Revision: Jan. 12, 2009, midnight
HB 250 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
05/01
HOUSE BILL 250
AN ACT relative to access to information in the abuse and neglect of adults registry and relative to persons providing child care or child placing services who are charged with a crime.
SPONSORS: Rep. Schulze, Hills 26; Rep. French, Merr 5; Rep. Skinder, Sull 1; Rep. Emerson, Ches 7
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill removes the option of obtaining a waiver from the department of health and human services in order to hire an individual who is listed in the registry of founded reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of adults, but permits the employer to make the hiring decision by obtaining additional information from the registry with permission from the potential employee.
The bill also establishes a procedure for providing notice and potentially suspending or revoking the license of persons providing child care if they are charged with a crime against children or certain other crimes.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0355
05/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to access to information in the abuse and neglect of adults registry and relative to persons providing child care or child placing services who are charged with a crime.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services; Registry of Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation. Amend RSA 161-F:49, VII to read as follows:
VII. All employers of programs which are licensed, certified, or funded by the department to provide services to individuals shall be required before hiring a prospective employee who may have client contact to submit his or her name, for review against the registry of founded reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation to determine whether the person is on the registry. [The employer shall not hire the prospective employee if the person is listed on the registry with a founded case of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, unless the employer requests and obtains a waiver from the department to hire such person.] The employer, upon receiving of notice that a prospective employee is on the registry and in order to determine whether he or she should [request a waiver from the department] be hired, may request permission from the prospective employee for the authority to obtain further information about a founded case of abuse, neglect, or exploitation in accordance with rules adopted under RSA 541-A. Any individual hiring a caregiver directly, or through an authorized representative or fiscal intermediary, to provide personal care services, as defined in RSA 161-E or RSA 161-I, may, with the consent of the prospective employee, submit the prospective employee’s name for review against the registry and, if the prospective employee is on the registry, and with the further permission of the prospective employee, obtain information about any founded case. [The individual shall not be required in such situations to obtain a waiver prior to hiring a person on the registry.] It shall be unlawful for any employer other than those specified under this paragraph to require as a condition of employment that the employee submit his or her name for review against the registry of founded reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation and any violation of this provision shall be punishable as a violation. Nothing in this section shall preclude an employer from obtaining information from other sources.
2 New Section; Employment or Licensing Status of a Person Providing Child Care Charged with Certain Crimes. Amend RSA 170-E by inserting after section 7 the following new section:
170-E:7-a Criminal Charges Pending; Action To Be Taken by Licensed Providers.
I. If any person required to undergo a criminal records check in accordance with this chapter has been charged by law enforcement officials with a crime against a child, or of a crime which shows that the person might be reasonably expected to pose a threat to a child, such as a violent crime or a sexually-related crime against an adult, the licensee shall take the following action:
(a) The licensee shall immediately notify the department of the pending charges.
(b) If the licensee is the subject of the charges, the provider shall surrender the license and cease operating as a licensed provider while the charges are pending.
(c) If the individual who has been charged with crime is a board member, household member, or a non-child care provider who has regular contact with children in the child day care agency, the licensee shall take immediate corrective action to remove the individual from the premises, and, in conjunction with the department, shall develop a corrective action plan, approved by the department, which shall ensure that the individual will not be on the premises of the child day care agency while children are present and will have no contact with children enrolled in the child day care agency while care is being provided, such as when the children are on field trips away from the program.
(d) If the individual who has been charged with the crime is an employee of the licensee, the licensee shall either immediately suspend the employee while the charges are pending or, with the department’s approval, shall develop a corrective action plan, approved by the department, which shall ensure that the employee is never allowed to work unsupervised with children while the charges are pending.
II. If a licensee does not take the action required under paragraph I, or if the licensee fails to comply with the corrective action plan approved by the department, the department shall immediately suspend the license.
III. If the department immediately suspends the license in accordance with the provisions of this section, the licensee shall have the right to a due process hearing in accordance with RSA 541-A within 10 days of the date that the license is suspended. Notwithstanding RSA 541-A:30, III, the department shall have sustained its burden of proof under RSA 541-A:30, III by proving that such charges were brought and the licensee failed to comply with the corrective action plan approved by the department. The licensee shall not operate the child day care agency while the hearing process is pending unless during that period the charges are dropped or the person charged with the crime is acquitted.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.