I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1237
To establish procedures for national criminal background checks for child
care providers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 4, 1993
Mrs. SCHROEDER (for herself, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. CRAMER, Mr.
KOPETSKI, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. SHAYS, and Mr. SMITH of Oregon) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To establish procedures for national criminal background
checks for child care providers.
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 ‘‘National Child Protec-
tion Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. REPORTING BY THE STATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An authorized criminal justice
agency of a State shall report child abuse crime informa-
tion to, or index child abuse crime information in, the na-
tional criminal background check system.
(b) PROVISION
OF STATE CHILD ABUSE CRIME
RECORDS
THROUGH
THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL BACK-
GROUND CHECK SYSTEM.—(1) Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
eral shall—
(A) investigate the criminal records of each
State and determine for each State a timetable by
which the State should be able to provide child
abuse crime records on an on-line capacity basis
through the national criminal background check sys-
tem;
(B) establish guidelines for the reporting or in-
dexing of child abuse crime information, including
guidelines relating to the format, content, and accu-
racy of child abuse crime information and other pro-
cedures for carrying out this Act; and
(C) notify each State of the determinations
made pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(2) The Attorney General shall require as a part of
the State timetable that the State—
(A) by not later than the date that is 3 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, have in a
computerized criminal history file at least 80 percent
of the final dispositions that have been rendered in
all identifiable child abuse crime cases in which
there has been an event of activity within the last
5 years;
(B) continue to maintain at least an 80 percent
reporting rate of final case dispositions in all identi-
fiable child abuse crime cases in which there has
been an event of activity within the preceding 5
years; and
(C) take steps to achieve full disposition report-
ing, including data quality audits and periodic no-
tices to criminal justice agencies identifying records
that lack final dispositions and requesting those dis-
positions.
(c) LIAISON.—An authorized agency of a State shall
maintain close liaison with the National Center on Child
Abuse and Neglect, the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, and the National Center for the Pros-
ecution of Child Abuse for the exchange of technical as-
sistance in cases of child abuse.
(d) ANNUAL SUMMARY.—(1) The Attorney General
shall publish an annual statistical summary of the child
abuse crime information reported under this Act.
(2) The annual statistical summary described in
paragraph (1) shall not contain any information that may
reveal the identity of any particular victim or alleged viola-
tor.
(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Attorney General shall
publish an annual summary of each State’s progress in
reporting child abuse crime information to the national
criminal background check system.
(f) STUDY OF CHILD ABUSE OFFENDERS.—(1) Not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention shall begin a study based on
a statistically significant sample of convicted child abuse
offenders and other relevant information to determine—
(A) the percentage of convicted child abuse of-
fenders who have more than 1 conviction for an of-
fense involving child abuse;
(B) the percentage of convicted child abuse of-
fenders who have been convicted of an offense in-
volving child abuse in more than 1 State;
(C) whether there are crimes or classes of
crimes, in addition to those defined as background
check crimes in section 5, that are indicative of a
potential to abuse children; and
(D) the extent to which and the manner in
which instances of child abuse form a basis for con-
victions for crimes other than child abuse crimes.
(2) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Administrator shall submit a report to the
Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate
and the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives containing a description of
and a summary of the results of the study conducted pur-
suant to paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) A State may have in effect
procedures (established by or under State statute or regu-
lation) to permit a qualified entity to contact an author-
ized agency of the State to request a nationwide back-
ground check for the purpose of determining whether
there is a report that a provider has been convicted of
a background check crime.
(2) The authorized agency shall access and review
State and Federal records of background check crimes
through the national criminal background check system
and shall respond promptly to the inquiry.
(b) GUIDELINES.—(1) The Attorney General shall es-
tablish guidelines for State background check procedures
established under subsection (a), which guidelines shall in-
clude the requirements and protections of this Act.
