I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1469 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to establish a permanent 

background check system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. ROGERS of Michigan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to 

establish a permanent background check system. 

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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 2006, 61,200,000 adults (a total of 26.7 

9 percent of the population) contributed a total of 

10 8,100,000,000 hours of volunteer service. Of those 


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1 who volunteer, 27 percent dedicate their service to 

2 education or youth programs, or a total of 

3 16,500,000 adults. 

4 (2) Assuming recent incarceration rates remain 

5 unchanged, an estimated 6.6 percent of individuals 

6 in the United States will serve time in prison for a 

7 crime during their lifetime. The Integrated Auto8 mated Fingerprint Identification System of the Fed9 eral Bureau of Investigation maintains fingerprints 

10 and criminal history records on more than 

11 47,000,000 individuals, many of whom have been ar12 rested or convicted multiple times. 

13 (3) A study released in 2002, found that, of in14 dividuals released from prison in 15 States in 1994, 

15 an estimated 67.5 percent were rearrested for a fel16 ony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years. Three17 quarters of those new arrests resulted in convictions 

18 or a new prison sentence. 

19 (4) Given the large number of individuals with 

20 criminal history records and the vulnerability of the 

21 population they work with, human service organiza22 tions that work with children need an effective and 

23 reliable means of obtaining relevant information 

24 about criminal histories in order to determine the 

25 suitability of a potential volunteer or employee. 


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1 (5) The large majority of Americans (88 per2 cent) favor granting youth-serving organizations ac3 cess to conviction records for screening volunteers 

4 and 59 percent favored allowing youth-serving orga5 nizations to consider arrest records when screening 

6 volunteers. This was the only use for which a major7 ity of those surveyed favored granting access to ar8 rest records. 

9 (6) Congress has previously attempted to en10 sure that States make Federal Bureau of Investiga11 tion criminal history background checks available to 

12 organizations seeking to screen employees and volun13 teers who work with children, the elderly, and indi14 viduals with disabilities, through the National Child 

15 Protection Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) and 

16 the Volunteers for Children Act (Public Law 105– 

17 251; 112 Stat. 1885). However, according to a June 

18 2006 report from the Attorney General, these laws 

19 ‘‘did not have the intended impact of broadening the 

20 availability of NCPA checks.’’. A 2007 survey con21 ducted by MENTOR/National Mentoring Partner22 ship found that only 18 States allowed youth men23 toring organizations to access nationwide Federal 

24 Bureau of Investigation background searches. 


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1 (7) Even when accessible, the cost of a criminal 

2 history background check can be prohibitively expen3 sive, ranging from $5 to $75 for a State fingerprint 

4 check, plus the Federal Bureau of Investigation fee, 

5 which ranges between $16 to $24, for a total of be6 tween $21 and $99 for each volunteer or employee. 

7 (8) Delays in processing such checks can also 

8 limit their utility. While the Federal Bureau of In9 vestigation processes all civil fingerprint requests in 

10 less than 24 hours, State response times vary widely, 

11 and can take as long as 42 days. 

12 (9) The Child Safety Pilot Program under sec13 tion 108 of the PROTECT Act (42 U.S.C. 5119a 

14 note) revealed the importance of performing finger15 print-based Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal 

16 history background checks. Of 29,000 background 

17 checks performed through the pilot program as of 

18 March 2007, 6.4 percent of volunteers were found to 

19 have a criminal history of concern, including very se20 rious offenses such as sexual abuse of minors, as21 sault, child cruelty, murder, and serious drug of22 fenses. 

23 (10) In an analysis performed on the volunteers 

24 screened in the first 18 months of the Child Safety 

25 Pilot Program, it was found that over 25 percent of 


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1 the individuals with criminal histories had com2 mitted an offense in a State other than the State in 

3 which they were applying to volunteer, meaning that 

4 a State-only search would not have found relevant 

5 criminal results. In addition, even though volunteers 

6 knew a background check was being performed, over 

7 50 percent of the individuals found to have a crimi8 nal history falsely indicated on their application 

9 form that they did not have a criminal history. 

10 (11) The Child Safety Pilot Program also dem11 onstrates that timely and affordable background 

12 checks are possible, as background checks under 

13 that program are completed within 3 to 5 business 

14 days at a cost of $18. 

