§ 837-N — Criminal history information of caregivers; requirements

§ 837-n. Criminal history information of caregivers; requirements. 1.\nDefinitions. For the purposes of this section:\n (a) "Caregiver" shall mean a person employed to provide care to a\nchild or children, or an elderly or vulnerable adult in the home of such\na child, children, or elderly or vulnerable adult.\n (b) "Criminal history information" shall mean a record of all\nconvictions of crimes and any pending criminal charges maintained on an\nindividual by the division of criminal justice services.\n 2. (a) Upon request, a caregiver may provide a prospective employer\nwith a set of fingerprints, or two such sets of fingerprints if the\nprospective employer also seeks to obtain a criminal history report from\nthe federal bureau of investigation, in such form and manner as shall be\nspecified by the division of criminal justice services, but in any\nevent, no less than two digit imprints. The prospective employer shall\nsubmit the fingerprints to the division of criminal justice services for\nscreening, together with the prescribed processing fee, as set forth in\nsubdivision eight-a of section eight hundred thirty-seven of this\narticle and any fees associated with obtaining fingerprints under this\nsubdivision, provided, however, that the commissioner shall develop a\nreduced fee based upon the prospective employer's ability to pay. If the\nprospective employer also seeks to obtain a criminal history report from\nthe FBI, the required fee for such report shall also be included.\n (b) Every set of fingerprints taken pursuant to this subdivision shall\nbe promptly submitted to the division of criminal justice services. The\ndivision of criminal justice services shall compare such fingerprints\nagainst the records of such division and upon request of the prospective\nemployer shall forward a set of such fingerprints to the federal bureau\nof investigation at Washington with a request that the files of the\nbureau be searched and notification of the results of such search and a\nreport thereon shall be made. The division of criminal justice services\nshall formulate a standard criminal history information report and the\nstandard form for such reporting. The division of criminal justice\nservices shall forward such criminal history information report to the\nprospective employer in a timely manner. All such reports processed and\nsent to such prospective employer pursuant to this paragraph shall not\nbe published or in any way disclosed or redisclosed to persons other\nthan the prospective employer, or the prospective caregiver. Any person\nwho discloses or rediscloses such reports in violation of this section\nshall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n (c) The office of children and family services shall prepare and\ndisseminate information to advise the public of the right to obtain the\ncriminal history information of a prospective caregiver. Such\ninformation shall also include, but not be limited to, the following:\n (i) the voluntary nature of the criminal history information check;\n (ii) the steps necessary to use the criminal history information\ncheck, including information on form availability, fingerprinting and\nfees;\n (iii) applicable confidentiality requirements; and\n (iv) other information that is available to prospective employers upon\nthe consent of a prospective caregiver including but not limited to\ndepartment of motor vehicles records, educational records and credit\nrecords, including, where relevant and available, phone numbers,\naddresses and a description of the content and potential uses of such\nrecords.\n (d) The commissioner of the division of criminal justice services\nshall promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to implement the\nprovisions of this section.\n