§ 390-E — Criminal history review; mentoring programs

§ 390-e. Criminal history review; mentoring programs. 1. For the\npurposes of this section, the following words shall have the following\nmeanings:\n (a) "Prospective employee" shall mean a person being considered for\nemployment by a mentoring program.\n (b) "Prospective mentor" shall mean an individual who is currently\napplying to volunteer to help a child or a group of children in a\nmentoring program for a period of time. Such help shall include, but not\nbe limited to, being a positive role model for youth, building\nrelationships with youth, and providing youth with academic assistance\nand exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance\nthe ability of children to become responsible adults.\n (c) "Mentoring program" shall mean a formalized program, operated by a\ncorporation which has been incorporated pursuant to subparagraph five of\nparagraph (a) of section one hundred two of the not-for-profit\ncorporation law or pursuant to subparagraph four of paragraph (a) of\nsection one hundred two of the business corporation law, or operated by\nan educational institution or school district, that matches youth with\nadult volunteers with the purpose of providing such youth with positive\nrole models to enhance their development.\n (d) "Office" shall mean the office of children and family services.\n 2. Mentoring programs may perform a criminal history record check on\nall prospective employees and mentors.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, subject\nto the rules and regulations of the division of criminal justice\nservices, mentoring programs may apply for a criminal history record\ncheck with the division of criminal justice services regarding any\nprospective employee or any prospective mentor who may engage in\nunsupervised activities with youth or in activities with youth in a\nsetting without constant agency or parental oversight. Each mentoring\nprogram that chooses to complete such criminal background checks on\nprospective employees or on prospective mentors shall establish a policy\nfor completing criminal background checks on such prospective employees\nor mentors. Such policy shall apply one uniform standard for the\ncompletion of criminal background checks for all prospective employees\nand one uniform standard for the completion of criminal background\nchecks for all prospective mentors. Any mentoring program that chooses\nto complete criminal background checks on both prospective employees and\nprospective mentors may utilize the same uniform process for the\ncompletion of the criminal background checks on prospective employees\nand prospective mentors or they may choose one uniform process for\nprospective employees and another uniform process for prospective\nmentors.\n 4. Every mentoring program that chooses to apply for a criminal\nhistory background check with the division of criminal justice services\nshall obtain a set of fingerprints from each individual for whom a\ncriminal background check is to be completed and such other information\nas is required by the office and the division of criminal justice\nservices. For each prospective employee or mentor for whom the\nmentoring program completes a criminal background check, the mentoring\nprogram shall provide the applicant with blank fingerprint cards and a\ndescription of how the completed fingerprint card will be used upon\nsubmission to the mentoring program. The mentoring program shall\npromptly transmit such fingerprint card and the processing fee to the\noffice. The office shall promptly submit the fingerprint card and the\nprocessing fee, imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight\nhundred thirty-seven of the executive law, to the division of criminal\njustice services for its full search and retain processing.\n 5. Upon receipt of a criminal history record from the division of\ncriminal justice services, the office shall promptly provide to the\nmentoring program the criminal history record, if any, with respect to\nthe prospective employee or mentor, or a statement that the individual\nhas no criminal history record.\n 6. Upon receipt of the results of a criminal background check pursuant\nto this section, the mentoring program shall determine whether or not\nthe prospective employee or mentor shall be offered employment or the\nopportunity to volunteer with the program. Such determination shall be\nmade in accordance with the criteria established in section seven\nhundred fifty-two of the correction law.\n 7. Upon the request of any person previously convicted of one or more\ncriminal offenses who has been denied employment pursuant to subdivision\nsix of this section, the mentoring program shall provide, within thirty\ndays of such request, a written statement setting forth the reasons for\nsuch denial. Any such person denied employment pursuant to subdivision\nsix of this section shall be afforded the opportunities for enforcement\navailable pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-five of the correction\nlaw.\n 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, with the exception\nof a sex offense or a crime against a child, a custodial parent or\nguardian may sign a waiver authorizing a mentor to work with his or her\nchild regardless of a criminal charge or crime related to a mentor. Such\nprocess shall only be initiated upon the consent of the prospective\nmentor, and be on a form and of a content to be developed by the office.\nWhere applicable, a mentoring program may notify a custodial parent or\nguardian of his or her waiver right, but a waiver shall only be\nauthorized by a custodial parent or guardian.\n 9. Any criminal history record provided to a mentoring program\npursuant to this section shall be confidential pursuant to the\napplicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and shall not\nbe published or in any way disclosed to persons other than authorized\npersonnel, unless otherwise authorized by law.\n 10. Every mentoring program shall provide each custodial parent or\nguardian of every child participating in its mentoring program with a\ndescription of the kind of criminal background checks conducted by the\nmentoring program on its prospective employees and mentors. Such\ndescription shall include identification of the source utilized to\nobtain criminal background histories on prospective employees and\nmentors, a list of crimes that would lead the program to deny employment\nor the opportunity to volunteer as a prospective employee or mentor, and\nany other process utilized to determine whether or not a prospective\nemployee or mentor with a conviction record shall be offered employment\nor the opportunity to volunteer. Such description shall clearly state\nwhether or not prospective employees or mentors may be hired or offered\nthe opportunity to volunteer despite the existence of a conviction\nhistory.\n