15 SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

16 The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 

17 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating section 5 as section 6; and 

19 (2) by inserting after section 4 the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 5. PROGRAM FOR NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY 

21 BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR CHILD-SERVING 

22 ORGANIZATIONS. 

23 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) the term ‘background check designee’ 

25 means the entity or organization, if any, designated 


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1 by or entering an agreement with the Attorney Gen2 eral under subsection (b)(3)(A) to carry out or assist 

3 in carrying out the duties described in subsection 

4 (c); 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘child’ means an individual who 

6 is less than 18 years of age; 

7 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered entity’ means a business 

8 or organization, whether public, private, for-profit, 

9 nonprofit, or voluntary that provides care, care 

10 placement, supervision, treatment, education, train11 ing, instruction, or recreation to children, including 

12 a business or organization that licenses, certifies, or 

13 coordinates individuals or organizations to provide 

14 care, care placement, supervision, treatment, edu15 cation, training, instruction, or recreation to chil16 dren; 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in18 dividual— 

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

20 unsupervised access to a child served by a cov21 ered entity; and 

22 ‘‘(B) who— 

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

24 or seeks to be employed by or volunteer 

25 with, a covered entity; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) owns or operates, or seeks to 

2 own or operate, a covered entity; 

3 ‘‘(5) the term ‘criminal history review designee’ 

4 means the entity or organization, if any, designated 

5 by or entering an agreement with the Attorney Gen6 eral under subsection (b)(3)(B) to carry out or as7 sist in carrying out the criminal history review pro8 gram; 

9 ‘‘(6) the term ‘criminal history review program’ 

10 means the program established under subsection 

11 (b)(1)(B); 

12 ‘‘(7) the term ‘identification document’ has the 

13 meaning given that term in section 1028 of title 18, 

14 United States Code; 

15 ‘‘(8) the term ‘participating entity’ means a 

16 covered entity that is— 

17 ‘‘(A) located in a State that does not have 

18 a qualified State program; and 

19 ‘‘(B) approved under subsection (f) to re20 ceive nationwide background checks in accord21 ance with subsection (c) and participate in the 

22 criminal history review program; 

23 ‘‘(9) the term ‘qualified State program’ means 

24 a program of a State authorized agency that the At25 torney General determines is meeting the standards 


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1 identified in subsection (b)(2) to ensure that a wide 

2 range of youth-serving organizations have affordable 

3 and timely access to nationwide background checks; 

4 ‘‘(10) the term ‘open arrest’ means an arrest 

5 relating to which charges may still be brought, tak6 ing into consideration the applicable statute of limi7 tations; 

8 ‘‘(11) the term ‘pending charge’ means a crimi9 nal charge that has not been resolved through con10 viction, acquittal, dismissal, plea bargain, or any 

11 other means; 

12 ‘‘(12) the term ‘State’ means a State of the 

13 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com14 monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 

15 Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

16 Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of 

17 Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 

18 and the Republic of Palau; and 

19 ‘‘(13) the term ‘State authorized agency’ means 

20 a division or office of a State designated by that 

21 State to report, receive, or disseminate criminal his22 tory information. 

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of enactment of the Child Protection 


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1 Improvements Act of 2009, the Attorney General 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) establish policies and procedures to 

4 carry out the duties described in subsection (c); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) establish a criminal history review 

7 program in accordance with subsection (d). 

8 ‘‘(2) ASSESSMENTS.—The Attorney General 

9 shall conduct— 

10 ‘‘(A) an annual assessment of each State 

11 authorized agency to determine whether the 

12 agency operates a qualified State program, in13 cluding a review of whether the State author14 ized agency— 

15 ‘‘(i) has designated a wide range of 

16 covered entities as eligible to submit State 

17 criminal background check requests and 

18 nationwide background check requests to 

19 the State authorized agency; 

20 ‘‘(ii) charges a covered entity not 

21 more than a total of $25 and the fee 

22 charged by the Federal Bureau of Inves23 tigation for a nationwide background 

24 check; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) returns requests for State crimi2 nal background checks and nationwide 

3 background checks to a covered entity not 

4 later than 10 business days after the date 

5 on which the request was made; and 

6 ‘‘(B) in addition to an annual assessment 

7 under subparagraph (A), an assessment de8 scribed in that subparagraph of a State author9 ized agency if— 

10 ‘‘(i) a State authorized agency that 

11 does not have a qualified State program 

12 requests such an assessment; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the Attorney General receives re14 ports from covered entities indicating that 

15 a State authorized agency that has a quali16 fied State program no longer meets the 

17 standards described in subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(3) DESIGNEES.—The Attorney General 

19 may— 

20 ‘‘(A) designate or enter into an agreement 

21 with an entity or organization that has an es22 tablished history of serving the interests of chil23 dren to carry out or assist in carrying out the 

24 duties described in subsection (c); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) designate or enter into an agreement 

2 with 1 or more Federal, State, or local govern3 ment agencies to carry out or assist in carrying 

4 out the criminal history review program. 

5 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO NATIONWIDE BACKGROUND

6 CHECKS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is 

8 to streamline the process of obtaining nationwide 

9 background checks, provide effective customer serv10 ice, and facilitate widespread access to nationwide 

11 background checks by participating entities. 

