Public Act 096-0632
 
SB1677 Enrolled LRB096 10732 KTG 20916 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 2. The Department of Public Health Powers and
Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
amended by adding Section 2310-186 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2310/2310-186 new)
    Sec. 2310-186. Criminal history record checks; task force.
The Department of Public Health in collaboration with the
Department of State Police shall create a task force to examine
the process used by State and local governmental agencies to
conduct criminal history record checks as a condition of
employment or approval to render provider services to such an
agency.
    The task force shall be comprised of representatives from
State and local agencies that require an applicant to undergo a
fingerprint-based criminal history record check pursuant to
State or federal law or agencies that are contemplating such a
requirement. The task force shall include but need not be
limited to representatives from the Department of State Police,
the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the
Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of
Central Management Services, the Department of Healthcare and
Family Services, the Department of Financial and Professional
Regulation, the Department of Public Health, the Department of
Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Office of the
Secretary of State, the Illinois State Board of Education
(whose representative or representatives shall consult with
the Regional Offices of Education and representatives of 2
statewide teachers unions, a statewide organization
representing school principals, a statewide school
administrators organization, and school bus companies), the
Live Scan fingerprinting industry, a union for child care
workers who provide service to children, a large regional park
district, and at least 2 statewide non-governmental,
non-profit multi-issue advocacy organizations to represent the
interests of prospective employees. The task force shall be
chaired by 2 co-chairpersons, one appointed by the Director of
Public Health and the other appointed by the Director of State
Police. The task force members shall be appointed within 30
days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
96th General Assembly. The Department of Public Health and the
Department of State Police shall jointly provide
administrative and staff support to the task force as needed.
    The task force shall review and make recommendations to
create a more centralized and coordinated process for
conducting criminal history record checks in order to reduce
duplication of effort and make better use of resources and more
efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
    The task force shall provide a plan to revise the criminal
history record check process to the General Assembly by January
1, 2011. The plan shall address the following issues:
        (1) Identification of any areas of concern that have
    been identified by stakeholders and task force members
    regarding State or federally mandated criminal history
    record checks.
        (2) Evaluation of the feasibility of using an
    applicant's initial criminal history record information
    results for subsequent employment or licensing screening
    purposes while protecting the confidentiality of the
    applicant.
        (3) Evaluation of the feasibility of centralizing the
    screening of criminal history record information inquiry
    responses.
        (4) Identification and evaluation of existing
    technologies that could be utilized to eliminate the need
    for a subsequent fingerprint inquiry each time an applicant
    changes employment or seeks a license requiring a criminal
    history record inquiry.
        (5) Identification of any areas where State or
    federally mandated criminal history record checks can be
    implemented in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.
        (6) Evaluation of what other states and the federal
    government are doing to address similar concerns.
        (7) Identification of programs serving vulnerable
    populations that do not currently require criminal history
    record information to determine whether those programs
    should be included in a centralized screening of criminal
    history record information.
        (8) Identification of any issues that agencies face in
    interpreting criminal history records, such as
    differentiating among types of dispositions, and
    evaluation of how those records can be presented in a
    format better tailored to non-law enforcement purposes.
        (9) Ensuring that any centralized criminal history
    records system discloses sealed criminal history records
    only to those agencies authorized to receive those records
    under Illinois law.
        (10) Evaluation of the feasibility of creating a
    process whereby agencies provide copies of the criminal
    background check to applicants for the purpose of providing
    applicants with the opportunity to assess the accuracy of
    the records.
        (11) Evaluation of the feasibility of adopting a
    uniform procedure for obtaining disposition information
    where an arrest or criminal charge is reported without
    subsequent disposition.
        (12) Preparation of a report for the General Assembly
    proposing solutions that can be adopted to eliminate the
    duplication of applicant fingerprint submissions and the
    duplication of criminal records check response screening
    efforts and to minimize the costs of conducting State and
    FBI fingerprint-based inquiries in Illinois.
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
changing Section 9A-11.5 as follows:
 
    (305 ILCS 5/9A-11.5)
    Sec. 9A-11.5. Investigate child care providers.
    (a) Any child care provider receiving funds from the child
care assistance program under this Code who is not required to
be licensed under the Child Care Act of 1969 shall, as a
condition of eligibility to participate in the child care
assistance program under this Code, authorize in writing on a
form prescribed by the Department of Children and Family
Services, periodic investigations of the Central Register, as
defined in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to
ascertain if the child care provider has been determined to be
a perpetrator in an indicated report of child abuse or neglect.
The Department of Children and Family Services shall conduct an
investigation of the Central Register at the request of the
Department. The Department shall request the Department of
Children and Family Services to conduct periodic
investigations of the Central Register.
    (b) Any child care provider, other than a relative of the
child, receiving funds from the child care assistance program
under this Code who is not required to be licensed under the
Child Care Act of 1969 shall, as a condition of eligibility to
participate in the child care assistance program under this
Code, authorize in writing a State and Federal Bureau of
Investigation fingerprint-based criminal history record check
to determine if the child care provider has ever been convicted
of a crime with respect to which the conviction has not been
overturned and the criminal records have not been sealed or
expunged. Upon this authorization, the Department shall
request and receive information and assistance from any federal
or State governmental agency as part of the authorized criminal
history record check. The Department of State Police shall
provide information concerning any conviction that has not been
overturned and with respect to which the criminal records have
not been sealed or expunged, whether the conviction occurred
before or on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 96th General Assembly, of a child care provider upon the
request of the Department when the request is made in the form
and manner required by the Department of State Police. The
Department of State Police shall charge a fee not to exceed the
cost of processing the criminal history record check. The fee
is to be deposited into the State Police Services Fund. Any
information concerning convictions that have not been
overturned and with respect to which the criminal records have
not been sealed or expunged obtained by the Department is
confidential and may not be transmitted (i) outside the
Department except as required in this Section or (ii) to anyone
within the Department except as needed for the purposes of
determining participation in the child care assistance
program. A copy of the criminal history record check obtained
from the Department of State Police shall be provided to the
unlicensed child care provider.
    (c) The Department shall by rule set standards for
determining when to disqualify an unlicensed child care
provider for payment because (i) there is an indicated finding
against the provider based on the results of the Central
Register search or (ii) there is a disqualifying criminal
charge pending against the provider or the provider has a
disqualifying criminal conviction that has not been overturned
and with respect to which the criminal records have not been
expunged or sealed based on the results of the
fingerprint-based Department of State Police and Federal
Bureau of Investigation criminal history record check. In
determining whether to disqualify an unlicensed child care
provider for payment under this subsection, the Department
shall consider the nature and gravity of any offense or
offenses; the time that has passed since the offense or
offenses or the completion of the criminal sentence or both;
and the relationship of the offense or offenses to the
responsibilities of the child care provider determine when
payment to an unlicensed child care provider may be withheld if
there is an indicated finding against the provider in the
Central Register.
(Source: P.A. 92-825, eff. 8-21-02.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.