115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 705 

AN ACT 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to 

establish a voluntary national criminal history background check system and criminal history review program for certain individuals who, related to their employment, have access to children, the elderly, or individuals 

with disabilities, and for other purposes. 
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Protection Im5 provements Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND 

7 CHECK AND CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW 

8 PROGRAM. 

9 The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (34 

10 U.S.C. 40101 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 3 (34 U.S.C. 40102)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘provider’’ each place it 

13 appears and inserting ‘‘covered individual’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘provider’s’’ each place it 

15 appears and inserting ‘‘covered individual’s’’; 

16 (C) by amending subsection (a)(3) to read 

17 as follows: 

18 ‘‘(3)(A) The Attorney General shall establish a 

19 program, in accordance with this section, to provide 

20 qualified entities located in States that do not have 

21 in effect procedures described in paragraph (1), or 

22 qualified entities located in States that do not pro23 hibit the use of the program established under this 

24 paragraph, with access to national criminal history 
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1 background checks on, and criminal history reviews 

2 of, covered individuals. 

3 ‘‘(B) A qualified entity described in subpara4 graph (A) may submit to the appropriate designated 

5 entity a request for a national criminal history back6 ground check on, and a criminal history review of, 

7 a covered individual. Qualified entities making a re8 quest under this paragraph shall comply with the 

9 guidelines set forth in subsection (b), and with any 

10 additional applicable procedures set forth by the At11 torney General or by the State in which the entity 

12 is located.’’; 

13 (D) in subsection (b)— 

14 (i) in paragraph (1)(E), by striking 

15 ‘‘unsupervised’’; 

16 (ii) by striking paragraph (2) and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) that the State, or in a State that does 

19 not have in effect procedures described in subsection 

20 (a)(1), the designated entity, ensures that— 

21 ‘‘(i) each covered individual who is the sub22 ject of a background check under subsection (a) 

23 is entitled to obtain a copy of any background 

24 check report; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) each covered individual who is the 

2 subject of a background check under subsection 

3 (a) is provided a process by which the covered 

4 individual may appeal the results of the back5 ground check to challenge the accuracy or com6 pleteness of the information contained in the 

7 background report of the covered individual; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii)(I) each covered individual described 

10 in clause (ii) is given notice of the opportunity 

11 to appeal; 

12 ‘‘(II) each covered individual described in 

13 clause (ii) will receive instructions on how to 

14 complete the appeals process if the covered indi15 vidual wishes to challenge the accuracy or com16 pleteness of the information contained in the 

17 background report of the covered individual; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(III) the appeals process is completed in 

20 a timely manner for each covered individual de21 scribed in clause (ii); and 

22 ‘‘(B) the State, or in a State that does not have 

23 in effect procedures described in subsection (a)(1), 

24 the designated entity, may allow for a review proc25 ess— 
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1 ‘‘(i) through which the State or designated 

2 entity, as the case may be, may determine that 

3 a covered individual who is the subject of a 

4 background check under subsection (a) is dis5 qualified for a crime specified in subsection 

6 (f)(2)(C); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) which shall be consistent with title 

8 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

9 2000e et seq.);’’; 

10 (iii) in paragraph (3), by inserting 

11 after ‘‘authorized agency’’ the following: 

12 ‘‘or designated entity, as applicable,’’; and 

13 (iv) in paragraph (4), by inserting 

14 after ‘‘authorized agency’’ the following: 

15 ‘‘or designated entity, as applicable,’’; 

16 (E) in subsection (d), by inserting after 

17 ‘‘officer or employee thereof,’’ the following: ‘‘, 

18 nor shall any designated entity nor any officer 

19 or employee thereof,’’; 

20 (F) by amending subsection (e) to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(e) FEES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) STATE PROGRAM.—In the case of a back24 ground check conducted pursuant to a State require25 ment adopted after December 20, 1993, conducted 
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1 with fingerprints on a covered individual, the fees 

2 collected by authorized State agencies and the Fed3 eral Bureau of Investigation may not exceed the ac4 tual cost of the background check conducted with 

5 fingerprints. 

6 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PROGRAM.—In the case of a na7 tional criminal history background check and crimi8 nal history review conducted pursuant to the proce9 dures established pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the 

10 fees collected by a designated entity shall be set at 

11 a level that will ensure the recovery of the full costs 

12 of providing all such services. The designated entity 

13 shall remit the appropriate portion of such fee to the 

14 Attorney General, which amount is in accordance 

15 with the amount published in the Federal Register 

16 to be collected for the provision of a criminal history 

17 background check by the Federal Bureau of Inves18 tigation. 