12 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Attorney General or the 

13 background check designee shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) handle inquiries from covered entities 

15 and inform covered entities about how to re16 quest nationwide background checks— 

17 ‘‘(i) for a covered entity located in a 

18 State with a qualified State program, by 

19 referring the covered entity to the State 

20 authorized agency; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) for a covered entity located in a 

22 State without a qualified State program, 

23 by providing information on the require24 ments to become a participating entity; 


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1 ‘‘(B) provide participating entities with ac2 cess to nationwide background checks on cov3 ered individuals in accordance with this section; 

4 ‘‘(C) receive paper and electronic requests 

5 for nationwide background checks on covered 

6 individuals from participating entities; 

7 ‘‘(D) to the extent practicable, negotiate 

8 an agreement with each State authorized agen9 cy under which— 

10 ‘‘(i) that State authorized agency shall 

11 conduct a State criminal background check 

12 within the time periods specified in sub13 section (e) in response to a request from 

14 the Attorney General or the background 

15 check designee and provide criminal his16 tory records to the Attorney General or the 

17 criminal history review designee; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) a participating entity may elect 

19 to obtain a State criminal background 

20 check, in addition to a nationwide back21 ground check, through 1 unified request to 

22 the Attorney General or the background 

23 check designee; 

24 ‘‘(E) convert all paper fingerprint cards 

25 into an electronic form and securely transmit 


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1 all fingerprints electronically to the national 

2 criminal history background check system and, 

3 if appropriate, the State authorized agencies; 

4 ‘‘(F) collect a fee to conduct the nation5 wide background check, and, if appropriate, a 

6 State criminal background check, and remit 

7 fees to the Attorney General or the criminal 

8 history review designee, the Federal Bureau of 

9 Investigation, and, if appropriate, the State au10 thorized agencies; and 

11 ‘‘(G) coordinate with the Federal Bureau 

12 of Investigation, participating State authorized 

13 agencies, and the Attorney General or the 

14 criminal history review designee to ensure that 

15 background check requests are being completed 

16 within the time periods specified in subsection 

17 (e). 

18 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—A request for 

19 a nationwide background check by a participating 

20 entity shall include— 

21 ‘‘(A) the fingerprints of the covered indi22 vidual, in paper or electronic form; 

23 ‘‘(B) a photocopy of a valid identification 

24 document; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a statement completed and signed by 

2 the covered individual that— 

3 ‘‘(i) sets out the covered individual’s 

4 name, address, and date of birth, as those 

5 items of information appear on a valid 

6 identification document; 

7 ‘‘(ii) notifies the covered individual 

8 that the Attorney General and, if appro9 priate, a State authorized agency may per10 form a criminal history background check 

11 and that the signature of the covered indi12 vidual on the statement constitutes an ac13 knowledgment that such a check may be 

14 conducted; 

15 ‘‘(iii) notifies the covered individual 

16 that the signature of the covered individual 

17 constitutes consent to participate in the 

18 criminal history review program, under 

19 which the participating entity may be in20 formed if the criminal history records of 

21 the covered individual reveal a criminal 

22 history that warrants special concern or 

23 further inquiry; 

24 ‘‘(iv) notifies the covered individual 

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1 vided with a copy of the criminal history 

2 records of the covered individual and shall 

3 have 10 business days to review the 

4 records, challenge the accuracy or com5 pleteness of any information in the 

6 records, or withdraw consent to participate 

7 in the criminal history review program be8 fore any information about the criminal 

9 history of the covered individual is pro10 vided to the participating entity; and 

11 ‘‘(v) notifies the covered individual 

12 that prior to and after the completion of 

13 the background check, the participating 

14 entity may choose to deny the covered indi15 vidual access to children. 

16 ‘‘(4) FEES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

18 or the background check designee may collect a 

19 fee to defray the costs of carrying out the du20 ties described in this subsection, the costs of 

21 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and State 

22 and local agencies in resolving the accuracy of 

23 criminal history records of covered individuals, 

24 and the duties of the criminal history review 

25 designee under this section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) for a nationwide background 

2 check and criminal history review, in an 

3 amount not to exceed the lesser of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the sum of— 

5 ‘‘(aa) the actual cost to the 

6 Attorney General or the back7 ground check designee of con8 ducting a nationwide background 

9 check; 

10 ‘‘(bb) the actual cost to the 

11 Attorney General or the criminal 

12 history review designee of con13 ducting a criminal history review 

14 under this section; and 

15 ‘‘(cc) any costs associated 

16 with resolving inaccuracies, omis17 sions, or challenges to a covered 

18 individual’s criminal history; or 

19 ‘‘(II) to the extent practicable, no 

20 greater than $25 for any participating 

21 entity that is a nonprofit entity; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) for a State criminal background 

23 check described in paragraph (2)(D), in 

24 the amount specified in the agreement with 


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1 the applicable State authorized agency, not 

2 to exceed $25. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON FEES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A participating 

5 entity may not charge another entity or in6 dividual a surcharge to access a back7 ground check conducted under this section. 

