Bill Text: NY S03477 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the fingerprinting and background checks of contracted service providers of student support services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S03477 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S03477-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3477--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 31, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to background checks and fingerprinting; and to amend the social services law, in relation to statewide central registry clearances by contracted service providers of student support services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1125 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 3. "Employee" shall mean any person: (i) who is receiving compensation 5 from a school or (ii) whose duties involve direct student contact and 6 (a) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 7 contracts with a school to provide transportation services to children, 8 or (b) who is an employee of a contracted service provider or worker 9 placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, 10 pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, or 11 (c) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 12 contracts with a school to provide student support services, and 13 consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of 14 services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through 15 contract. 16 § 2. Paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education 17 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (v) to read as follows: 18 (v) (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, if a 19 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 20 services, or non-public and private elementary or secondary school has 21 engaged a contracted service provider of student support services, they EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01309-03-3S. 3477--A 2 1 may opt to allow the contracted service provider to oversee the finger- 2 printing process of the contracted service provider's employees. 3 (2) Any school district, charter school, board of cooperative educa- 4 tional services, or non-public and private elementary or secondary 5 school that opts in shall not be required to oversee the fingerprinting 6 process for employees of a contracted service provider of student 7 support services such as, but not limited to, substitute teachers, 8 substitute teacher aides, substitute nurses, educational consultants, 9 tutors, substitute school administrative support and other temporary 10 student services professionals, so long as they have engaged a 11 contracted service provider of student support services who has complied 12 with the fingerprinting requirements elsewhere in this chapter. 13 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 14 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 15 as follows: 16 (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal 17 justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of 18 law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprint- 19 ing of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twen- 20 ty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [and], 21 boards of cooperative educational services and contracted service 22 providers of student support services and authorizing the fingerprinting 23 of prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and second- 24 ary schools, and for the use of information derived from searches of the 25 records of the division of criminal justice services and the federal 26 bureau of investigation based on the use of such fingerprints. The 27 commissioner shall also develop a form for use by school districts, 28 charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted 29 service providers of student support services, and nonpublic and private 30 elementary and secondary schools in connection with the submission of 31 fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought and any other 32 information that may be relevant to consideration of the applicant. The 33 commissioner shall also create or expand the functionality of internet 34 based systems to provide access to contracted service providers of 35 student support services upon application of the contracted service 36 provider of student support services to the commissioner to enable them 37 to be able to view clearance status results and subsequent arrest 38 notifications by logging into a protected web portal, entering in the 39 employee name and social security number, which would provide access to 40 see the clearance status results. The commissioner shall also establish 41 a form for the recordation of allegations of child abuse in an educa- 42 tional setting, as required pursuant to section eleven hundred twenty- 43 six of this chapter. No person who has been fingerprinted pursuant to 44 section three thousand four-b of this chapter or pursuant to section 45 five hundred nine-cc or twelve hundred twenty-nine-d of the vehicle and 46 traffic law and whose fingerprints remain on file with the division of 47 criminal justice services shall be required to undergo fingerprinting 48 for purposes of a new criminal history record check. This subdivision 49 and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall not 50 apply to a school district within a city with a population of one 51 million or more. 52 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (b) of subdivision 30 of 53 section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws 54 of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 55 The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal justice 56 services, shall promulgate a form to be provided to all such prospectiveS. 3477--A 3 1 employees of school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative 2 educational services, contracted service providers of student support 3 services and nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that 4 elect to fingerprint and seek clearance for prospective employees that 5 shall: 6 § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 7 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 8 as follows: 9 (d) The commissioner shall develop forms to be provided to all school 10 districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, 11 contracted service providers of student support services and to all 12 nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that elect to 13 fingerprint their prospective employees, to be completed and signed by 14 prospective employees when conditional appointment or emergency condi- 15 tional appointment is offered. 16 § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 17 chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 18 1. The commissioner shall submit to the division of criminal justice 19 services two sets of fingerprints of prospective employees as defined in 20 subdivision three of section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter 21 received from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative 22 educational services, contracted service providers of student support 23 services and of prospective employees received from nonpublic and 24 private elementary and secondary schools pursuant to title two of this 25 chapter, and the division of criminal justice services processing fee 26 imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight hundred thir- 27 ty-seven of the executive law and any fee imposed by the federal bureau 28 of investigation. The division of criminal justice services and the 29 federal bureau of investigation shall forward such criminal history 30 record to the commissioner in a timely manner. For the purposes of this 31 section, the term "criminal history record" shall mean a record of all 32 convictions of crimes and any pending criminal charges maintained on an 33 individual by the division of criminal justice services and the federal 34 bureau of investigation. All such criminal history records sent to the 35 commissioner pursuant to this subdivision shall be confidential pursuant 36 to the applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and 37 shall not be published or in any way disclosed to persons other than the 38 commissioner, unless otherwise authorized by law. 39 § 7. