Bill > S3271

Introduced Session

This bill requires behavioral assistance services programs and intensive in-community mental health rehabilitation services programs (programs) to ensure that all staff members who provide direct services to children, youth, or young adults have completed a fingerprint-based criminal history record background check, that each staff member who transports children, youth, young adults, or their family members or caregivers as part of the staff member's job functions, has a valid driver's license, and that staff members meet the minimum educational and other requirements for their roles within the program. Programs may assume the cost of the fingerprint-based criminal history record background check or may require that the staff member or applicant assume the cost of the background check. The Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) in the Department of Human Services will be authorized to exchange fingerprint data with, and to receive information from, the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A current staff member or person applying for employment with a program will be permanently disqualified from employment with a program if the staff member or person: 1) refuses to consent to, or cooperate in, the securing of a fingerprint-based criminal history record background check; 2) knowingly makes a materially false statement in connection with a criminal history record background check; 3) is registered, or is required to be registered, on a State sex offender registry or repository, or in the National Sex Offender Registry established under the "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006," 42 U.S.C. s.16901 et seq.; or 4) is found by a criminal history record background check to have a record of conviction for attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, or committing certain enumerated crimes and offenses, including: certain sexual offenses; abuse, abandonment, or neglect of a child; endangering the welfare of an incompetent person; murder or manslaughter; stalking; kidnapping and related offenses; arson or causing or risking widespread injury or damage; terroristic threats; certain aggravated assault offenses; first degree robbery; second degree burglary; domestic violence; and certain drug related offenses. A person will similarly be disqualified from employment with a program if the person is convicted of any equivalent offense in any other state or jurisdiction. The bill prohibits staff members from being left alone as the only adult caring for a child, youth, or young adult at a program until the staff member has successfully completed the fingerprint-based criminal history record background check. A person found to have a disqualifying conviction will have the opportunity to challenge the accuracy of the disqualifying criminal history record. For convictions for crimes and offenses other than those expressly enumerated in the bill, the person may be eligible for employment at a program if the DMAHS determines that the person has affirmatively demonstrated clear and convincing evidence of the person's rehabilitation. In determining whether a person has affirmatively demonstrated rehabilitation, the following factors will be considered: 1) the nature and responsibility of the position at the program which the convicted person would hold, has held, or currently holds, as the case may be; 2) the nature and seriousness of the offense; 3) the circumstances under which the offense occurred; 4) the date of the offense; 5) the age of the person when the offense was committed; 6) whether the offense was an isolated or repeated incident; 7) any social conditions which may have contributed to the offense; and 8) any evidence of rehabilitation, including good conduct in prison or in the community, counseling or psychiatric treatment received, acquisition of additional academic or vocational schooling, successful participation in correctional work-release programs, or the recommendation of those who have had the person under their supervision. The DMAHS will make the final determination regarding the employment of an applicant or staff member with a criminal conviction. If a program has knowledge that a staff member has pending criminal charges, the owner or sponsor of the program will be required to promptly notify the DMAHS to determine whether any action concerning the staff member is necessary in order to ensure the safety of the children, youth, and young adults who attend the program. A program that has received an employment application or currently employs a staff member will be immune from liability for acting upon or disclosing information about the person's disqualification from or termination of employment to another program seeking to employ that person if the program has either: 1) received notice from the DMAHS that the applicant or staff member is disqualified from employment in a program; or 2) terminated the person's employment based on a disqualifying conviction. A program that acts upon or discloses information under these circumstances will be presumed to be acting in good faith unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the program acted with actual malice toward the person who is the subject of the information. Program will be required, as a condition of securing or maintaining approval as a Medicaid provider, to ensure and maintain documentation that: 1) each employee has a valid driver's license if the employee's job functions include the operation of a vehicle used in the transportation of children, youth, or young adults, or their family members or caregivers; and 2) each employee has attained the minimum educational and other training and certification requirements for the staff member's role within the program. Each program will be required to annually certify to the DMAHS, no later than March 1 of each year, that the program is in full compliance with the requirements of the bill. The DMAHS will be required to conduct periodic reviews of the records of programs to determine compliance. A program that submits a false certification will be liable to a civil penalty of up to $10,000.

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Kristin Corrado (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 02/02/2026)

Official Document