N.Y. MHY Law § 19.20 — New York Code / Act MHY / Title D / Article 19 / Section 19.20
Review of criminal history information concerning certain prospective employees and volunteers
Status: in_force

§ 19.20 Review of criminal history information concerning certain\n            prospective employees and volunteers.\n  * Every provider of services who contracts with or is approved or\notherwise authorized by the office to provide services, except (1) a\ndepartment facility, (2) a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight\nof the public health law, or (3) a licensed professional under title\neight of the education law who does not have employees or volunteers who\nwill have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted physical\ncontact with the clients of such provider, shall request that the office\nrequest and receive from the division of criminal justice services\ncriminal history information, as such phrase is defined in paragraph (c)\nof subdivision one of section eight hundred forty-five-b of the\nexecutive law, concerning each prospective employee or volunteer of such\nprovider who will have regular and substantial unsupervised or\nunrestricted physical contact with the clients of such provider.\n  * NB Effective until November 3, 2023\n  * Every provider of services who contracts with or is approved or\notherwise authorized by the office to provide services, except (1) a\ndepartment facility, (2) a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight\nof the public health law, or (3) a licensed professional under title\neight of the education law who does not have employees or volunteers who\nwill have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted physical\ncontact with the clients of such provider, shall request that the office\nrequest and receive from the division of criminal justice services\ncriminal history information, as such phrase is defined in paragraph (c)\nof subdivision one of section eight hundred forty-five-b of the\nexecutive law, concerning each prospective employee or volunteer of such\nprovider who will have regular and substantial unsupervised or\nunrestricted physical contact with the clients of such provider.\nProvided, however, a provider of services approved or otherwise\nauthorized under article thirty-six of this chapter shall comply with\nthe requirements of subdivision (a) of section 36.06 of such article to\nsatisfy the requirements of this section, and provided further that a\nprovider who complies with the requirements of subdivision (b) of\nsection 36.06 of such article, shall be deemed to have satisfied the\nrequirements of this section.\n  * NB Effective November 3, 2023\n  (a) Prior to requesting the office to obtain a criminal history\ninformation concerning any prospective employee or volunteer, a provider\nshall:\n  (1) inform the prospective employee or volunteer in writing that the\nprovider is required to request his or her criminal history information\nand review such information pursuant to this section; and\n  (2) obtain the signed informed consent of the prospective employee or\nvolunteer on a form supplied by the division of criminal justice\nservices which indicates that such person has:\n  (i) been informed of the right and procedures necessary to obtain,\nreview and seek correction of his or her criminal history information;\n  (ii) been informed of the reason for the request for his or her\ncriminal history information;\n  (iii) consented to such request; and\n  (iv) supplied on the form a current mailing or home address.\nUpon receiving such written consent, the provider shall obtain two sets\nof fingerprints of such prospective employee or volunteer and provide\nsuch fingerprints to the office pursuant to regulations established by\nthe division of criminal justice services.\n  (b) A provider requesting criminal history information pursuant to\nthis section shall also complete a form developed for such purpose by\nthe division of criminal justice services. Such form shall include a\nsworn statement of the person designated by such provider to request,\nreceive and review criminal history information pursuant to paragraph\none of subdivision (g) of this section certifying that:\n  (1) such criminal history information will be used by the provider\nsolely for purposes authorized by this section;\n  (2) the provider and its staff are aware of and will abide by the\nconfidentiality requirements and all other provisions of this section;\nand\n  (3) the persons designated by the provider to receive criminal history\ninformation pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision (g) of this section\nshall upon receipt immediately mark such criminal history information\n"confidential," and shall at all times maintain such criminal history\ninformation in a secure place.\n  (c) Upon receipt of the fingerprints and sworn statement required by\nsubdivisions (a) and (b) of this section, the office shall promptly\nsubmit the fingerprints to the division of criminal justice services.\nThe division of criminal justice services shall promptly forward a set\nof the applicant's fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation\nfor the purpose of a nationwide criminal history record check to\ndetermine whether such applicant has been convicted of a criminal\noffense in any state other than New York or in a federal jurisdiction.