PFAS, body cameras, home care
Nearly 60 new Connecticut laws will take effect on Oct. 1, including legislation concerning line-of-duty deaths, home care worker protections and police body cameras.
Connecticut laws are passed by the General Assembly during each year’s legislative session or in a special session. They typically take effect on Jan. 1, July 1 or Oct. 1.
Here are some of the dozens of laws that will be implemented on Oct. 1.
Elder care reform
A slew of changes to elder care in Connecticut will take effect after a broad bill reforming the industry won final passage earlier this year.
Among the changes is a requirement that the Department of Social Services and Department of Public Health post prominent links to a federal website that uses a five-star rating system to compare nursing homes and a requirement that home care workers wear badges with their name and picture during client appointments.
Although most of the law goes into effect in October, some of the changes are not required to be implemented until months later. For example, the law also stipulates that beginning Jan. 1, 2025, DSS must develop and maintain an online home care provider registry to help consumers find workers who have the correct language proficiency and skills.
Historically, people on the state’s Medicaid program seeking care at home have received a binder with printed pages that in many cases contained outdated employee information.
The legislation follows reporting by The Connecticut Mirror that exposed gaps in Connecticut’s elder care system — both in nursing homes and home care — and shined a light on worsening conditions in many nursing homes.
Expanded definition of ‘line-of-duty’ deaths
Police, fire and EMS chiefs and administrative heads will be able to declare a “line-of-duty” death if an officer, firefighter or EMS personnel on their staff dies within 24 hours of a shift that involved strenuous activities.
The expanded definition covers deaths from stroke, cardiac events or a pulmonary embolism (a lung artery blockage caused by a blood clot). Chiefs can declare a death “in the line of duty” unless their town has an ordinance in effect on Oct. 1 that authorizes a different person to make that determination.
Though the version of the bill that passed the Planning and Development Committee in April was designed to expand workers’ compensation benefits by broadening the “line of duty” definition, the law that takes effect on Oct. 1 specifies that a chief’s or administrative head’s declaration “shall not be used as evidence for a workers’ compensation claim.”
Home care worker protections
Portions of a wide-ranging health care law will take effect on Oct. 1, including protections for home care workers that were prompted by the October 2023 murder of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, who was killed while working at a halfway house in Willimantic.
The law requires home health aide agencies to collect certain client information upon intake — such as a history of violence against health care workers, domestic abuse and any listing on a sex offender registry — and make it available to employees assigned to that client.
Agencies cannot deny a client services based solely on data collected or a refusal to provide it, the measure stipulates.
The law also mandates that home health agencies perform monthly safety assessments with direct care staff, implement health and safety training for home care workers and report clients’ verbal threats or abuse to the state.
PFAS phase-out
The first stages of a law that largely phases out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” will be implemented on Oct. 1.
Beginning that day, the sale and use of soil products that include domestic sewage or wastewater sludge containing PFAS will be banned in Connecticut.
The bill will ultimately lead to a broader PFAS ban, as it stipulates that beginning Jan. 1, 2028, most products containing PFAS cannot be bought or sold in the state.
Police officers’ body cameras
Currently, Connecticut police officers are required to activate body cameras during on-duty interactions with the public but can choose to deactivate the camera if they believe doing so could interfere with an investigation.
The new law requires the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council to update their guidelines on body-worn camera equipment to outline the circumstances under which an officer cannot stop recording.
link
