[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3287 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3287

To require a criminal background check for a child care staff member of 
 any child care provider in a State that receives funds from the Child 
   Care and Development Block Grant Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2009

 Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. Granger, and Ms. Schakowsky) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a criminal background check for a child care staff member of 
 any child care provider in a State that receives funds from the Child 
   Care and Development Block Grant Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Childcare Accountability and 
Responsibility Act of 2009'' or the ``CARE for Kids Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK.

    The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 658G the following 
new section:

``SEC. 658H. REQUIREMENT OF A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK FOR A CHILD 
              CARE STAFF MEMBER OF ANY CHILD CARE PROVIDER IN A STATE 
              THAT RECEIVES FUNDS FROM THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT 
              BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Criminal Background Check.--
            ``(1) Requirement of a criminal background check.--A State 
        and national criminal background check for a child care staff 
        member of a child care provider is required in any State that 
        receives funds under this subchapter. The criminal background 
        check shall include--
                    ``(A) a search of the National Sex Offender 
                Registry established pursuant to the Adam Walsh Child 
                Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et 
                seq.);
                    ``(B) a search of the National Crime Information 
                Center;
                    ``(C) a search of the State criminal registry or 
                repository in the State in which the child care staff 
                member resides and each State where such staff member 
                previously resided;
                    ``(D) a search of State-based abuse and neglect 
                registries and databases, including the abuse and 
                neglect registries and databases of each State where 
                the child care staff member previously resided; and
                    ``(E) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint 
                check using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint 
                Identification System.
            ``(2) Submittal of requests.--Subject to paragraph (3), a 
        child care provider shall submit a request for a State and 
        national criminal background check to the appropriate State 
        agency designated by the State--
                    ``(A) for each child care staff member prior to its 
                submission of an application for a State child care 
                license, except that this subparagraph shall not apply 
                to any additional applications submitted within a 5-
                year period after such request for a criminal 
                background check under paragraph (2) and such 
                submission of an application under this subparagraph is 
                made by the child care provider;
                    ``(B) for each child care staff member;
                    ``(C) for each prospective child care staff member 
                prior to their beginning date of employment; and
                    ``(D) in each 5-year period after the date of the 
                child care provider's first request for a criminal 
                background check for the child care staff member.
            ``(3) Limitation on requests.--Not more than 1 request for 
        a State and national criminal background check under paragraph 
        (2) is required for any child care staff member for each 5-year 
        period after such request for the criminal background check for 
        such staff member.
            ``(4) Results.--Not later than 10 business days after the 
        date of which a request by a child care provider is made for a 
        State and national criminal background check and is received by 
        the appropriate State agency, such agency shall provide the 
        results of the criminal background check to such provider.
            ``(5) Ineligibility.--A child care provider shall be 
        ineligible for receipt of a child care certificate as payment 
        for child care services, and a child care staff member shall be 
        ineligible for employment by any child care provider in a 
        State, if any such criminal background check of the child care 
        staff member of the provider reveals a felony conviction for--
                    ``(A) child abuse or neglect;
                    ``(B) spousal abuse;
                    ``(C) a crime against children (including child 
                pornography);
                    ``(D) a violent crime, including--
                            ``(i) physical assault or battery;
                            ``(ii) rape;
                            ``(iii) sexual assault; or
                            ``(iv) homicide; or
                    ``(E) a drug-related offense committed within 5 
                years prior to submission to a criminal background 
                check.
            ``(6) Appeals.--Not later than 30 days after receipt of the 
        results of a criminal background check, a child care provider 
        may appeal such results to the appropriate State agency 
        designated by the State.
            ``(7) Fees.--To defray the costs of carrying out the duties 
        described in this subsection, a State may collect 1 fee per 
        criminal background check from a child care provider in an 
        amount not to exceed the actual costs to the State for the 
        administration of all required criminal background checks, and 
        such fee for all required criminal background checks may not 
        exceed a total of $36.
    ``(b) State Compliance.--
            ``(1) Noncompliance.--
                    ``(A) Penalty.--A State that fails to satisfy the 
                requirements of this section shall not receive 2 
                percent of the grant funds that it would otherwise be 
                allocated for that fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Unallocated grant funds.--Grant funds not 
                allocated under subparagraph (A) shall be distributed 
                in the first fiscal year that the State meets the 
                requirements.
            ``(2) Time limitation.--A State shall have 3 years to 
        implement the requirements of this section.
            ``(3) Extension of time.--The Secretary may grant an 
        extension, no longer than 2 years, to a State that makes a good 
        faith effort to satisfy the requirements of this section.
    ``(c) Definition.--The term `child care staff member' means an 
individual that provides child care services for compensation and on a 
regular basis (other than an individual who is related to the child or 
children for whom services are provided), regardless of whether the 
services are provided for a child care provider or a family child care 
provider.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations To Conduct Criminal 
Background Checks.--There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as necessary to offset the administrative costs to conduct State and 
national criminal background checks under this section.''.
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