Title 17. Education

Chapter 1. General School Law

Part X-B. Early Learning Center Licensing

17:407.42         Review of criminal history information and state central registry of child abuse and neglect

<Text effective upon the earlier of promulgation of rules for employment eligibility determination for staff of child care providers or September 30, 2018. See, also, text of R.S. 17:407.42 effective until the earlier of promulgation of rules for employment eligibility determination for staff of child care providers or September 30, 2018.> 

A. (1) No person who has been convicted of or has pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15:587.1(C) or whose name is on the Louisiana Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry, any other state’s sex offender registry, or the National Crime Information Center’s National Sex Offender Registry shall directly or indirectly own, operate, or participate in the governance of an early learning center, or shall be hired by any early learning center as a volunteer or employee of any kind, including any therapeutic professionals, extracurricular personnel, and other independent contractors, or shall be hired by the department in a position whose duties include the performance of licensing inspections in early learning centers. 

(2) No individual whose name is recorded on the state central registry within the Department of Children and Family Services as a perpetrator for a justified finding of abuse or neglect of a child or in any other state’s child abuse and neglect registry or repository shall own or operate a licensed early learning center or shall be hired by a licensed early learning center as an employee or volunteer of any kind, including any therapeutic professionals, extracurricular personnel, and other independent contractors, or shall be hired by the department in a position whose duties include the performance of licensing inspections. 

B. (1) The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall establish by regulation, requirements and procedures under which the department shall, for any owner, volunteer, applicant, or employee of any kind, including contractors, of an early learning center or an applicant or employee of the department in a position whose duties include the performance of licensing inspections: 

(a) Request information from the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, consistent with the provisions of R.S. 15:587.1, concerning whether the person has been arrested for or convicted of or pled nolo contendere to any criminal offense. 

(b) Request information from the Department of Children and Family Services as to whether the person is listed on the state central registry as a perpetrator for a justified finding of abuse or neglect of a child. 

(c) Request information from the National Crime Information Center as to whether the individual’s name is recorded on the National Sex Offender Registry. 

(2) The department shall require and provide for the submission of a person’s fingerprints in a form acceptable to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information prior to employment of such person. A person who has submitted his fingerprints to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, and for whom the department has received a Louisiana or federal criminal history information report, may be hired on a provisional basis until such time as all required background checks have been completed; a provisional employee shall be monitored in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education by an individual who has completed a criminal background check. Under no circumstances shall an early learning center employ a person in any capacity until the department has received the required Louisiana or federal criminal history information report. 

(3) The department may charge a processing fee not to exceed fifteen dollars and may collect the processing fees charged by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information for a state criminal history report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a federal criminal history information report, the National Crime Information Center for a search of the National Sex Offender Registry, the Department of Children and Family Services for a search of its state central registry of child abuse and neglect, and processing fees charged by other states when it receives a request for an employment eligibility determination and shall timely submit the appropriate processing fees to the appropriate agencies. 

C. (1) The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall adopt rules to provide for a procedure whereby an early learning center may obtain a waiver from regulations adopted by the board establishing minimum child-to-staff ratios, when an undue delay in completing required background checks for employees makes it impossible to meet the prescribed ratios. 

(2) An early learning center shall not be penalized for failing to meet established minimum child-to-staff ratios, if it demonstrates that a good-faith effort was made to comply with all background check requirements. 

Added by Acts 2014, No. 868, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 2014. Amended by Acts 2016, No. 646, § 2; Acts 2017, No. 423, § 3.