The CHILD Act would ensure that contractors working with children are subject to a nationwide background check
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced a bipartisan bill, the Comprehensive Health and Integrity in Licensing and Documentation (CHILD) Act, to amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (NCPA) to ensure that individuals with unsupervised access to children, such as those under contract with a school, are, once again, authorized to have a national background check.
U.S. Representative Russell Fry (R-SC-07) and U.S. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) are introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives today.
Since 1993, the National Child Protection Act/Volunteers for Children Act (NCPA/VCA) has made nationwide background checks available for individuals who have access to children through qualified entities. However, the Child Protection Improvements Act of 2018 (CPIA) amended the NCPA/VCA, inadvertently narrowing NCPA/VCA’s scope and no longer authorizing contractors working with vulnerable populations to receive a nationwide background check.
“When parents drop their kids off at school, they shouldn’t have to worry if their children are safe in the care of the school’s faculty. While the Child Protection Improvements Act was passed with the intent of keeping children safe, it created an inadvertent complication in securing nationwide background checks for all personnel with unsupervised access to children, namely contractors hired by schools,” said Durbin. “Schools often rely on contractors for a number of services geared toward children, including providing safe transportation. Today, I’m introducing bipartisan legislation with Senator Grassley to correct the current patchwork approach to securing nationwide background checks for those who work with children.”
“Parents should feel more confident that every individual who works with their children has been properly and thoroughly vetted. My bipartisan legislation with Senator Durbin would amend the Child Protection Improvements Act to help ensure all child care workers, including contractors, undergo nationwide background checks,” Grassley said. “Our legislative fix will help keep kids safe and give parents greater peace of mind.”
Prior to the amendments made to the NCPA/VCA by the CPIA of 2018, individuals with unsupervised access to children, such as those under contract with a school, were authorized to have a national background check conducted under the previous definition of “provider.” The CPIA changed the language of “provider” to “covered individual,” and the corresponding changes to the definition of “covered individual” removed the provision that covered contractors. As a result, there is now a patchwork approach to background checks for contractors dependent on each state’s NCPA-enabling statutes that were all drafted before the CPIA made this change. This approach puts children and other vulnerable individuals at risk of abuse, and the inconsistent availability of nationwide background checks may force contractors that operate nationwide to suspend hiring in states with NCPA-enabling statutes that did not foresee this issue.
The CHILD Act amends the NCPA/VCA to ensure that businesses and organizations under contract with qualified entities to work with vulnerable populations are included in the definition of “covered individuals.” This change will allow those businesses and organizations to once again request nationwide background checks for their personnel working with these vulnerable populations, as well as forindividuals that the businesses or organizations license or certify to provide care for these populations.
A copy of the bill is available here.
The CHILD Act has earned the endorsement of Students Against Destructive Decisions; Student Transportation & Education Equity; Roundtable; Parents Helping Parents, Inc.; National Diversity Coalition; RaisingHOPE, Inc.; National Center on Adoption & Permanency; HopSkipDrive; and Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE).
“Safety has always been, and will always be, our top priority at HopSkipDrive and background checks are an integral component of our 15-step certification process. We are proud to support the bipartisan CHILD Act to amend the National Child Protection Act and enhance access to safe, reliable student transportation. This crucial amendment will help ensure the highest standards of safety are met nationwide, and we extend our gratitude to the bill sponsors for their leadership on this important issue,” said Joanna McFarland, Co-Founder and CEO of HopSkipDrive.
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