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2007 SESSION
071718116Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 63.2-1726 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 63.2-1726. Background check required; children's residential facilities.
A. As a condition of employment, volunteering or providing
services on a regular basis, every children's residential facility that is
regulated or operated by the Departments of Social Services; Education;
Military Affairs; or Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse
Services shall require any individual who (i) accepts a position of employment
at such a facility who was not employed by that facility prior to July 1, 1994 2007, (ii) volunteers for such a facility on a regular basis and
will be alone with a juvenile in the performance of his duties who was not a
volunteer at such facility prior to July 1, 1994 2007, or (iii) provides contractual services directly to a
juvenile for such facility on a regular basis and will be alone with a juvenile
in the performance of his duties who did not provide such services prior to
July 1, 1994 2007; to
submit to fingerprinting and to provide personal descriptive information, to be
forwarded along with the applicant's fingerprints through the Central Criminal
Records Exchange to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of
obtaining criminal history record information regarding such applicant. The
children's residential facility shall inform the applicant that he is entitled
to obtain a copy of any background check report and to challenge the accuracy
and completeness of any such report and obtain a prompt resolution before a
final determination is made of the applicant's fitness eligibility to have responsibility for the safety and well-being
of children. The applicant shall provide the children's residential facility
with a written statement or affirmation disclosing whether he has ever been
convicted of or is the subject of pending charges for any offense within or
outside the Commonwealth. Prior to permitting an applicant to begin his
duties, the children's residential facility shall obtain the statement or
affirmation from the applicant and shall submit the applicant's fingerprints
and personal descriptive information to the Central Criminal Records Exchange.
The
results of the criminal history background
check must be received prior to
permitting an applicant to work with children.
The Central Criminal Records Exchange, upon receipt of an
individual's record or notification that no record exists, shall forward it to
the state agency which operates or regulates the children's residential
facility with which the applicant is affiliated. The state agency shall, upon
receipt of an applicant's record lacking disposition data, conduct research in
whatever state and local recordkeeping systems are available in order to obtain
complete data. The state agency shall report to the children's facility whether
the applicant meets the criteria to is
eligible to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of
children. based on whether or
not the applicant has ever been convicted of or is the subject of pending
charges for the following crimes: Except as otherwise
provided in subsection B, no
children's residential facility regulated or operated by
the Departments of Education; Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance
Abuse Services; Military Affairs; or Social
Services shall hire for compensated employment or allow to volunteer or provide
contractual services persons who have been (i) convicted of or are the subject
of pending charges for the following crimes: murder or
manslaughter as set out in Article 1 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title
18.2,; malicious
wounding by mob as set out in § 18.2-41; abduction as set out in §
18.2-47 A; abduction
for immoral purposes as set out in § 18.2-48,;
assault and bodily woundings as set out in Article 4 (§ 18.2-51 et seq.) of
Chapter 4 of Title 18.2,; robbery
as set out in § 18.2-58,; carjacking
as set out in § 18.2-58.1; extortion by threat as set out in §
18.2-59,; threat
as set out in § 18.2-60;
any felony stalking violation as
set out in § 18.2-60.3; sexual
assault as set out in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2,;
arson as set out in Article 1 (§ 18.2-77 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 18.2,;
burglary as set out in Article 2 (§ 18.2-89 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 18.2,; possession or distribution of drugs as set out in Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et
seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2,;
any
felony violation relating to distribution of drugs as set out in
Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2; drive-by shooting as
set out in § 18.2-286.1; use of a machine gun in a crime of violence as set out in § 18.2-289; aggressive
use of a machine gun as set out
in § 18.2-290; use
of a sawed off shotgun in a crime of violence as set out in subsection A of § 18.2-300; pandering as set out in §
18.2-355,; crimes
against nature involving children as set out § 18.2-361,;
taking indecent liberties with children as set out in § 18.2-370 or §
18.2-370.1,; abuse and or neglect
of children as set out in § 18.2-371.1, including failure
to secure medical attention for an injured child as set out in § 18.2-314,;
obscenity offenses as set out in § 18.2-374.1,;
possession
of child pornography as set out in § 18.2-374.1:1; electronic facilitation of pornography as set out in §
18.2-374.3; incest as set out in § 18.2-366; abuse and or neglect
of incapacitated adults as set out in § 18.2-369,;
employing or permitting a minor to assist in an act constituting an offense
under Article 5 (§ 18.2-372 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 18.2, as set out in
§ 18.2-379,; delivery of drugs to
prisoners as set out in § 18.2-474.1; escape from jail as set out in §
18.2-477; felonies
by prisoners as set out in § 53.1-203; or
an equivalent offense in another state.; or
(ii) convicted of any felony violation relating to possession of drugs set out
in Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title
18.2 in the five years prior to the application date for employment, to be a
volunteer, or to provide
contractual services; or
(iii) convicted of any felony violation relating to possession of drugs as set
out in Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) of
Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 and continue on probation or parole or have failed to
pay required court costs. The provisions of this section also shall
apply to structured
residential programs, excluding secure detention facilities, established
pursuant to § 16.1-309.3 for juvenile offenders cited
in a complaint for intake or in a petition
before the court that alleges the
juvenile is delinquent or in
need of services or supervision.
B. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, a children's residential facility may hire for compensated employment or for volunteer or contractual service purposes persons who have been convicted of not more than one misdemeanor offense under § 18.2-57 or 18.2-57.2, if 10 years have elapsed following the conviction, unless the person committed such offense in the scope of his employment, volunteer, or contractual services.
If the applicant is denied employment, or the opportunity to
volunteer or provide services at a children's residential facility because of
information appearing on his criminal history record, and the applicant
disputes the information upon which the denial was based, upon written request
of the applicant the state agency shall furnish the applicant the procedures
for obtaining his criminal history record from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. If the applicant has been permitted to provide services assume duties that do not involve contact with children pending
receipt of the report, the children's residential facility is not precluded
from suspending the applicant from his position or denying the
applicant unsupervised access to clients pending a final
determination of the applicant's fitness eligibility to have responsibility for the safety and well-being
of children. The information provided to the children's residential facility
shall not be disseminated except as provided in this section.
BC. Those
individuals listed in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of subsection A shall
also shall authorize the children's
residential facility to obtain a copy of information from the central registry
maintained pursuant to § 63.2-1515 on any investigation of child abuse or
neglect undertaken on him. The applicant shall provide the children's
residential facility with a written statement or affirmation disclosing whether
he has ever been the subject of a founded case of child abuse or neglect within
or outside the Commonwealth. The children's residential facility shall submit the request for information to receive
the results of the central registry search prior
to permitting an applicant to begin his duties work alone with children.
The
children's residential facility shall obtain a copy of the information from the
central registry within twenty-one days of the applicant beginning his duties.Children's
residential facilities regulated or operated
by the Departments of Education; Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services; and
Social Services shall not hire for compensated employment or allow
to volunteer or provide contractual services,
persons who have a founded case of child abuse or neglect. The
provisions of this subsection also shall apply to every Every residential facility for juveniles which is regulated or
operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice shall be authorized
to obtain a copy of the information
from the central registry.
CD. The
Boards of Social Services; Education; Juvenile Justice; and Mental Health,
Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and the Department of Military
Affairs, may adopt regulations to comply with the provisions of this section.
Copies of any information received by a children's residential facility
pursuant to this section shall be available to the agency that regulates or
operates such facility but shall not be disseminated further. The cost of
obtaining the criminal history record and the central registry information
shall be borne by the employee or volunteer unless the children's residential
facility, at its option, decides to pay the cost.