Citations Affected: IC 12-7-2-131.8; IC 12-17.2.
Synopsis: National criminal background checks for child care.
Requires child care provider applicants, employees, and volunteers to
undergo national criminal history background checks. Amends the list
of convictions for which an individual is prohibited from being
employed by or volunteering for a child care ministry. (The introduced
version of this bill was prepared by the committee on child care.)
Effective: July 1, 2013.
January 7, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
human services.
registering the child care ministry.
(4) Provide for the issuance, denial, suspension, and revocation of
licenses.
(5) Cooperate with governing bodies of child care centers and
child care homes and their staffs to improve standards of child
care.
(6) Prepare at least biannually a directory of licensees with a
description of the program capacity and type of children served
that will be distributed to the legislature, licensees, and other
interested parties as a public document.
(7) Deposit all license application fees collected under section 2
of this chapter in the division of family resources child care fund
established by IC 12-17.2-2-3.
(8) Require each child care center or child care home to record
proof of a child's date of birth before accepting the child. A child's
date of birth may be proven by the child's original birth certificate
or other reliable proof of the child's date of birth, including a duly
attested transcript of a birth certificate.
(9) Provide an Internet site through which members of the public
may obtain the following information:
(A) Information concerning violations of this article by a
licensed child care provider, including:
(i) the identity of the child care provider;
(ii) the date of the violation; and
(iii) action taken by the division in response to the violation.
(B) Current status of a child care provider's license.
(C) Other relevant information.
The Internet site may not contain the address of a child care home
or information identifying an individual child. However, the site
may include the county and ZIP code in which a child care home
is located.
(10) Provide or approve training concerning safe sleeping
practices for children to:
(A) a provider who operates a child care program in the
provider's home as described in IC 12-17.2-3.5-5.5(b); and
(B) a child care home licensed under IC 12-17.2-5;
including practices to reduce the risk of sudden infant death
syndrome.
to the division upon request a copy of a limited national criminal
history background check for:
(1) the provider, if the provider is an individual;
(2) if the provider operates a child care program in the provider's
home, any individual who resides with the provider and who is:
(A) at least eighteen (18) years of age; or
(B) less than eighteen (18) years of age but has previously
been waived from juvenile court to adult court; and
(3) any individual who:
(A) is employed; or
(B) volunteers;
as a caregiver at the facility where the provider operates a child
care program.
A provider shall apply for a limited national criminal history
background check for an individual described in subdivision (3)
before the individual is employed or allowed to volunteer as a
caregiver.
(b) In addition to the requirement under subsection (a), a provider
shall report to the division any:
(1) police investigations;
(2) arrests; and
(3) criminal convictions;
not listed on a limited national criminal history background check
obtained under subsection (a) regarding any of the persons listed in
subsection (a).
(c) A provider that meets the other eligibility requirements of this
chapter is temporarily eligible to receive voucher payments until the
provider receives the limited national criminal history background
check required under subsection (a) from the state police department
if:
(1) the provider:
(A) has applied for the limited national criminal history
background check required under subsection (a); and
(B) obtains a local criminal history for the individuals
described in subsection (a) from each individual's local law
enforcement agency before the individual is employed or
allowed to volunteer as a caregiver; and
(2) the local criminal history does not reveal that an individual
has been convicted of a:
(A) felony;
(B) misdemeanor related to the health or safety of a child;
(C) misdemeanor for operating a child care center without a
license under IC 12-17.2-4-35; or
(D) misdemeanor for operating a child care home without a
license under IC 12-17.2-5-35.
(d) A provider is ineligible to receive a voucher payment if an
individual for whom a limited national criminal history background
check is required under this section has been convicted of a:
(1) felony;
(2) misdemeanor related to the health or safety of a child;
(3) misdemeanor for operating a child care center without a
license under IC 12-17.2-4-35; or
(4) misdemeanor for operating a child care home without a
license under IC 12-17.2-5-35;
until the individual is dismissed from employment or volunteer service
at the facility where the provider operates a child care program or no
longer resides with the provider.
(e) A provider shall maintain a written policy requiring an
individual for whom a limited national criminal history background
check is required under this section to report any criminal convictions
of the individual to the provider.
(f) The state police department may not charge a church or religious
society any fees or costs for responding to a request for a release of a
limited national criminal history background check record of a
prospective or current employee or a prospective or current volunteer
of a child care ministry registered under IC 12-17.2-6 if the conditions
set forth in IC 10-13-3-36(f) are met.
applicant. through the state police department under
IC 10-13-3-39.
(e) An applicant must do the following:
(1) Conduct a national criminal history background check of the
applicant's:
(A) employees;
(B) volunteers; and
(C) household members who are:
(i) at least eighteen (18) years of age; or
(ii) less than eighteen (18) years of age but have previously
been waived from juvenile court to adult court.
(2) Maintain records of each criminal history check.