(2) The guidelines established under paragraph (1)
shall require—
(A) that no qualified entity may request a back-
ground check of a provider under subsection (a) un-
less the provider first provides a set of fingerprints
and completes and signs a statement that—
(i) contains the name, address, and date of
birth appearing on a valid identification docu-
ment (as defined by section 1028(d)(1) of title
18, United States Code) of the provider;
(ii) the provider has not been convicted of
a background check crime and, if the provider
has been convicted of a background check
crime, contains a description of the crime and
the particulars of the conviction;
(iii) notifies the provider that the entity
may request a background check under sub-
section (a);
(iv) notifies the provider of the provider’s
rights under subparagraph (B); and
(v) notifies the provider that prior to the
receipt of the results of the background check
the qualified entity may choose to deny the pro-
vider unsupervised access to a child to whom
the qualified entity provides child care;
(B) that each State establish procedures under
which a provider who is the subject of a background
check under subsection (a) is entitled—
(i) to obtain a copy of any background
check report and any record that forms the
basis for any such report; and
(ii) to challenge the accuracy and com-
pleteness of any information contained in any
such report or record and obtain a prompt de-
termination from an authorized agency as to
the validity of such challenge;
(C) that an authorized agency to which a quali-
fied entity has provided notice pursuant to sub-
section (a) make reasonable efforts to complete re-
search in whatever State and local recordkeeping
systems are available and in the national criminal
background check system and respond to the quali-
fied entity within 15 business days;
(D) that the response of an authorized agency
to an inquiry pursuant to subsection (a) inform the
qualified entity that the background check pursuant
to this section—
(i) may not reflect all convictions for a
background check crime; and
(v) pursuant to the direction of a court of
law;
(H) that background check information con-
veyed to a qualified entity pursuant to subsection (a)
shall not be conveyed to any person except as pro-
vided under subparagraph (G); and
(I) that a State or Federal employee or an em-
ployee of a political subdivision of a State respon-
sible for providing information to the national crimi-
nal background check system shall not be liable in
an action at law for damages for failure to prevent
a qualified entity from taking action adverse to a
provider on the basis of a criminal background
check.
(c) EQUIVALENT PROCEDURES.—(1) Notwithstand-
ing anything to the contrary in this section, the Attorney
General may certify that a State licensing or certification
procedure that differs from the procedures described in
subsections (a) and (b) shall be deemed to be the equiva-
lent of such procedures for purposes of this Act, but the
procedures described in subsections (a) and (b) shall con-
tinue to apply to those qualified entities, providers, and
background check crimes that are not governed by or in-
cluded within the State licensing or certification proce-
dure.
(2) The Attorney General shall by regulation estab-
lish criteria for certifications under this subsection. Such
criteria shall include a finding by the Attorney General
that the State licensing or certification procedure accom-
plishes the purposes of this Act and incorporates a nation-
wide review of State and Federal records of background
check offenses through the national criminal background
check system.
(d) REGULATIONS.—(1) The Attorney General may
by regulation prescribe such other measures as may be
required to carry out the purposes of this Act, including
measures relating to the security, confidentiality, accu-
racy, use, misuse, and dissemination of information, and
audits and recordkeeping.
(2) The Attorney General shall, to the maximum ex-
tent possible, encourage the use of the best technology
available in conducting background checks.
SEC. 4. FUNDING FOR IMPROVEMENT OF CHILD ABUSE
CRIME INFORMATION.
(a) USE OF FORMULA GRANTS FOR IMPROVEMENTS
IN STATE RECORDS AND SYSTEMS.—Section 509(b) of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
(42 U.S.C. 3759(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ after
the semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (3) by striking the period and
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(4) the improvement of State record systems
and the sharing of all of the records described in
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and the records re-
quired under section 2 of the National Child Protec-
tion Act of 1993 with the Attorney General for the
purpose of implementing the National Child Protec-
tion Act of 1993.’’.
(b) ADDITIONAL FUNDING GRANTS FOR THE IM-
PROVEMENT OF CHILD ABUSE CRIME INFORMATION.—
(1) The Attorney General shall, subject to appropriations
and with preference to States that, as of the date of enact-
ment of this Act, have in computerized criminal history
files the lowest percentage of dispositions of identifiable
child abuse cases, make a grant to each State to be used—
(A) for the computerization of criminal history
files for the purposes of this Act;
(B) for the improvement of existing computer-
ized criminal history files for the purposes of this
Act;
(C) to improve accessibility to the national
criminal background check system for the purposes
of this Act; and
(D) to assist the State in the transmittal of
criminal records to, or the indexing of criminal his-
tory record in, the national criminal background
check system for the purposes of this Act.
(2) There are authorized to be appropriated for
grants under paragraph (1) a total of $20,000,000 for fis-
cal years 1994, 1995, and 1996.