\n  (d) The division of criminal justice services shall promptly provide\nthe requested criminal history information, if any, to the office.\nCriminal history information provided by the division of criminal\njustice services pursuant to this section shall be furnished only by\nmail or other method of secure and confidential delivery, addressed to\nthe office. Such information and the envelope in which it is enclosed,\nif any, shall be prominently marked "confidential," and shall at all\ntimes be maintained by the office in a secure place.\n  (e) After receiving any criminal history information provided by the\ndivision of criminal justice services concerning a prospective employee\nor volunteer, the office shall review the information to determine\nwhether such prospective employee or volunteer has been convicted of a\ncriminal offense in any state other than New York or in a federal\njurisdiction. If the record does not include such information, the\noffice shall forward a summary of the New York criminal history\ninformation to the provider who shall proceed pursuant to subdivision\n(g) of this section. For the purposes of this section, "summary of the\ncriminal history information" shall mean a comprehensive synopsis of\ncriminal history information which shall include an individualized\nstatement for each pending charge and each criminal conviction which has\nnot been vacated, reversed or sealed.\n  (f) Where the criminal history information received by the office\nincludes a criminal offense in any state other than New York or in a\nfederal jurisdiction, the office shall consider whether to approve or\ndisapprove the prospective employee based on the criminal history\ninformation in accordance with the provisions of article twenty-three-A\nof the correction law and subdivisions fifteen and sixteen of section\ntwo hundred ninety-six of the executive law and notify the provider of\nits determination, provided, however, that a reasonable time before\nmaking a determination pursuant to this subdivision, the office shall\nprovide the prospective employee or volunteer with a copy of the\ncriminal history information and a copy of article twenty-three-A of the\ncorrection law, and inform such prospective employee or volunteer of his\nor her right to seek correction of any incorrect information contained\nin such criminal history information pursuant to the regulations and\nprocedures established by the division of criminal justice services.\n  (g) Where the provider receives a summary of the criminal history\ninformation from the office pursuant to subdivision (e) of this section,\nthe provider shall consider the information in accordance with the\nprovisions of article twenty-three-A of the correction law and\nsubdivisions fifteen and sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of\nthe executive law.\n  (1) A provider shall designate one or two persons in its employ who\nshall be authorized to request, receive and review the summary of the\ncriminal history information, and only such persons and the prospective\nemployee or volunteer to which the criminal history information relates\nshall have access to such information; provided, however, that the\nsummary of the criminal history information may be disclosed to other\npersonnel authorized by the provider who are empowered to make decisions\nconcerning prospective employees or volunteers and provided further that\nsuch other personnel shall also be subject to the confidentiality\nrequirements and all other provisions of this section. A provider shall\nnotify the office of each person authorized to have access to criminal\nhistory information pursuant to this section.\n  (2) Upon receipt of the summary of criminal history information\npursuant to this section, a provider shall provide the prospective\nemployee or volunteer with a copy of such summary of the criminal\nhistory information and a copy of article twenty-three-A of the\ncorrection law, and inform such prospective employee or volunteer of his\nor her right to seek correction of any incorrect information contained\nin such criminal history information pursuant to the regulations and\nprocedures established by the division of criminal justice services.\n  (h) A prospective employee or volunteer may withdraw from the\napplication process, without prejudice, at any time regardless of\nwhether he or she, the office or the provider has reviewed his or her\ncriminal history information. Where a prospective employee or volunteer\nwithdraws from the application process, any fingerprints and criminal\nhistory information concerning such prospective employee or volunteer\nreceived by the office or the provider shall, within ninety days, be\nreturned to such prospective employee or volunteer.\n  (i) The commissioner of the division of criminal justice services\nshall promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to implement the\nprovisions of this section, which shall include convenient procedures\nfor prospective employees and volunteers to promptly verify the accuracy\nof their criminal history information and, to the extent authorized by\nlaw, to have access to relevant documents related thereto.\n  (j) Any person who willfully permits the release of any confidential\ncriminal history information contained in the report to persons not\npermitted by this section to receive such information shall be guilty of\na misdemeanor.\n