I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3287 
To require a criminal background check for a child care staff member of 
any child care provider in a State that receives funds from the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant Program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2009 
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. GRANGER, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To require a criminal background check for a child care 
staff member of any child care provider in a State that 
receives funds from the Child Care and Development 
Block Grant Program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Childcare Account-
ability and Responsibility Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘CARE for 
Kids Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 
CHECK. 
The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 658G the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 658H. REQUIREMENT OF A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 
CHECK FOR A CHILD CARE STAFF MEMBER 
OF ANY CHILD CARE PROVIDER IN A STATE 
THAT RECEIVES FUNDS FROM THE CHILD 
CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT 
PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT
OF
A
CRIMINAL
BACK-
GROUND
CHECK.—A State and national criminal 
background check for a child care staff member of 
a child care provider is required in any State that 
receives funds under this subchapter. The criminal 
background check shall include— 
‘‘(A) a search of the National Sex Offender 
Registry established pursuant to the Adam 
Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 
(42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.); 
‘‘(B) a search of the National Crime Infor-
mation Center; 
‘‘(C) a search of the State criminal reg-
istry or repository in the State in which the 
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child care staff member resides and each State 
where such staff member previously resided; 
‘‘(D) a search of State-based abuse and 
neglect registries and databases, including the 
abuse and neglect registries and databases of 
each State where the child care staff member 
previously resided; and 
‘‘(E) a Federal Bureau of Investigation 
fingerprint check using the Integrated Auto-
mated Fingerprint Identification System. 
‘‘(2) SUBMITTAL
OF
REQUESTS.—Subject to 
paragraph (3), a child care provider shall submit a 
request for a State and national criminal back-
ground check to the appropriate State agency des-
ignated by the State— 
‘‘(A) for each child care staff member prior 
to its submission of an application for a State 
child care license, except that this subparagraph 
shall not apply to any additional applications 
submitted within a 5-year period after such re-
quest for a criminal background check under 
paragraph (2) and such submission of an appli-
cation under this subparagraph is made by the 
child care provider; 
‘‘(B) for each child care staff member; 
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criminal background check of the child care staff 
member of the provider reveals a felony conviction 
for— 
‘‘(A) child abuse or neglect; 
‘‘(B) spousal abuse; 
‘‘(C) a crime against children (including 
child pornography); 
‘‘(D) a violent crime, including— 
‘‘(i) physical assault or battery; 
‘‘(ii) rape; 
‘‘(iii) sexual assault; or 
‘‘(iv) homicide; or 
‘‘(E) a drug-related offense committed 
within 5 years prior to submission to a criminal 
background check. 
‘‘(6) APPEALS.—Not later than 30 days after 
receipt of the results of a criminal background 
check, a child care provider may appeal such results 
to the appropriate State agency designated by the 
State. 
‘‘(7) FEES.—To defray the costs of carrying 
out the duties described in this subsection, a State 
may collect 1 fee per criminal background check 
from a child care provider in an amount not to ex-
ceed the actual costs to the State for the administra-
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tion of all required criminal background checks, and 
such fee for all required criminal background checks 
may not exceed a total of $36. 
‘‘(b) STATE COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(A) PENALTY.—A State that fails to sat-
isfy the requirements of this section shall not 
receive 2 percent of the grant funds that it 
would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal 
year. 
‘‘(B) UNALLOCATED
GRANT
FUNDS.— 
Grant funds not allocated under subparagraph 
(A) shall be distributed in the first fiscal year 
that the State meets the requirements. 
‘‘(2) TIME LIMITATION.—A State shall have 3 
years to implement the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(3) EXTENSION OF TIME.—The Secretary may 
grant an extension, no longer than 2 years, to a 
State that makes a good faith effort to satisfy the 
requirements of this section. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—The term ‘child care staff mem-
ber’ means an individual that provides child care services 
for compensation and on a regular basis (other than an 
individual who is related to the child or children for whom 
services are provided), regardless of whether the services 
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are provided for a child care provider or a family child 
care provider. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO CON-
DUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.—There are au-
thorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to off-
set the administrative costs to conduct State and national 
criminal background checks under this section.’’. 
Æ 
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