8 ‘‘(ii) VIOLATION.—The Attorney Gen9 eral shall bar any participating entity that 

10 the Attorney General determines violated 

11 clause (i) from submitting background 

12 checks under this section. 

13 ‘‘(d) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the criminal 

15 history review program is to provide participating 

16 entities with reliable and accurate information re17 garding whether a covered individual has been con18 victed of, or has an open arrest or pending charges 

19 for, a crime that may bear upon the fitness of the 

20 covered individual to have responsibility for the safe21 ty and well-being of the children in their care. 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Attorney General 

23 or the criminal history review designee shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) establish procedures to securely re25 ceive criminal history records from the Federal 


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1 Bureau of Investigation, if necessary, and from 

2 State authorized agencies, if appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(B) establish procedures to resolve poten4 tially incomplete records, under which the At5 torney General or the criminal history review 

6 designee shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) determine whether the criminal 

8 history record— 

9 ‘‘(I) includes an arrest— 

10 ‘‘(aa) that would meet the 

11 criteria described in paragraph 

12 (3)(B)(ii) if it were an open ar13 rest; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) relating to which the 

15 criminal history record does not 

16 indicate whether charges resulted 

17 from the arrest; 

18 ‘‘(II) includes a criminal 

19 charge— 

20 ‘‘(aa) for which a conviction 

21 would meet the criteria described 

22 in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

23 paragraph (3); and 

24 ‘‘(bb) relating to which the 

25 criminal history record does not 


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1 indicate any disposition of the 

2 charge; or 

3 ‘‘(III) includes a criminal 

4 charge— 

5 ‘‘(aa) that would meet the 

6 criteria described in paragraph 

7 (3)(B)(ii) if it were a pending 

8 charge; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) relating to which the 

10 criminal history record does not 

11 indicate any disposition of the 

12 charge; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) if the criminal history record in14 cludes an arrest or charge described in 

15 clause (i), request that the Federal Bureau 

16 of Investigation— 

17 ‘‘(I) determine the status of any 

18 such arrest or charge; 

19 ‘‘(II) update the criminal history 

20 record with any disposition informa21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(III) convey the result of the de23 termination and any updated record 

24 to the Attorney General or criminal 

25 history review designee; 


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1 ‘‘(C) after receiving a criminal history 

2 record from the Federal Bureau of Investiga3 tion and, if necessary, resolving any potentially 

4 incomplete information through the procedures 

5 described in subparagraph (B), transmit to the 

6 covered individual— 

7 ‘‘(i) the criminal history records; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a detailed notification of the 

9 rights of the covered individual under sub10 section (g); and 

11 ‘‘(iii) information about how to con12 tact the Attorney General or criminal his13 tory review designee for the purpose of 

14 challenging the accuracy or completeness 

15 of any information in the criminal history 

16 record or to withdraw consent to partici17 pate in the criminal history review pro18 gram; 

19 ‘‘(D) if the covered individual informs the 

20 Attorney General or criminal history review des21 ignee that the covered individual intends to 

22 challenge the accuracy or completeness of any 

23 information in the criminal history record, as24 sist the covered individual in contacting the ap25 propriate persons or offices within the Federal 


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1 Bureau of Investigation or State authorized 

2 agency; 

3 ‘‘(E) make determinations regarding 

4 whether the criminal history records received in 

5 response to a criminal history background check 

6 conducted under this section indicate that the 

7 covered individual has a criminal history that 

8 may bear on the covered individual’s fitness to 

9 provide care to children, based solely on the cri10 teria described in paragraph (3); 

11 ‘‘(F) unless the covered individual has 

12 withdrawn consent to participate in the criminal 

13 history review program, convey to the partici14 pating entity that submitted the request for a 

15 nationwide background check— 

16 ‘‘(i) which of the 3 categorizations de17 scribed in paragraph (3) criminal convic18 tion of special concern identified, further 

19 inquiry recommended, or no criminal 

20 records of special concern identified apply 

21 to the covered individual; 

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1 garding hiring employees and using volun2 teers; 

3 ‘‘(iii) if a criminal history that meets 

4 the criteria set forth in subparagraph (A) 

5 or (B) of paragraph (3) is found, a rec6 ommendation to the participating entity to 

