FIRST REGULAR SESSION
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES GRISAMORE (Sponsor), SATER, WOOD, WILSON (119), YATES, STREAM, ZERR, CURLS, SCHAAF, McCLANAHAN, STORCH, SCHAD, RUESTMAN, ATKINS, KIRKTON, LeVOTA, JONES (63), COOPER, DENISON AND SILVEY (Co-sponsors).
2452L.02I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 210.900, 210.903, 210.906, and 210.921, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to the family care safety registry, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 210.900, 210.903, 210.906, and 210.921, RSMo, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 210.900, 210.903, 210.906, and 210.921, to read as follows:
210.900. 1. Sections 210.900 to 210.936 shall be known and may be cited as the "Family Care Safety Act".
2. As used in sections 210.900 to 210.936, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Child-care provider", any licensed or license-exempt child-care home, any licensed or license-exempt child-care center, child-placing agency, residential care facility for children, group home, foster family group home, foster family home, employment agency that refers a child-care worker to parents or guardians as defined in section 289.005, RSMo. The term "child-care provider" does not include summer camps or voluntary associations designed primarily for recreational or educational purposes;
(2) "Child-care worker", any person who is employed by a child-care provider, or receives state or federal funds, either by direct payment, reimbursement or voucher payment, as remuneration for child-care services;
(3) "Department", the department of health and senior services;
(4) "Elder-care provider", any operator licensed pursuant to chapter 198, RSMo, or any person, corporation, or association who provides in-home services under contract with the division of aging, or any employer of nurses or nursing assistants of home health agencies licensed pursuant to sections 197.400 to 197.477, RSMo, or any nursing assistants employed by a hospice pursuant to sections 197.250 to 197.280, RSMo, or that portion of a hospital for which subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 198.012, RSMo, applies;
(5) "Elder-care worker", any person who is employed by an elder-care provider, or who receives state or federal funds, either by direct payment, reimbursement or voucher payment, as remuneration for elder-care services;
(6) "Employer", any child-care provider, elder-care provider, [or] personal-care provider, mental health provider, or school district staff as defined in this section;
(7) "Mental health provider", any mental retardation facility or group home as defined in section 633.005, RSMo;
(8) "Mental health worker", any person employed by a mental health provider to provide personal care services and supports;
(9) "Patrol", the Missouri state highway patrol;
(10) "Personal-care attendant" or "personal-care worker", a person who performs routine services or supports necessary for a person with a physical or mental disability to enter and maintain employment or to live independently;
(11) "Personal-care provider", any person, corporation, or association who provides personal-care services or supports under contract with the department of mental health, the division of aging, the department of health and senior services or the department of elementary and secondary education;
(12) "Related child care", child care provided only to a child or children by such child's or children's grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts or uncles, or siblings living in a residence separate from the child or children;
(13) "Related elder care", care provided only to an elder by an adult child, a spouse, a grandchild, a great-grandchild or a sibling of such elder;
(14) "School district staff", persons authorized to have contact with public school pupils, including but not limited to administrators, teachers, aides, paraprofessionals, assistants, secretaries, custodians, cooks, and nurses.
210.903. 1. To protect children, the elderly, the disabled, including the developmentally, physically, and cognitively disabled individuals in this state, and to promote family and community safety by providing information concerning family caregivers, and for the purpose of ensuring the comprehensive screenings of persons providing services to the state's most vulnerable citizens, there is hereby established within the department of health and senior services a "Family Care Safety Registry and Access Line" which shall be available by January 1, 2001.
2. (1) The state of Missouri shall utilize a portion of the moneys made available to the state through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as enacted by the 111th United States Congress, or subject to appropriations, to provide the department of health and senior services with adequate funding to update and enhance the technological capabilities of the family care safety registry and implement an interdepartmental uniform infrastructure and procedure for the departments of public safety, social services, mental health, and elementary and secondary education to use for background screening results and to fund the processing of such results for employed individuals not currently registered with the family care safety registry. The department of health and senior services shall disburse moneys received to the departments of public safety, social services, mental health, and elementary and secondary education to allow appropriate interagency operability of systems in order to make the technological, administrative, and procedural adjustments needed for implementation.
(2) Upon submission by the departments of public safety, social services, mental health, and elementary and secondary education of an application for a background check to the highway patrol's criminal record check system under section 43.540, RSMo, for processing, the department of public safety shall submit all background checks to the family care safety registry. All criminal background checks conducted under this subsection shall include a federal and state search.
3. (1) The family care safety registry shall contain information on teachers, school employees with child contact, child-care workers', elder-care workers', mental health workers', and personal-care workers' background and on child-care, elder-care, mental health, [and] personal-care providers, and school district staff through:
[(1)] (a) The patrol's criminal record check system pursuant to section 43.540, RSMo, including state and national information, to the extent possible;
[(2)] (b) Probable cause findings of abuse and neglect prior to August 28, 2004, or findings of abuse and neglect by a preponderance of the evidence after August 28, 2004, pursuant to sections 210.109 to 210.183 and, as of January 1, 2003, financial exploitation of the elderly or disabled, pursuant to section 570.145, RSMo;
[(3)] (c) The [division of aging's] department of health and senior services employee disqualification list pursuant to section 660.315, RSMo;
[(4)] (d) As of January 1, 2003, the department of mental health's employee disqualification registry;
[(5)] (e) Foster parent licensure denials, revocations and involuntary suspensions pursuant to section 210.496;
[(6)] (f) Child-care facility license denials, revocations and suspensions pursuant to sections 210.201 to 210.259;
[(7)] (g) Residential living facility and nursing home license denials, revocations, suspensions and probationary status pursuant to chapter 198, RSMo; [and]
[(8)] (h) As of January 1, 2004, a check of the patrol's Missouri uniform law enforcement system (MULES) for sexual offender registrations pursuant to section 589.400, RSMo;
(i) The department of elementary and secondary education's employee disqualification registry; and
(j) School district staff disqualifications or denials issued by a school district as a result of information results obtained by a background check.
