connecticut Children’s, 2017 saw to 8,442 victims of child maltreatment, with 401 of said instances being cases of sexual abuse or assault.
Upon the passage of the task force the bill, the appointment of all necessary task force figures will be required within the first 30 days. This includes an attorney — appointed from the speaker of the House of Representatives — admitted by the CT Bar Association with a background in child welfare, as well as a qualified licensed psychologist (pursuant to chapter 383 of the general statutes) appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate with a background in the treatment of children who have suffered from abuse.
The full details on the appointment of General Assembly members, other necessary appointments and those who hold the power of selecting these appointees, can be viewed through the Connecticut General Assembly.
The first formal meeting must be held within 60 days from that of its approval, and a formal report to the General Assembly must be made no later than Jan. 1, 2025, outlining its recommendations surrounding changes to legislative action and “the policies or procedures of any state agency that would aid such agency in the detection, mitigation, prevention and effective response to child sexual abuse” according to the formal outline of the proposed bill.
This task force will be disbanded upon the submission of the report, or by Jan. 1, whichever date falls later.
If the bill passes the House, it moves to the State Senate.
Updates will be provided accordingly.
