Carson Authors Bill to Require Criminal Background Checks for Child Care Providers

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Carson Authors Bill to Require Criminal Background Checks for Child Care Providers

July 28, 2009

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman André Carson issued the following statement after introducing legislation that requires states to perform criminal background checks on child care providers and restricts Child Care Development Block Grant funding from being provided to convicted felons:

“As millions of parents continue to send their children to child care, I believe that Congress has a responsibility to ensure that these young people are in a safe and protective environment. Unfortunately, current law provides few resources or guidelines for preventing situations where parents are unwittingly hiring child care providers with a criminal past.

“One of the easiest ways to promote safety in a child care setting is for states to conduct comprehensive criminal background checks on child care providers. That is why I introduced a bill that will assist states in improving the overall safety of child care services and programs by mandating child care providers undergo national background checks. This requirement would be tied to state eligibility for federal Child Care Development Block Grant funding.

“I believe that this common sense legislation will better inform parents and help ensure that they do not unknowingly place their children in a potentially dangerous situation.”

Facts about child care in the U.S.

Across the United States, there are approximately 22 million children who spend an average of 36 hours a week in some form of child care arrangement. Much of this care is made possible by subsidies given through the federal Child Care Development Block Grant, which provides child care fee assistance to the families of over 1.7 million low-income children.

A recent study conducted under the Federal Child Safety Pilot Program found that of the more than 30,000 background checks that were conducted, 6.4 percent of individuals seeking to work with children had a criminal record. More than 25 percent of those with a criminal had committed a violent offense in the past while living in a different state. In addition, over half of the individuals found to have committed a crime made false claims that they had a clean criminal background.

Endorsement of the bill

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) issued a statement in support of Carson’s legislation:

“NACCRRA commends Representative Carson for his dedication to protecting children and for introducing this legislation. We look forward to working on this issue in the weeks ahead to ensure that children are safe in child care while their parents work and that no one with a violent criminal history is paid with federal dollars to provide child care for children.”

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