97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB2894

 

Introduced 2/23/2011, by Rep. Jil Tracy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
225 ILCS 10/4.1  from Ch. 23, par. 2214.1

    Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Provides that if an employee has authorized a criminal background investigation, but the investigation has not been completed, then the employee may work directly with the children if another employee who has completed a criminal background investigation is present at all times. Effective immediately.


LRB097 08334 CEL 48461 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2894LRB097 08334 CEL 48461 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Child Care Act of 1969 is amended by
5changing Section 4.1 as follows:
 
6    (225 ILCS 10/4.1)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2214.1)
7    Sec. 4.1. Criminal Background Investigations. The
8Department shall require that each child care facility license
9applicant as part of the application process, and each employee
10of a child care facility as a condition of employment,
11authorize an investigation to determine if such applicant or
12employee has ever been charged with a crime and if so, the
13disposition of those charges; this authorization shall
14indicate the scope of the inquiry and the agencies which may be
15contacted. Upon this authorization, the Director shall request
16and receive information and assistance from any federal, State
17or local governmental agency as part of the authorized
18investigation. Each applicant shall submit his or her
19fingerprints to the Department of State Police in the form and
20manner prescribed by the Department of State Police. These
21fingerprints shall be checked against the fingerprint records
22now and hereafter filed in the Department of State Police and
23Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history records

 

 

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1databases. The Department of State Police shall charge a fee
2for conducting the criminal history records check, which shall
3be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not
4exceed the actual cost of the records check. The Department of
5State Police shall provide information concerning any criminal
6charges, and their disposition, now or hereafter filed, against
7an applicant or child care facility employee upon request of
8the Department of Children and Family Services when the request
9is made in the form and manner required by the Department of
10State Police.
11    Information concerning convictions of a license applicant
12investigated under this Section, including the source of the
13information and any conclusions or recommendations derived
14from the information, shall be provided, upon request, to such
15applicant prior to final action by the Department on the
16application. State conviction information provided by the
17Department of State Police regarding employees or prospective
18employees of child care facilities licensed under this Act
19shall be provided to the operator of such facility, and, upon
20request, to the employee or prospective employee. Any
21information concerning criminal charges and the disposition of
22such charges obtained by the Department shall be confidential
23and may not be transmitted outside the Department, except as
24required herein, and may not be transmitted to anyone within
25the Department except as needed for the purpose of evaluating
26an application or a child care facility employee. Only

 

 

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1information and standards which bear a reasonable and rational
2relation to the performance of a child care facility shall be
3used by the Department or any licensee. Any employee of the
4Department of Children and Family Services, Department of State
5Police, or a child care facility receiving confidential
6information under this Section who gives or causes to be given
7any confidential information concerning any criminal
8convictions of a child care facility applicant, or child care
9facility employee, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor
10unless release of such information is authorized by this
11Section.
12    A child care facility may hire, on a probationary basis,
13any employee authorizing a criminal background investigation
14under this Section, pending the result of such investigation.
15If an employee has authorized a criminal background
16investigation under this Section, but the investigation has not
17been completed, then the employee may work directly with the
18children if another employee who has completed a criminal
19background investigation is present at all times. Employees
20shall be notified prior to hiring that such employment may be
21terminated on the basis of criminal background information
22obtained by the facility.
23(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.