§9858f Criminal Background Checks

Summary

States that get federal child care money must run criminal background checks on people who work with children and must stop hiring those who fail the checks. The checks must look at the criminal and sex offender records in the State where the worker lives and any State they lived in during the last 5 years, State child abuse databases for those same States, the National Crime Information Center, an FBI fingerprint check through IAFIS, and the National Sex Offender Registry under the Adam Walsh Act. A person cannot work if they refuse the check, lie about it, are a registered sex offender, were convicted of certain felonies (for example murder; child abuse or neglect; crimes against children including child pornography; spousal abuse; rape or sexual assault; kidnapping; arson; physical assault or battery; or a drug-related felony in the past 5 years), or were convicted as an adult of a violent misdemeanor against a child (for example child abuse, child endangerment, sexual assault, or a misdemeanor involving child pornography). A provider loses eligible federal assistance if it employs someone who is barred. Providers must send a background check request to the State agency for every current and prospective staff member. For workers already employed before November 19, 2014, providers had to submit checks by the deadline set in the law and then at least once every 5 years. For workers hired on or after November 19, 2014, checks must be done before they start and then at least every 5 years. If a worker had a qualifying check within 5 years while working for another provider in the same State and the State gave the first provider the result, a new check may not be required if the worker stayed on or had a break in work of no more than 180 days. States must give results within 45 days, tell the provider only whether the person is eligible or not, and give the worker details if they are disqualified. Workers must be allowed to appeal errors. States may charge only actual costs for checks, must publish their rules online, may disqualify for other safety-related crimes, and must meet the rules by the last day of the second full fiscal year after November 19, 2014 (with up to a 1-year extension for good cause). If a State does not comply, 5 percent of its federal funds under this program may be withheld. Definitions: "child care provider" means licensed or assisted paid providers that are not related to all the children; "child care staff member" means paid workers or those with unsupervised access to children who are not related to all the children.