Title 17. Education

Chapter 1. General School Law

Part X-C. Family Child Care Provider and in-Home Provider Registration Law

17:407.71          Grounds for revocation or refusal to renew registration; criminal activities; lack of CPR or first aid training

<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. 17:407.71 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 pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15:587.1(C), whose name is recorded on the state registry within the Department of Children and Family Services as a perpetrator for a justified finding of abuse or neglect of a child, whose name is on any other state’s child abuse and neglect registry or repository, whose name is on the Louisiana Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry, whose name is on any other state’s sex offender registry, or whose name is on the National Crime Information Center’s National Sex Offender Registry may be a registered family child care provider, be employed in the residence or on the property of the residence where the care is provided by the registered family child care provider, or live in the residence where care is provided by the registered family child care provider. The cost of any criminal background check which may be required by the department as proof of compliance with this Subsection shall be the responsibility of the family child care provider. 

(2) No person who has been convicted of or pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15:587.1(C), whose name is recorded on the state registry within the Department of Children and Family Services as a perpetrator for a justified finding of abuse or neglect of a child, whose name is on any other state’s child abuse and neglect registry or repository, whose name is on the Louisiana Sex Offender and Child Predator Registry, whose name is on any other state’s sex offender registry, or whose name is on the National Crime Information Center’s National Sex Offender Registry may be a registered in-home child care provider, be an adult employed in the home or on the property of the home where care is provided by the registered in-home child care provider, or be any adult living in the home where care is provided by the registered in-home child care provider who is not a caregiver. For the purposes of this Paragraph, the term “caregiver” shall mean any person legally obligated to provide or secure care for a child, including a parent, legal custodian, foster home parent, or other person providing a residence for the child. The cost of any criminal background check which may be required by the department as proof of compliance with this Subsection shall be the responsibility of the in-home provider. 

B. (1) The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall establish by regulation requirements and procedures through which the department shall: 

(a) Request, consistent with the provisions of R.S. 15:587.1, from the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, information concerning whether or not a registered family child care provider, any adult employed in the residence or on the property of the residence where care is provided, or any adult living in the residence where care is provided has been arrested for, 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 individual’s name is recorded on the state central registry for child abuse and neglect. 

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

(d) Request information identified in this Paragraph for the registered in-home provider, any adult employed in the home or on the property of the home where care is provided, or any adult living in the home where care is provided. 

(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. 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 abuse and neglect, and processing fees charged by other states when it receives a request for a criminal background check and shall timely submit the appropriate processing fees to the appropriate agencies. 

C. Each family child care provider and in-home provider shall have documented current certification in either Infant/Child CPR or Infant/Child/Adult CPR in order to be registered. 

D. The department may deny, revoke, or refuse to renew any registration of a family child care provider or in-home provider who violates the provisions of this Section. 

E. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to a family child care provider or in-home provider when such provider is related to all the children receiving child care. 

F. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to a family child care provider or in-home provider who is registered with the department solely for participation in the United States Child and Adult Care Food Program. 

Added by Acts 2014, No. 868, § 3, eff. Feb. 1, 2015. Amended by Acts 2015, No. 297, § 1; Acts 2015, No. 354, § 2, eff. July 1, 2015; Acts 2017, No. 423, § 3.