7 consult with the covered individual in order 

8 to obtain more information about the 

9 criminal history of the covered individual, 

10 and a list of factors to consider in assess11 ing the significance of that criminal his12 tory, including— 

13 ‘‘(I) the nature, gravity, and cir14 cumstances of the offense, including 

15 whether the individual was convicted 

16 of the offense; 

17 ‘‘(II) the period of time that has 

18 elapsed since the date of the offense 

19 or end of a period of incarceration or 

20 supervised release; 

21 ‘‘(III) the nature of the position 

22 held or sought; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) any evidence of rehabilita24 tion; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) instructions and guidance that, 

2 in evaluating the considerations described 

3 in clause (iii), the participating entity 

4 should consult the Equal Employment Op5 portunity Commission Policy Statement on 

6 the Issue of Conviction Records under 

7 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or any 

8 successor thereto issued by the Equal Em9 ployment Opportunity Commission; 

10 ‘‘(G) if a covered individual has withdrawn 

11 consent to participate in the criminal history re12 view program, inform the participating entity 

13 that consent has been withdrawn; 

14 ‘‘(H) work with the Attorney General or 

15 the background check designee and the Federal 

16 Bureau of Investigation to develop processes 

17 and procedures to ensure that criminal history 

18 background check requests are completed within 

19 the time periods specified in subsection (e); and 

20 ‘‘(I) serve as a national resource center to 

21 provide guidance and assistance to participating 

22 entities on how to interpret criminal history in23 formation, the possible restrictions that apply 

24 when making hiring decisions based on criminal 

25 histories, and other related information. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW CRITERIA.— 

2 The Attorney General or the criminal history review 

3 designee shall, in determining when a criminal his4 tory record indicates that a covered individual has a 

5 criminal history that may bear on the fitness of the 

6 covered individual to provide care to children— 

7 ‘‘(A) assign a categorization of criminal 

8 conviction of special concern identified if a cov9 ered individual is found to have a conviction 

10 that would prevent the individual from being 

11 approved as a foster or adoptive parent under 

12 section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)); 

14 ‘‘(B) assign a categorization of further in15 quiry recommended if a covered individual is 

16 found to have— 

17 ‘‘(i) a conviction for a serious mis18 demeanor, committed against a child, in19 volving the same type of conduct prohib20 ited by a felony described in section 

21 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)); 

23 ‘‘(ii) a conviction for a serious mis24 demeanor, not committed against a child, 

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1 ited by a felony described in section 

2 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)) unless 5 years 

4 has elapsed since the later of the date of 

5 conviction and the date of release of the 

6 person from imprisonment for that convic7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(iii) an open arrest or pending 

9 charge for a felony described in, or a seri10 ous misdemeanor involving the same type 

11 of conduct prohibited by a felony described 

12 in, section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Se13 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)); and 

14 ‘‘(C) assign a categorization of no criminal 

15 records of special concern identified for a cov16 ered individual that does not meet the criteria 

17 described in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

18 ‘‘(e) TIMING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Unless exceptional cir20 cumstances apply, criminal background checks shall 

21 be completed according to the time frame under this 

22 subsection. The Attorney General or the background 

23 check designee shall work with the criminal history 

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1 tigation to ensure that the time limits under this 

2 subsection are being achieved. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION PROCESSING.—The Attorney 

4 General or the background check designee shall elec5 tronically submit a national background check re6 quest to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, if 

7 appropriate, the participating State authorized agen8 cy not later than 2 business days after the date on 

9 which a request for a national background check is 

10 received by the Attorney General or the background 

11 check designee. 

12 ‘‘(3) CONDUCT OF BACKGROUND CHECKS.—The 

13 Federal Bureau of Investigation and, if appropriate, 

14 a State authorized agency shall provide criminal his15 tory records to the Attorney General or the criminal 

16 history review designee not later than 2 business 

17 days after the date on which the Federal Bureau of 

18 Investigation or State authorized agency, as the case 

19 may be, receives a request for a nationwide back20 ground check from the Attorney General or the 

21 background check designee. 

22 ‘‘(4) RESOLUTION OF POTENTIALLY INCOM23 PLETE RECORDS.—The Attorney General or criminal 

24 history review designee shall submit any request that 

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1 tentially incomplete records not later than 3 busi2 ness days after the date on which the Attorney Gen3 eral or criminal history review designee receives the 

4 criminal history records from the Federal Bureau of 

5 Investigation or State authorized agency. Unless the 

6 Federal Bureau of Investigation certifies that addi7 tional time is needed, the Federal Bureau of Inves8 tigation shall complete the investigation, and provide 

9 the Attorney General or criminal history review des10 ignee with the results of the investigation and any 

11 updated criminal history records, not later than 5 

12 business days after the date on which Federal Bu13 reau of Investigation receives a request from the At14 torney General or criminal history designee. 

