[Congressional Bills 103th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 1237 Introduced in House (IH)] 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) introduced 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 Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``National Child Protection 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 information to, or index child abuse crime information in, the national criminal background check system. (b) Provision of State Child Abuse Crime Records through the National Criminal Background Check System.--(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 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 system; (B) establish guidelines for the reporting or indexing of child abuse crime information, including guidelines relating to the format, content, and accuracy of child abuse crime information and other procedures 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 identifiable 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 reporting, including data quality audits and periodic notices to criminal justice agencies identifying records that lack final dispositions and requesting those dispositions. (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 Prosecution of Child Abuse for the exchange of technical assistance 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 violator. (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 offenders who have more than 1 conviction for an offense involving child abuse; (B) the percentage of convicted child abuse offenders who have been convicted of an offense involving 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 convictions 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 pursuant 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 regulation) to permit a qualified entity to contact an authorized agency of the State to request a nationwide background 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 establish guidelines for State background check procedures established under subsection (a), which guidelines shall include the requirements and protections of this Act. (2) The guidelines established under paragraph (1) shall require-- (A) that no qualified entity may request a background check of a provider under subsection (a) unless 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 document (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 subsection (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 provider 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 completeness of any information contained in any such report or record and obtain a prompt determination from an authorized agency as to the validity of such challenge; (C) that an authorized agency to which a qualified entity has provided notice pursuant to subsection (a) make reasonable efforts to complete research in whatever State and local recordkeeping systems are available and in the national criminal background check system and respond to the qualified 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 (ii) may not be the sole basis for determining the fitness of a provider; (E) that the response of an authorized agency to an inquiry pursuant to subsection (a) be limited to the conviction information reasonably required to accomplish the purposes of this Act; (F) that the qualified entity may choose to deny the provider unsupervised access to a child to whom the qualified entity provides child care on the basis of conviction information provided pursuant to a background check under subsection (a) until the provider has obtained a determination as to the validity of any challenge under subparagraph (B) or waived the right to make such challenge; and (G) that each State establish procedures to ensure that any background check under subsection (a) and the results thereof shall be requested by and provided only to-- (i) qualified entities identified by States; (ii) authorized representatives of a qualified entity who have a need to know such information; (iii) the provider who is the subject of a background check; (iv) law enforcement authorities; or (v) pursuant to the direction of a court of law; (H) that background check information conveyed to a qualified entity pursuant to subsection (a) shall not be conveyed to any person except as provided under subparagraph (G); and (I) that a State or Federal employee or an employee of a political subdivision of a State responsible for providing information to the national criminal 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) Notwithstanding 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 equivalent of such procedures for purposes of this Act, but the procedures described in subsections (a) and (b) shall continue to apply to those qualified entities, providers, and background check crimes that are not governed by or included within the State licensing or certification procedure. (2) The Attorney General shall by regulation establish criteria for certifications under this subsection. Such criteria shall include a finding by the Attorney General that the State licensing or certification procedure accomplishes the purposes of this Act and incorporates a nationwide 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, accuracy, use, misuse, and dissemination of information, and audits and recordkeeping. (2) The Attorney General shall, to the maximum extent 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 required under section 2 of the National Child Protection Act of 1993 with the Attorney General for the purpose of implementing the National Child Protection Act of 1993.''. (b) Additional Funding Grants for the Improvement of Child Abuse Crime Information.--(1) The Attorney General shall, subject to appropriations and with preference to States that, as of the date of enactment 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 computerized 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 history 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 fiscal years 1994, 1995, and 1996. (c) Withholding State Funds.--Effective 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 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 division or office of a State designated by a State to report, receive, or disseminate information under this Act; (2) the term ``background check crime'' means a child abuse crime, murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, arson, sexual assault, domestic violence, incest, indecent exposure, prostitution, promotion of prostitution, and a felony offense involving the use or distribution of a controlled substance; (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, neglectful treatment, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child by any person in violation of the criminal child abuse laws of a State, but does not include 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 person has been arrested or is under indictment or has been convicted, the disposition of the charge, and any other information that the Attorney General determines may be useful in identifying persons arrested 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 felony or misdemeanor involving the use or threatened use of force by-- (A) a present or former spouse of the victim; (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 pornography 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, depression, 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 Investigation 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 lacerations, fractured bones, burns, internal injuries, severe 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 unsupervised access to a child to whom the qualified entity provides child care; and (B) a person who-- (i) seeks to be employed by or volunteer with a qualified entity; (ii) seeks to own or operate a qualified entity; or (iii) seeks to have or may have unsupervised access to a child to whom the qualified entity provides child care; (15) the term ``qualified entity'' means a business 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 sexual abuse that is a criminal act; (17) the term ``sexual abuse'' includes the employment, 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 sexual exploitation of children or incest with children; and (18) the term ``State'' means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Trust Territories of the Pacific. <all> HR 1237 IH----2 HR 1237 IH----3