H.R. 1925 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1925 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 9, 2013 Mr. Carson of Indiana (for himself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Payne, Ms. Moore, and Ms. Brown of Florida) 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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Child Care Criminal Background Check Act of 2013. 2. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to assist States in improving the overall quality of child care services in the State by requiring national criminal background checks of child care providers that are licensed by the State or that receive funds under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. 3. Amendments (a) State plan Section 658E(c)(2) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following: (I) Criminal background check Certify that the State will— (i) require each eligible child care provider (excluding an eligible child care provider described in section 658P(5)(B)) that is licensed by the State or receives funds provided under this subchapter— (I) to obtain from the State a comprehensive criminal background check of— (aa) each individual who provides child care services; (bb) each applicant selected for employment before providing such services; and (cc) each family child care provider who provides or applies to provide such services; and (II) to refuse to employ, or continue to employ, an individual to provide such services— (aa) if such individual was convicted of— (AA) a crime of violence (as defined in section 20101 of subtitle A of title II of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13701)); or (BB) a crime against a child for which the penalty exceeds imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year; (bb) to an eligible child without the supervision of an employee whose criminal background check satisfies the requirements of the subparagraph, pending receipt of such a criminal background check of such individual; and (cc) to an eligible child with the supervision of an employee whose criminal background check satisfies the requirements of the subparagraph and for a period exceeding 90 days, pending receipt of such a criminal background check of such individual; and (ii) carry out at the request of an eligible child care provider, as soon as practicable, a comprehensive criminal background check (at the State option for a fee not to exceed the actual cost to the State) of each employee of, and each applicant for employment by, a child care provider that is licensed by the State or receives funds provided under this subchapter by the State, and make the results of such check available to such provider and to such employee or applicant. At the request of a State, the Secretary may waive for 1 fiscal year the application of this subparagraph to the State if the State demonstrates a good faith effort to comply with the requirements specified in this subparagraph and its inability to so comply. (J) Inspections The State shall certify that each eligible child care provider (excluding an eligible child care provider described in section 658P(5)(B)) that is licensed by the State will be inspected not less frequently than at 3-month intervals. (K) Training The State shall certify that each eligible child care provider (excluding an eligible child care provider described in section 658P(5)(B)) that receives funds provided under this subchapter will receive not less than— (i) 40 hours of training provided by an entity recognized by the State; and (ii) annually 24 hours of training that includes CPR, first aid, recognizing child abuse, basic safety and health, and child behavior and development. . (b) Enforcement Section 658I(b)(2) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858g(i)(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following: If a State fails to comply substantially with the requirements specified in section 658e(c)(2)(I), the Secretary shall reduce by 10 percent the State allotment for the fiscal year following the fiscal year with respect to which noncompliance is found. . 4. Effective date; application of amendments This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.