I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1726 

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

require criminal background checks for child care providers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2011 

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER 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 for 

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 Protection 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

7 CHECKS. 

8 The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

9 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

10 after section 658G the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 658H. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds to 

3 carry out this subchapter shall have in effect— 

4 ‘‘(1) requirements, policies, and procedures to 

5 require and conduct criminal background checks for 

6 child care staff members (including prospective child 

7 care staff members) of child care providers described 

8 in subsection (c); and 

9 ‘‘(2) licensing, regulation, and registration re10 quirements, as applicable, that prohibit the employ11 ment of child care staff members as described in 

12 subsection (c). 

13 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A criminal background check 

14 for a child care staff member under subsection (a) shall 

15 include— 

16 ‘‘(1) a search of the State criminal registry or 

17 repository in the State where the child care staff 

18 member resides and each State where such staff 

19 member previously resided; 

20 ‘‘(2) a search of State-based child abuse and 

21 neglect registries and databases in the State where 

22 the child care staff member resides and each State 

23 where such staff member previously resided; 

24 ‘‘(3) a search of the National Crime Informa25 tion Center; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a Federal Bureau of Investigation finger2 print check using the Integrated Automated Finger3 print Identification System; and 

4 ‘‘(5) a search of the National Sex Offender 

5 Registry established under the Adam Walsh Child 

6 Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 

7 16901 et seq.). 

8 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) CHILD CARE STAFF MEMBERS.—A child 

10 care staff member shall be ineligible for employment 

11 by a child care provider that is licensed, regulated, 

12 or registered by the State or receives funds provided 

13 under this subchapter in a State if such individual— 

14 ‘‘(A) refuses to consent to the criminal 

15 background check described in subsection (b); 

16 ‘‘(B) makes a false statement in connec17 tion with such criminal background check; 

18 ‘‘(C) is registered, or is required to be reg19 istered, on a State sex offender registry or the 

20 National Sex Offender Registry established 

21 under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 

22 Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.); 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(D) has been convicted of a felony con25 sisting of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) murder, as described in section 

2 1111 of title 18, United States Code; 

3 ‘‘(ii) child abuse or neglect; 

4 ‘‘(iii) a crime against children, includ5 ing child pornography; 

6 ‘‘(iv) spousal abuse; 

7 ‘‘(v) a crime involving rape or sexual 

8 assault; 

9 ‘‘(vi) kidnaping; 

10 ‘‘(vii) arson; or 

11 ‘‘(viii) physical assault, battery, or a 

12 drug-related offense, committed within the 

13 past 5 years. 

14 ‘‘(2) CHILD CARE PROVIDERS.—A child care 

15 provider described in paragraph (1) shall be ineli16 gible for funds provided under this subchapter if the 

17 provider employs a staff member who is ineligible for 

18 employment under paragraph (1). 

19 ‘‘(d) SUBMITTAL OF REQUESTS FOR BACKGROUND

20 CHECKS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A child care provider cov22 ered by subsection (c) shall submit a request, to the 

23 appropriate State agency designated by a State, for 

24 a criminal background check described in subsection 


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1 (b), for each child care staff member (including pro2 spective child care staff members) of the provider. 

3 ‘‘(2) STAFF MEMBERS.—In the case of an indi4 vidual who became a child care staff member before 

5 the date of enactment of the Child Care Protection 

6 Act of 2011, the provider shall submit such a re7 quest— 

8 ‘‘(A) prior to the last day described in sub9 section (i)(1); and 

10 ‘‘(B) not less often than once during each 

11 5-year period following the first submission date 

12 under this paragraph for that staff member. 

13 ‘‘(3) PROSPECTIVE STAFF MEMBERS.—In the 

14 case of an individual who is a prospective child care 

15 staff member on or after than that date of enact16 ment, the provider shall submit such a request— 

17 ‘‘(A) prior to the date the individual be18 comes a child care staff member of the pro19 vider; and 

20 ‘‘(B) not less often than once during each 

21 5-year period following the first submission date 

22 under this paragraph for that staff member. 

23 ‘‘(e) BACKGROUND CHECK RESULTS AND AP24 PEALS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) BACKGROUND CHECK RESULTS.—The 

2 State shall carry out the request of a child care pro3 vider for a criminal background check as expedi4 tiously as possible and shall provide the results of 

5 the criminal background check to such provider. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPEALS.—The State shall provide for a 

7 process by which a child care staff member (includ8 ing a prospective child care staff member) may ap9 peal the results of a criminal background check con10 ducted under this section to challenge the accuracy 

11 or completeness of the information contained in such 

12 member’s criminal background report. 

13 ‘‘(f) FEES FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS.—Fees that a 

14 State may charge for the costs of conducting a criminal 

15 background check as required by this section shall not ex16 ceed the actual costs to the State for the administration 

17 of such criminal background checks. 

18 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

19 be construed to prevent a State from disqualifying individ20 uals as child care staff members based on their conviction 

21 for crimes not specifically listed in this section that bear 

22 upon an individual’s fitness to provide care for and have 

23 responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. 

24 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘child care provider’ means a cen2 ter-based child care provider, a group home child 

3 care provider, a family child care provider, or other 

4 provider of child care services for compensation and 

5 on a regular basis that— 

6 ‘‘(A) is not an individual who is related to 

7 all children for whom child care services are 

8 provided; and 

9 ‘‘(B) is licensed, regulated, or registered 

10 under State law or receives funds provided 

11 under this subchapter; and 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘child care staff member’ means 

13 an individual (other than an individual who is re14 lated to all children for whom child care services are 

15 provided)— 

16 ‘‘(A) who is employed by a child care pro17 vider for compensation; 

18 ‘‘(B) whose activities involve the care or 

19 supervision of children for a child care provider 

20 or access to children who are cared for or su21 pervised by a child care provider; or 

22 ‘‘(C) who is a family child care provider. 

23 ‘‘(i) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds 

25 to carry out this subchapter shall meet the requireVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:28 May 05, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1726.IH H1726

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1 ments of this section for the provision of criminal 

2 background checks for child care staff members de3 scribed in subsection (d)(1) not later than the last 

4 day of the second full fiscal year after the date of 

5 enactment of the Child Care Protection Act of 2011. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may grant a 

7 State an extension of time, of not more than 1 fiscal 

8 year, to meet the requirements of this section if the 

9 State demonstrates a good faith effort to comply 

10 with the requirements of this section. 

11 ‘‘(3) PENALTY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—Except 

12 as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), for any fiscal 

13 year that a State fails to comply substantially with 

14 the requirements of this section, the Secretary shall 

15 withhold 5 percent of the funds that would otherwise 

16 be allocated to that State under this subchapter for 

17 the following fiscal year.’’. 

Æ 


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