15 ‘‘(5) PROVISION OF RECORDS TO COVERED IN16 DIVIDUALS AND OPPORTUNITY TO CHALLENGE.— 

17 When the Attorney General or the criminal history 

18 review designee finds that a covered individual’s 

19 criminal history records fall with the categorizations 

20 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection 

21 (d)(3), the Attorney General or criminal history re22 view designee shall provide the covered individual 

23 with the criminal history records of the covered indi24 vidual and a detailed notification of the rights of the 

25 covered individual under subsection (g) not later 


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1 than 1 business day after the date on which the At2 torney General or criminal history review designee 

3 receives a criminal history record from the Federal 

4 Bureau of Investigation and, if necessary, resolves 

5 any potentially incomplete information in accordance 

6 with subsection (d)(2)(B). The covered individual 

7 shall have 10 business days from the date sent to 

8 challenge the accuracy or completeness of any infor9 mation in the criminal history record or to withdraw 

10 consent to participate in the criminal history review 

11 program. 

12 ‘‘(6) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEWS.—Unless the 

13 Federal Bureau of Investigation certifies that fur14 ther time is required to resolve a challenge brought 

15 by a covered individual, the Attorney General or the 

16 criminal history review designee shall convey to the 

17 participating entity the information set forth in sub18 paragraph (F) or (G) of subsection (d)(2), as appro19 priate, 10 business days after providing the covered 

20 individuals with the criminal history records of the 

21 covered individual and a notification of their rights 

22 under subsection (g). 

23 ‘‘(f) PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General or 

25 the background check designee shall determine 


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1 whether an entity is a covered entity and whether 

2 that covered entity should be approved as a partici3 pating entity, based on— 

4 ‘‘(A) whether the entity is located in a 

5 State that has a qualified State program; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the consultation conducted under 

7 paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In determining how 

9 many covered entities to approve as participating en10 tities, the Attorney General or the background check 

11 designee shall consult quarterly with the Federal 

12 Bureau of Investigation and the criminal history re13 view designee to determine the volume of requests 

14 for national background checks that can be com15 pleted, based on the capacity of the criminal history 

16 review program and the Federal Bureau of Inves17 tigation, the availability of resources, and the dem18 onstrated need for national background checks in 

19 order to protect children. 

20 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZA21 TIONS.—In determining whether a covered entity 

22 should be approved as a participating entity under 

23 paragraph (1), the Attorney General or the back24 ground check designee shall give preference to any 

25 organization participating in the Child Safety Pilot 


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1 Program under section 108(a)(3) of the PROTECT 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 5119a note) on the date of enact3 ment of the Child Protection Improvements Act of 

4 2009 and to any other nonprofit organizations. 

5 ‘‘(g) RIGHT OF COVERED INDIVIDUALS TO CHAL6 LENGE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF RECORDS.—A 

7 covered individual who is the subject of a nationwide back8 ground check under this section may challenge the accu9 racy and completeness of the criminal history records in 

10 the criminal history report as provided in subsection 

11 (d)(2)(D), without submitting a separate set of finger12 prints or an additional fee. 

13 ‘‘(h) DUTIES OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVES14 TIGATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL

16 BACKGROUND RECORDS.—Upon request by the At17 torney General or background check designee, the 

18 Federal Bureau of Investigation shall conduct a na19 tionwide background check and provide any criminal 

20 history records to the Attorney General or criminal 

21 history review designee. 

22 ‘‘(2) OPEN ARRESTS OR PENDING CHARGES.— 

23 Upon request by the Attorney General or criminal 

24 history review designee, the Federal Bureau of In25 vestigation shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) investigate any arrest or charge de2 scribed in subsection (d)(2)(B)(i) with relevant 

3 departments and agencies of the Federal Gov4 ernment and State and local governments; 

5 ‘‘(B) determine the status of any such ar6 rest or charge; 

7 ‘‘(C) update the criminal history record 

8 with any disposition information; and 

9 ‘‘(D) convey the result of the determina10 tion and any updated criminal history record to 

11 the Attorney General or criminal history review 

12 designee. 

13 ‘‘(3) RESOLUTION OF CHALLENGES.—If a cov14 ered individual challenges the accuracy or complete15 ness of any information in the criminal history 

16 record of the covered individual, the Federal Bureau 

17 of Investigation, in consultation with the agency that 

18 contributed to the record, shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) investigate the challenge with relevant 

20 departments and agencies of the Federal Gov21 ernment and State and local governments; 

22 ‘‘(B) promptly make a determination re23 garding the accuracy and completeness of the 

24 challenged information; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) correct any inaccurate or incomplete 

2 records. 