19 ‘‘(3) ENSURING FEES DO NOT DISCOURAGE

20 VOLUNTEERS.—A fee system under this subsection 

21 shall be established in a manner that ensures that 

22 fees to qualified entities for background checks do 

23 not discourage volunteers from participating in pro24 grams to care for children, the elderly, or individuals 

25 with disabilities. A fee charged to a qualified entity 
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1 that is not organized under section 501(c)(3) of the 

2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 may not be less than 

3 the total sum of the costs of the Federal Bureau of 

4 Investigation and the designated entity.’’; and 

5 (G) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND

8 CHECK AND CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACK10 GROUND CHECK.—Upon a designated entity receiv11 ing notice of a request submitted by a qualified enti12 ty pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the designated en13 tity shall forward the request to the Attorney Gen14 eral, who shall, acting through the Director of the 

15 Federal Bureau of Investigation, complete a finger16 print-based check of the national criminal history 

17 background check system, and provide the informa18 tion received in response to such national criminal 

19 history background check to the appropriate des20 ignated entity. The designated entity may, upon re21 quest from a qualified entity, complete a check of a 

22 State criminal history database. 

23 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW.— 

24 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATED ENTITIES.—The Attor25 ney General shall designate, and enter into an 
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1 agreement with, one or more entities to make 

2 determinations described in paragraph (2). The 

3 Attorney General may not designate and enter 

4 into an agreement with a Federal agency under 

5 this subparagraph. 

6 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS.—A designated en7 tity shall, upon the receipt of the information 

8 described in paragraph (1), make a determina9 tion of fitness described in subsection (b)(4), 

10 using the criteria described in subparagraph 

11 (C). 

12 ‘‘(C) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW CRI13 TERIA.—A covered individual may be deter14 mined to be unfit under subsection (b)(4) if the 

15 covered individual— 

16 ‘‘(i) refuses to consent to a criminal 

17 background check under this section; 

18 ‘‘(ii) knowingly makes a materially 

19 false statement in connection with a crimi20 nal background check under this section; 

21 ‘‘(iii) is registered, or is required to be 

22 registered, on a State sex offender registry 

23 or repository or the National Sex Offender 

24 Registry established under the Adam 
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1 Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 

2 2006 (34 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(iv) has been convicted of a felony 

4 consisting of— 

5 ‘‘(I) murder, as described in sec6 tion 1111 of title 18, United States 

7 Code; 

8 ‘‘(II) child abuse or neglect; 

9 ‘‘(III) a crime against children, 

10 including child pornography; 

11 ‘‘(IV) spousal abuse; 

12 ‘‘(V) a crime involving rape or 

13 sexual assault; 

14 ‘‘(VI) kidnapping; 

15 ‘‘(VII) arson; 

16 ‘‘(VIII) physical assault or bat17 tery; or 

18 ‘‘(IX) a drug-related offense com19 mitted during the preceding 5 years; 

20 ‘‘(v) has been convicted of a violent 

21 misdemeanor committed as an adult 

22 against a child, including— 

23 ‘‘(I) child abuse; 

24 ‘‘(II) child endangerment; 

25 ‘‘(III) sexual assault; or 
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1 ‘‘(IV) of a misdemeanor involving 

2 child pornography; or 

3 ‘‘(vi) in the case of a covered indi4 vidual who has, seeks to have, or may have 

5 access to the elderly or individuals with 

6 disabilities, has been convicted of any 

7 criminal offense relating to the abuse, ex8 ploitation, or neglect (as those terms are 

9 defined in section 2011 of the Social Secu10 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397j)) of an elder or 

11 an individual with disabilities.’’; and 

12 (2) in section 5 (34 U.S.C. 40104)— 

13 (A) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(9) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in16 dividual— 

17 ‘‘(A) who has, seeks to have, or may have 

18 access to children, the elderly, or individuals 

19 with disabilities, served by a qualified entity; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) who— 

22 ‘‘(i) is employed by or volunteers with, 

23 or seeks to be employed by or volunteer 

24 with, a qualified entity; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) owns or operates, or seeks to 

2 own or operate, a qualified entity;’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

4 at the end; 

5 (C) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe6 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (D) by inserting after paragraph (11) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(12) the term ‘designated entity’ means an en10 tity designated by the Attorney General under sec11 tion 3(f)(2)(A).’’. 

12 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

14 be fully implemented by not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate October 16, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 705 

AN ACT 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 

ities, and for other purposes. children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilwho, related to their employment, have access to history review program for certain individuals history background check system and criminal 1993 to establish a voluntary national criminal