(c) WITHHOLDING STATE FUNDS.—Effective 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
eral may reduce, by up to 10 percent, the allocation to
a State for a fiscal year under title I of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 that is not
in compliance with the timetable established for that State
under section 2 of this Act.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘authorized agency’’ means a divi-
sion or office of a State designated by a State to re-
port, receive, or disseminate information under this
Act;
(2) the term ‘‘background check crime’’ means
a child abuse crime, murder, manslaughter, aggra-
vated assault, kidnapping, arson, sexual assault, do-
mestic violence, incest, indecent exposure, prostitu-
tion, promotion of prostitution, and a felony offense
involving the use or distribution of a controlled sub-
stance;
(3) the term ‘‘child’’ means a person who is a
child for purposes of the criminal child abuse law of
a State;
(4) the term ‘‘child abuse’’ means the physical
or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, ne-
glectful treatment, negligent treatment, or maltreat-
ment of a child by any person in violation of the
criminal child abuse laws of a State, but does not in-
clude discipline administered by a parent or legal
guardian to his or her child provided it is reasonable
in manner and moderate in degree and otherwise
does not constitute cruelty;
(5) the term ‘‘child abuse crime’’ means a crime
committed under any law of a State that establishes
criminal penalties for the commission of child abuse
by a parent or other family member of a child or by
any other person;
(6) the term ‘‘child abuse crime information’’
means the following facts concerning a person who
is under indictment for, or has been convicted of, a
child abuse crime: full name, race, sex, date of birth,
height, weight, fingerprints, a brief description of
the child abuse crime or offenses for which the per-
son has been arrested or is under indictment or has
been convicted, the disposition of the charge, and
any other information that the Attorney General de-
termines may be useful in identifying persons ar-
rested for, under indictment for, or convicted of, a
child abuse crime;
(7) the term ‘‘child care’’ means the provision
of care, treatment, education, training, instruction,
supervision, or recreation to children;
(8) the term ‘‘domestic violence’’ means a fel-
ony or misdemeanor involving the use or threatened
use of force by—
(A) a present or former spouse of the vic-
tim;
(B) a person with whom the victim shares
a child in common;
(C) a person who is cohabiting with or has
cohabited with the victim as a spouse; or
(D) any person defined as a spouse of the
victim under the domestic or family violence
laws of a State;
(9) the term ‘‘exploitation’’ means child pornog-
raphy and child prostitution;
(10) the term ‘‘mental injury’’ means harm to
a child’s psychological or intellectual functioning,
which may be exhibited by severe anxiety, depres-
sion, withdrawal or outward aggressive behavior, or
a combination of those behaviors or by a change in
behavior, emotional response, or cognition;
(11) the term ‘‘national criminal background
check system’’ means the criminal history record
system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation based on fingerprint identification or any
other method of positive identification;
(12) the term ‘‘negligent treatment’’ means the
failure to provide, for a reason other than poverty,
adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care so
as to seriously endanger the physical health of a
child;
(13) the term ‘‘physical injury’’ includes lacera-
tions, fractured bones, burns, internal injuries, se-
vere bruising, and serious bodily harm;
(14) the term ‘‘provider’’ means
(A) a person who—
(i) is employed by or volunteers with
a qualified entity;
(ii) who owns or operates a qualified
entity; or
(iii) who has or may have unsuper-
vised access to a child to whom the quali-
fied entity provides child care; and
(B) a person who—
(i) seeks to be employed by or volun-
teer with a qualified entity;
(ii) seeks to own or operate a qualified
entity; or
(iii) seeks to have or may have unsu-
pervised access to a child to whom the
qualified entity provides child care;
(15) the term ‘‘qualified entity’’ means a busi-
ness or organization, whether public, private, for-
profit, not-for-profit, or voluntary, that provides
child care or child care placement services, including
a business or organization that licenses or certifies
others to provide child care or child care placement
services;
(16) the term ‘‘sex crime’’ means an act of sex-
ual abuse that is a criminal act;
(17) the term ‘‘sexual abuse’’ includes the em-
ployment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement,
or coercion of a child to engage in, or assist another
person to engage in, sexually explicit conduct or the
rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sex-
ual exploitation of children or incest with children;
and
(18) the term ‘‘State’’ means a State, the Dis-
trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam,
and the Trust Territories of the Pacific.
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HR 1237 IH——2
HR 1237 IH——3