3 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

5 appropriated to the Attorney General for each of fis6 cal years 2009 through 2012 such sums as are nec7 essary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

8 ‘‘(2) SENSE OF THE HOUSE.—It is the sense of 

9 the House of Representatives that in fiscal year 

10 2009, and each fiscal year thereafter, the fees col11 lected by the Attorney General or the background 

12 check designee should be sufficient to carry out the 

13 duties of the Attorney General or the background 

14 check designee under this section and to help sup15 port the criminal history review program. 

16 ‘‘(j) COLLECTION OF DATA AND REPORT TO CON17 GRESS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of the Child Protection Im20 provements Act of 2009, and annually thereafter, 

21 the Attorney General shall prepare and submit to 

22 Congress and make available to the public a report 

23 on the programs and procedures established under 

24 this Act. 

25 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF DATA.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHAR2 ACTERISTICS.—In this paragraph, the term ‘de3 mographic characteristics’ includes information 

4 pertaining to race, color, ancestry, national ori5 gin, age, sex, and marital status. 

6 ‘‘(B) COMPILING.—Beginning 90 days 

7 after the date of enactment of the Child Protec8 tion Improvements Act of 2009, the Attorney 

9 General shall compile data regarding— 

10 ‘‘(i) the number and types of partici11 pating entities; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the fees charged to participating 

13 entities under this section; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the time interval between na15 tionwide background check submissions 

16 and responses under this section; 

17 ‘‘(iv) the fiscal impact of this section 

18 on State authorized agencies; 

19 ‘‘(v) the number and demographic 

20 characteristics of covered individuals sub21 mitting a statement described in subsection 

22 (c)(3)(A)(iii) as part of a request for a na23 tionwide background check; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) the number and demographic 

2 characteristics of covered individuals deter3 mined to have a criminal history; 

4 ‘‘(vii) the number, type (including the 

5 identity of the offense and whether the of6 fense was committed while the covered in7 dividual was a juvenile or adult), and fre8 quency of offenses, and length of the pe9 riod between the date of the offense and 

10 the date of the nationwide background 

11 check for any covered individuals found to 

12 have a criminal history under this section; 

13 ‘‘(viii) the procedures available for 

14 covered individuals to challenge the accu15 racy and completeness of criminal history 

16 records under this section; 

17 ‘‘(ix) the number and results of chal18 lenges to the accuracy and completeness of 

19 criminal history records under this section; 

20 ‘‘(x) the number and types of correc21 tions of erroneous criminal history records 

22 based on a challenge under this section; 

23 and 

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1 nal history received by the criminal history 

2 review program. 

3 ‘‘(C) AGGREGATING DATA.—The Attorney 

4 General shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) aggregate the data collected 

6 under this paragraph by State and city; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) aggregate the data collected 

9 under clauses (v), (vi), and (vii) of sub10 paragraph (B) by race, color, ancestry, na11 tional origin, age, sex, and marital status. 

12 ‘‘(D) REPORTS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

14 year after the date of enactment of the 

15 Child Protection Improvements Act of 

16 2009, and annually thereafter, the Attor17 ney General shall prepare and submit to 

18 Congress a report concerning the data 

19 compiled and aggregated under this para20 graph. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—Each report sub22 mitted under clause (i) shall contain— 

23 ‘‘(I) the data compiled and ag24 gregated under this paragraph, orga25 nized in such a way as to provide a 


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1 comprehensive analysis of the pro2 grams and procedures established 

3 under this section; 

4 ‘‘(II) information regarding and 

5 analysis of— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the programs and pro7 cedures established under this 

8 section; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) the extent such pro10 grams and procedures have 

11 helped screen individuals who 

12 may pose a risk to children; and 

13 ‘‘(III) information regarding and 

14 analysis of whether and to what ex15 tent the programs and procedures es16 tablished under this section are hav17 ing a disparate impact on individuals 

18 based on race, color, ancestry, na19 tional origin, age, sex, or marital sta20 tus. 

21 ‘‘(iii) RECOMMENDATIONS.—A report 

22 submitted under clause (i) may contain 

23 recommendations to Congress on possible 

24 legislative improvements to this section. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.— 

2 Upon the request of any member of Con3 gress, the Attorney General shall make 

4 available any of the data compiled or ag5 gregated under this paragraph. The Attor6 ney General shall not make available any 

7 data that identifies specific individuals. 

8 ‘‘(k) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(A) FAILURE TO CONDUCT CRIMINAL

11 BACKGROUND CHECKS.—No participating entity 

12 shall be liable in an action for damages solely 

13 for failure to conduct a criminal background 

14 check on a covered individual. 