(2) If employed on or after January 1, 2011, individuals identified in this subsection and who undergo a criminal background check shall be required to register with the family care safety registry under sections 210.900 to 210.936 and be cleared through the registry database.
4. The contents of the family care safety registry shall be accessible to the departments and contracted agencies of public safety, social services, mental health, and elementary and secondary education, and school districts; except that, information in the registry which would constitute a violation of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, or the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as amended, shall not be shared between departments.
5. The family care safety registry shall contain open and closed records available of persons maintained in the registry.
6. If an individual is denied employment based on results of a background screening reported by the family care safety registry, such individual may seek an appeal, if applicable, directly from the department that disqualified the individual's employment.
210.906. 1. Every child-care worker or elder-care worker hired on or after January 1, 2001, or personal-care worker hired on or after January 1, 2002, or mental health worker hired on or after January 1, 2009, or all current school district staff by January 1, 2011, and all school district staff hired on or after January 1, 2011, shall complete a registration form provided by the department. The department shall make such forms available no later than January 1, 2001, and may, by rule, determine the specific content of such form, but every form shall:
(1) Request the valid Social Security number of the applicant;
(2) Include information on the person's right to appeal the information contained in the registry pursuant to section 210.912;
(3) Contain the signed consent of the applicant for the background checks required pursuant to this section; and
(4) Contain the signed consent for the release of information contained in the background check for employment purposes only.
2. Every child-care worker or elder-care worker hired on or after January 1, 2001, and every personal-care worker hired on or after January 1, 2002, and every mental health worker hired on or after January 1, 2009, and all current school district staff by January 1, 2011, and all school district staff hired on or after January 1, 2011, shall complete a registration form within fifteen days of the beginning of such person's employment. Any person employed as a child-care, elder-care, mental health, [or] personal-care worker, or school district staff who fails to submit a completed registration form to the department of health and senior services as required by sections 210.900 to 210.936 without good cause, as determined by the department, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
3. The costs of the criminal background check may be paid by the individual applicant, or by the provider if the applicant is so employed, or for those applicants receiving public assistance, by the state through the terms of the self-sufficiency pact pursuant to section 208.325, RSMo. Any moneys remitted to the patrol for the costs of the criminal background check shall be deposited to the credit of the criminal record system fund as required by section 43.530, RSMo.
4. Any person licensed pursuant to sections 210.481 to 210.565 shall be automatically registered in the family care safety registry at no additional cost other than the costs required pursuant to sections 210.481 to 210.565.
5. Any person not required to register pursuant to the provisions of sections 210.900 to 210.936 may also be included in the registry if such person voluntarily applies to the department for registration and meets the requirements of this section and section 210.909, including submitting to the background checks in subsection 1 of section 210.909.
6. Except for individuals receiving state or federal funds for their services, the provisions of sections 210.900 to 210.936 shall not extend to related child care, related elder care or related personal care.
210.921. 1. The department shall not provide any registry information pursuant to this section unless the department obtains the name and address of the person calling, and determines that the inquiry is for employment or regulatory purposes [only]. For purposes of sections 210.900 to 210.936, "employment purposes" includes direct employer-employee relationships, prospective employer-employee relationships, and screening and interviewing of persons or facilities by those persons contemplating the placement of an individual in a child-care, elder-care, mental health, [or] personal-care, or school district setting. Disclosure of background information concerning a given applicant recorded by the department in the registry shall be limited to:
(1) Confirming whether the individual is listed in the registry; and
(2) Indicating whether the individual has been listed or named in any of the background checks listed in subsection 2 of section 210.903. If such individual has been so listed, the department of health and senior services shall only disclose the name of the background check in which the individual has been identified. With the exception of any agency licensed or contracted by the state to provide child care, elder care, mental health services, or personal care which shall receive specific information immediately if requested, any specific information related to such background check shall only be disclosed after the department has received a signed request from the person calling, with the person's name, address and reason for requesting the information.
2. Any person requesting registry information shall be informed that the registry information provided pursuant to this section consists only of information relative to the state of Missouri and does not include information from other states or information that may be available from other states.
3. Any person who uses the information obtained from the registry for any purpose other than that specifically provided for in sections 210.900 to 210.936 is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
4. When any registry information is disclosed pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section, the department shall notify the registrant of the name and address of the person making the inquiry.
5. The department of health and senior services staff providing information pursuant to sections 210.900 to 210.936 shall have immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, that otherwise might result by reason of such actions; provided, however, any department of health and senior services staff person who releases registry information in bad faith or with ill intent shall not have immunity from any liability, civil or criminal. Any such person shall have the same immunity with respect to participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from the release of registry information. The department is prohibited from selling the registry or any portion of the registry for any purpose including employment purposes as defined in subsection 1 of this section.
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