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 40 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 41 3. (a) Clearance. (i) After receipt of a criminal history record from 42 the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of 43 investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate 44 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 45 services, contracted service providers of student support services or 46 nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school whether the prospec- 47 tive employee to which such report relates is cleared for employment 48 based upon his or her criminal history. All determinations to grant or 49 deny clearance for employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be 50 performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred 51 ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the 52 correction law. When the commissioner denies a prospective employee 53 clearance for employment, such prospective employee shall be afforded 54 notice and the right to be heard and offer proof in opposition to such 55 determination in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner.S. 3477--A 4 1 (ii) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, 2 information regarding the clearance status results of the investigation 3 of current or prospective employees of contracted service providers of 4 student support services and subsequent changes in status related to 5 such employees shall be transmitted via an internet-based system made 6 available to contracted service providers of student support services 7 upon application of the contracted service provider of student support 8 services to the commissioner where, by logging into a protected web 9 portal and entering in the employee name and social security number, 10 contracted service providers of student support services would be able 11 to access clearance status results, whether the employee first completed 12 a form provided to them by the contracted service provider of student 13 support services, or received a form previously from a school district, 14 charter school or board of cooperative educational services. Nothing in 15 this section shall require an employee who has already submitted their 16 fingerprints to the commissioner to have to submit them again, so long 17 as they were not destroyed. 18 (b) Conditional clearance. When the commissioner receives a request 19 for a determination on the conditional clearance of a prospective 20 employee, the commissioner, after receipt of a criminal history record 21 from the division of criminal justice services, shall promptly notify 22 the prospective employee and the appropriate school district, charter 23 school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted service 24 providers of student support services or nonpublic or private elementary 25 or secondary school that the prospective employee to which such report 26 relates is conditionally cleared for employment based upon his or her 27 criminal history or that more time is needed to make the determination. 28 If the commissioner determines that more time is needed, the notifica- 29 tion shall include a good faith estimate of the amount of additional 30 time needed. Such notification shall be made within fifteen business 31 days after the commissioner receives the prospective employee's finger- 32 prints. All determinations to grant or deny conditional clearance for 33 employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance 34 with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the execu- 35 tive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. 36 § 8. Section 1125 of the education law is amended by adding a new 37 subdivision 11 to read as follows: 38 11. "Contracted service provider of student support services" shall 39 mean any individual or entity that contracts with, but not limited to, a 40 school district, a charter school, a board of cooperative educational 41 services, or a nonpublic school for the provision of substitute teach- 42 ers, substitute teacher assistants, substitute nurses, educational 43 professional, tutors, substitute school administrative support, and 44 other temporary student service personnel. 45 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as 46 amended by chapter 611 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as 47 follows: 48 3. For purposes of this section, the term "provider" or "provider 49 agency" shall mean: an authorized agency; the office of children and 50 family services; a private, nonprofit incorporated agency that meets the 51 state office of children and family services program standards for child 52 advocacy centers; juvenile detention facilities subject to the certif- 53 ication of the office of children and family services; programs estab- 54 lished pursuant to article nineteen-H of the executive law; non-residen- 55 tial or residential programs or facilities licensed or operated by the 56 office of mental health or the office for people with developmentalS. 3477--A 5 1 disabilities except family care homes; including head start programs 2 which are funded pursuant to title V of the federal economic opportunity 3 act of nineteen hundred sixty-four, as amended; early intervention 4 service established pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty of the 5 public health law; preschool services established pursuant to section 6 forty-four hundred ten of the education law; contracted service provid- 7 ers of student support services as defined in subdivision eleven of 8 section eleven hundred twenty-five of the education law; special act 9 school districts as enumerated in chapter five hundred sixty-six of the 10 laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as amended; programs and facili- 11 ties licensed by the office of [alcoholism and substance abuse] 12 addiction services and supports; residential schools which are operated, 13 supervised or approved by the education department; health homes, or any 14 subcontractor of such health homes, who contracts with or is approved or 15 otherwise authorized by the department of health to provide health home 16 services to all those enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of a develop- 17 mental disability as defined in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 18 of the mental hygiene law and enrollees who are under twenty-one years 19 of age under section three hundred sixty-five-l of this chapter, or any 20 entity that provides home and community based services to enrollees who 21 are under twenty-one years of age under a demonstration program pursuant 22 to section eleven hundred fifteen of the federal social security act; 23 publicly-funded emergency shelters for families with children, provided, 24 however, for purposes of this section, when the provider or provider 25 agency is a publicly-funded emergency shelter for families with chil- 26 dren, then all references in this section to the "potential for regular 27 and substantial contact with individuals who are cared for by the agen- 28 cy" shall mean the potential for regular and substantial contact with 29 children who are served by such shelter; and any other facility or 30 provider agency, as defined in subdivision four of section four hundred 31 eighty-eight of this chapter, in regard to the employment of staff, or 32 use of providers of goods and services and staff of such providers, 33 consultants, interns and volunteers. 34 § 10. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 390-a of the social 35 services law, as amended by chapter 416 of the laws of 2000, is amended 36 to read as follows: 37 (a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by 38 any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child 39 care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a 40 provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a 41 child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child 42 care program. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the 43 following requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her employ- 44 ment history, provide personal and employment references; submit such 45 information as is required for screening with the statewide central 46 register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance with the 47 provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article; sign a 48 sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, 49 he or she has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other 50 jurisdiction; and provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the 51 division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions 52 of section three hundred ninety-b of this title. Notwithstanding the 53 provisions of this paragraph, where a program has people working on 54 their premises through a contracted service provider of student support 55 services as defined in subdivision eleven of section eleven hundred 56 twenty-five of the education law, and such contracted services providerS. 3477--A 6 1 of student support services has reviewed clearance statuses as a provid- 2 er or provider agency under section four hundred twenty-four-a of this 3 chapter, then such program does not need to run the check itself on the 4 contracted service provider employees working on their site; 5 § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.
