Sec.17a-101k-1. Definitions

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.

(Adopted effective November 7, 2008)