I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1711 

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to 

require criminal background checks, inspections, and training of child 

care providers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2011 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

Act of 1990 to require criminal background checks, inspections, and training of child care providers. 

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 Care Criminal 

5 Background Check Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to assist States in improv8 ing the overall quality of child care services in the State 

9 by requiring national criminal background checks of child 


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1 care providers that are licensed by the State or that re2 ceive funds under the Child Care and Development Block 

3 Grant Act of 1990. 

4 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) STATE PLAN.—Section 658E(c)(2) of the Child 

6 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

7 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(I) CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK.— 

10 Certify that the State will— 

11 ‘‘(i) require each eligible child care 

12 provider (excluding an eligible child care 

13 provider described in section 658P(5)(B)) 

14 that is licensed by the State or receives 

15 funds provided under this subchapter— 

16 ‘‘(I) to obtain from the State a 

17 comprehensive criminal background 

18 check of— 

19 ‘‘(aa) each employee who 

20 provides child care services; 

21 ‘‘(bb) each applicant for em22 ployment to provide such serv23 ices; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) each family child care 

2 provider who provides or applies 

3 to provide such services; 

4 ‘‘(II) to refuse to employ an indi5 vidual to provide such services— 

6 ‘‘(aa) if such individual was 

7 convicted, in the then most re8 cent 5-year period ending on the 

9 date of receipt of such a criminal 

10 background check, of— 

11 ‘‘(AA) a crime of vio12 lence (as defined in section 

13 20101 of subtitle A of title 

14 II of the Violent Crime Con15 trol and Law Enforcement 

16 Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

17 13701)); or 

18 ‘‘(BB) a crime against 

19 a child for which the penalty 

20 exceeds imprisonment for a 

21 term exceeding 1 year; 

22 ‘‘(bb) to an eligible child 

23 without the supervision of an em24 ployee whose criminal back25 ground check satisfies the reVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:59 May 05, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.IH H1711

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1 quirements of the subparagraph, 

2 pending receipt of such a crimi3 nal background check of such in4 dividual; and 

5 ‘‘(cc) to an eligible child 

6 with the supervision of an em7 ployee whose criminal back8 ground check satisfies the re9 quirements of the subparagraph 

10 and for a period exceeding 90 

11 days, pending receipt of such a 

12 criminal background check of 

13 such individual; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) carry out at the request of an eli15 gible child care provider, as soon as prac16 ticable, a comprehensive criminal back17 ground check (at the State option for a fee 

18 not to exceed the actual cost to the State) 

19 of each employee of, and each applicant for 

20 employment by, a child care provider that 

21 is licensed by the State or receives funds 

22 provided under this subchapter by the 

23 State, and make the results of such check 

24 available to such provider and to such em25 ployee or applicant. 


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1 At the request of a State, the Secretary may 

2 waive for 1 fiscal year the application of this 

3 subparagraph to the State if the State dem4 onstrates a good faith effort to comply with the 

5 requirements specified in this subparagraph and 

6 its inability to so comply. 

7 ‘‘(J) INSPECTIONS.—The State shall cer8 tify that each eligible child care provider (ex9 cluding an eligible child care provider described 

10 in section 658P(5)(B)) that is licensed by the 

11 State will be inspected not less frequently than 

12 at 3-month intervals. 

13 ‘‘(K) TRAINING.—The State shall certify 

14 that each eligible child care provider (excluding 

15 an eligible child care provider described in sec16 tion 658P(5)(B)) that receives funds provided 

17 under this subchapter will receive not less 

18 than— 

19 ‘‘(i) 40 hours of initial training; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) annually 24 hours of training 

21 that includes CPR, first aid, recognizing 

22 child abuse, basic safety and health, and 

23 child behavior and development.’’. 

24 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 658I(b)(2) of the Child 

25 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 9858g(i)(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘If a State fails to comply substantially with 

4 the requirements specified in section 

5 658e(c)(2)(I), the Secretary shall reduce by 10 

6 percent the State allotment for the fiscal year 

7 following the fiscal year with respect to which 

8 noncompliance is found.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 

10 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

11 take effect 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act. 

Æ 


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