15 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO TAKE ADVERSE ACTION

16 AGAINST COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—No partici17 pating entity shall be liable in an action for 

18 damages solely for a failure to take action ad19 verse to a covered individual upon receiving any 

20 notice of criminal history from the Attorney 

21 General or the criminal history review designee 

22 under subsection (d)(2)(F). 

23 ‘‘(2) RELIANCE.—A participating entity that 

24 reasonably relies on criminal history records received 

25 in response to a background check under this section 


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1 shall not be liable in an action for damages based 

2 on the inaccuracy or incompleteness of that informa3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the criminal his7 tory review designee, including a director, offi8 cer, employee, or agent of the criminal history 

9 review designee, shall not be liable in an action 

10 for damages relating to the performance of the 

11 responsibilities and functions of the criminal 

12 history review designee under this section. 

13 ‘‘(B) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR OTHER

14 MISCONDUCT.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 

15 apply in an action if the criminal history review 

16 designee, or a director, officer, employee, or 

17 agent of the criminal history review designee, 

18 engaged in intentional misconduct or acted, or 

19 failed to act, with actual malice, with reckless 

20 disregard to a substantial risk of causing injury 

21 without legal justification, or for a purpose un22 related to the performance of responsibilities or 

23 functions under this section. 

24 ‘‘(C) ORDINARY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES.— 

25 Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an act or 


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1 omission relating to an ordinary business activ2 ity, such as an activity involving general admin3 istration or operations, the use of motor vehi4 cles, or personnel management. 

5 ‘‘(4) CIVIL CLAIMS OF DAMAGES.—Nothing in 

6 this subsection shall apply in actions for damages 

7 based upon title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

8 or the Fair Credit Report Act. 

9 ‘‘(l) PRIVACY OF INFORMATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON UNAUTHORIZED DISCLO11 SURE OR USE OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS.— 

12 Except for a covered individual, any entity or indi13 vidual authorized to receive or transmit fingerprints 

14 or criminal history records under this Act— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall use the fingerprints, criminal 

16 history records, or information in the criminal 

17 history records only for the purposes specifically 

18 set forth in this Act; 

19 ‘‘(B) shall allow access to the fingerprints, 

20 criminal history records, or information in the 

21 criminal history records only to those employees 

22 of the entity, and only on such terms, as are 

23 necessary to fulfill the purposes set forth in this 

24 Act; 


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1 ‘‘(C) shall not disclose the fingerprints, 

2 criminal history records, or information in the 

3 criminal history records, except as specifically 

4 authorized under this Act; 

5 ‘‘(D) shall keep a written record of each 

6 authorized disclosure of the fingerprints, crimi7 nal history records, or the information in the 

8 criminal history records; and 

9 ‘‘(E) shall maintain adequate security 

10 measures to ensure the confidentiality of the 

11 fingerprints, the criminal history records, and 

12 the information in the criminal history records. 

13 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

15 shall promulgate regulations to ensure the en16 forcement of the nondisclosure requirements 

17 under paragraph (1) and to provide for appro18 priate sanctions in the case of violations of the 

19 requirements. 

20 ‘‘(B) PARTICIPATING ENTITIES AND DES21 IGNEES.—The participation in any program 

22 under this section by an entity or organization 

23 that enters into an agreement with the Attorney 

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1 tory review program shall be conditioned on the 

2 person— 

3 ‘‘(i) establishing procedures to ensure 

4 compliance with, and respond to any viola5 tions of, paragraph (1); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) maintaining substantial compli7 ance with paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(3) DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), the Attorney General, the 

11 background check designee, and the criminal 

12 history review designee shall destroy any finger13 prints, either in paper or electronic form, or 

14 criminal history record received for the purpose 

15 of carrying out the provisions of this Act after 

16 any transaction based on the fingerprints or 

17 criminal history record is completed, and shall 

18 not maintain the fingerprints, the criminal his19 tory records, or the information in the criminal 

20 history record in any form. 

21 ‘‘(B) REPEAT APPLICANTS.—A covered in22 dividual may sign a release permitting the At23 torney General or criminal history review des24 ignee to retain the fingerprints and criminal 

25 history record of the covered individual for a 


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1 period not to exceed 5 years, for the sole pur2 pose of participating in the criminal history re3 view program on a subsequent occasion.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF CHILD SAFETY PILOT. 

5 Section 108(a)(3)(A) of the PROTECT Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 5119a note) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘60-month’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 

9 Child Safety Pilot Program under this paragraph 

10 shall terminate on the date that the program for na11 tional criminal history background checks for child12 serving organizations established under the Child 

13 Protection Improvements Act of 2009 is operating 

14 and able to enroll any organization using the Child 

15 Safety Pilot Program.’’. 

Æ 


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