National Child Protection Act of 1993
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H.R.1237
One Hundred Third Congress of the United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the fifth day
of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
An Act
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 CHILD ABUSE CRIME INFORMATION.
(a) IN GENERAL- In each State, an authorized criminal justice agency
of the State shall report child abuse crime information to, or index
child abuse crime information in, the national criminal history
background check system.
(b) PROVISION OF STATE CHILD ABUSE CRIME RECORDS THROUGH
THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM- (1)
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Attorney General shall, subject to availability of appropriations--
(A) investigate the criminal history records system 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 basis through
the national criminal history background check system;
(B) in consultation with State officials, establish guidelines for the
reporting or indexing of child abuse crime information, including
guidelines relating to the format, content, and accuracy of criminal
history records 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 each 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 a reporting rate of at least 80 percent for
final 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 100 percent 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 child abuse crimes.
(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, subject to the
availability of appropriations, publish an annual summary of each
State's progress in reporting child abuse crime information to the
national criminal history 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;
and
(C) 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 State statute or regulation) that require qualified
entities designated by the State to contact an authorized agency of
the State to request a nationwide background check for the purpose
of determining whether a provider has been convicted of a crime that
bears upon an individual's fitness to have responsibility for the safety
and well-being of children.
(2) The authorized agency shall access and review State and Federal
criminal history records through the national criminal history
background check system and shall make reasonable efforts to
respond to the inquiry within 15 business days.
(b) GUIDELINES- The procedures established under subsection (a)
shall require--
(1) 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--
(A) contains the name, address, and date of birth appearing on a valid
identification document (as defined in section 1028 of title 18, United
States Code) of the provider;
(B) the provider has not been convicted of a crime and, if the provider
has been convicted of a crime, contains a description of the crime
and the particulars of the conviction;
(C) notifies the provider that the entity may request a background
check under subsection (a);
(D) notifies the provider of the provider's rights under paragraph (2);
and
(E) notifies the provider that prior to the completion 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;
(2) that each provider who is the subject of a background check is
entitled--
(A) to obtain a copy of any background check report; and (B) to
challenge the accuracy and completeness of any information
contained in any such report and obtain a prompt determination as to
the validity of such challenge before a final determination is made by
the authorized agency;
(3) that an authorized agency, upon receipt of a background check
report lacking disposition data, shall conduct research in whatever
State and local recordkeeping systems are available in order to obtain
complete data;
(4) that the authorized agency shall make a determination whether
the provider has been convicted of, or is under pending indictment
for, a crime that bears upon an individual's fitness to have
responsibility for the safety and well-being of children and shall
convey that determination to the qualified entity; and
(5) that any background check under subsection (a) and the results
thereof shall be handled in accordance with the requirements of Public
Law 92-544.
(c) 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.
(d) LIABILITY- A qualified entity shall not be liable in an action for
damages solely for failure to conduct a criminal background check on
a provider, nor shall a State or political subdivision thereof nor any
agency, officer or employee thereof, be liable in an action for
damages for the failure of a qualified entity to take action adverse to
a provider who was the subject of a background check.
(e) FEES- In the case of a background check pursuant to a State
requirement adopted after the date of the enactment of this Act
conducted with fingerprints on a person who volunteers with a
qualified entity, the fees collected by authorized State agencies and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation may not exceed the actual cost of
the background check conducted with fingerprints. The States shall
establish fee systems that insure that fees to non-profit entities for
background checks do not discourage volunteers from participating in
child care programs.
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 child
abuse crime records required under 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 percentages of charges and 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 history 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 history
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,
1996, and 1997.
(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 requirements 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 `child' means a person who is a child for purposes of the
criminal child abuse law of a State;
(3) the term `child abuse crime' means a crime committed under any
law of a State that involves the physical or mental injury, sexual
abuse or exploitation, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child
by any person;
(4) the term `child abuse crime information' means the following facts
concerning a person who has been arrested 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 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, or convicted of, a child abuse crime;
(5) the term `child care' means the provision of care, treatment,
education, training, instruction, supervision, or recreation to children
by persons having unsupervised access to a child;
(6) the term `national criminal history 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;
(7) 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;
(8) 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; and
(9) 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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.:
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