Bill Text: NY A04983 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to the fingerprinting and background checks of contracted service providers of student support services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-9)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-09 - print number 4983a [A04983 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A04983-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relates to the fingerprinting and background checks of contracted service providers of student support services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-9)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-09 - print number 4983a [A04983 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A04983-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4983 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 6, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to background checks and fingerprinting; and to amend the social services law, in relation to statewide central registry clearances by contracted service providers of student support services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1125 of the education law, as 2 added by chapter 180 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows: 3 3. "Employee" shall mean any person receiving compensation from a 4 school district or employee of a contracted service provider, a 5 contracted service provider of student support services or worker placed 6 within the school under a public assistance employment program, pursuant 7 to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, and consist- 8 ent with the provisions of such title for the provision of services to 9 such district, its students or employees, directly or through contract, 10 whereby such services performed by such person involve direct student 11 contact. 12 § 2. Paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education 13 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (v) to read as follows: 14 (v) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, the 15 board of trustees of a charter school shall not be required to oversee 16 the fingerprinting process for employees of a contracted service provid- 17 er of student support services such as, but not limited to, substitute 18 teachers, substitute teacher aides, substitute nurses, educational 19 consultants, tutors, substitute school administrative support and other 20 temporary student services professionals, so long as the have engaged a 21 contracted service provider of student support services who has complied 22 with the fingerprinting requirements elsewhere in this chapter. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05150-01-7A. 4983 2 1 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 2 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal 5 justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of 6 law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprint- 7 ing of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twen- 8 ty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [and], 9 boards of cooperative educational services and contracted service 10 providers of student support services and authorizing the fingerprinting 11 of prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and second- 12 ary schools, and for the use of information derived from searches of the 13 records of the division of criminal justice services and the federal 14 bureau of investigation based on the use of such fingerprints. The 15 commissioner shall also develop a form for use by school districts, 16 charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted 17 service providers of student support services, and nonpublic and private 18 elementary and secondary schools in connection with the submission of 19 fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought and any other 20 information that may be relevant to consideration of the applicant. The 21 commissioner shall also create or expand the functionality of internet 22 based systems to provide access to contracted service providers of 23 student support services upon application of the contracted service 24 provider of student support services to the commissioner to enable them 25 to be able to review fingerprint results and subsequent arrest notifica- 26 tions based on the fingerprint and background check data by logging into 27 a protected web portal, entering in the employee name and social securi- 28 ty number, which would provide access to see the fingerprint results. 29 The commissioner shall also establish a form for the recordation of 30 allegations of child abuse in an educational setting, as required pursu- 31 ant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this chapter. No person who 32 has been fingerprinted pursuant to section three thousand four-b of this 33 chapter or pursuant to section five hundred nine-cc or twelve hundred 34 twenty-nine-d of the vehicle and traffic law and whose fingerprints 35 remain on file with the division of criminal justice services shall be 36 required to undergo fingerprinting for purposes of a new criminal histo- 37 ry record check. This subdivision and the rules and regulations promul- 38 gated pursuant thereto shall not apply to a school district within a 39 city with a population of one million or more. 40 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (b) of subdivision 30 of 41 section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws 42 of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 43 The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal justice 44 services, shall promulgate a form to be provided to all such prospective 45 employees of school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative 46 educational services, contracted service providers of student support 47 services and nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that 48 elect to fingerprint and seek clearance for prospective employees that 49 shall: 50 § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 51 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 52 as follows: 53 (d) The commissioner shall develop forms to be provided to all school 54 districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, 55 contracted service providers of student support services and to all 56 nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that elect toA. 4983 3 1 fingerprint their prospective employees, to be completed and signed by 2 prospective employees when conditional appointment or emergency condi- 3 tional appointment is offered. 4 § 6. Subdivision 31 of section 305 of the education law, as added by 5 chapter 380 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows: 6 31. The commissioner shall direct that each school district, charter 7 school, [and] private elementary and secondary school, and contracted 8 service provider of student support services appoint a designated educa- 9 tional official for the purposes set forth in section 380.90 of the 10 criminal procedure law, subdivision seventeen of section 301.2 and 11 subdivision three of section 380.1 of the family court act. In addition, 12 the commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations, in consultation 13 with the office of court administration, to facilitate electronic access 14 by the courts to the names and addresses of such designated educational 15 officials. 16 § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 17 chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 18 1. The commissioner shall submit to the division of criminal justice 19 services two sets of fingerprints of prospective employees as defined in 20 subdivision three of section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter 21 received from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative 22 educational services, contracted service providers of student support 23 services and of prospective employees received from nonpublic and 24 private elementary and secondary schools pursuant to title two of this 25 chapter, and the division of criminal justice services processing fee 26 imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight hundred thir- 27 ty-seven of the executive law and any fee imposed by the federal bureau 28 of investigation. The division of criminal justice services and the 29 federal bureau of investigation shall forward such criminal history 30 record to the commissioner in a timely manner. For the purposes of this 31 section, the term "criminal history record" shall mean a record of all 32 convictions of crimes and any pending criminal charges maintained on an 33 individual by the division of criminal justice services and the federal 34 bureau of investigation. All such criminal history records sent to the 35 commissioner pursuant to this subdivision shall be confidential pursuant 36 to the applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and 37 shall not be published or in any way disclosed to persons other than the 38 commissioner, unless otherwise authorized by law. 39 § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 40 section 7 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 41 follows: 42 3. (a) Clearance. (i) After receipt of a criminal history record from 43 the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of 44 investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate 45 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 46 services, contracted service providers of student support services or 47 nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school whether the prospec- 48 tive employee to which such report relates is cleared for employment 49 based upon his or her criminal history. All determinations to grant or 50 deny clearance for employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be 51 performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred 52 ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the 53 correction law. When the commissioner denies a prospective employee 54 clearance for employment, such prospective employee shall be afforded 55 notice and the right to be heard and offer proof in opposition to such 56 determination in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner.A. 4983 4 1 (ii) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, 2 information regarding the results of the investigation of current or 3 prospective employees of contracted service providers of student support 4 services and subsequent changes in status related to such employees 5 shall be transmitted via an internet-based system made available to 6 contracted service providers of student support services upon applica- 7 tion of the contracted service provider of student support services to 8 the commissioner where, by logging into a protected web portal and 9 entering in the employee name and social security number, contracted 10 service providers of student support services would be able to access 11 fingerprint results, whether the employee first completed a form 12 provided to them by the contracted service provider of student support 13 services, or received a form previously from a school district, charter 14 school or board of cooperative educational services. Nothing in this 15 section shall require an employee who has already submitted their fing- 16 erprints to the commissioner to have to submit them again, so long as 17 they were not destroyed. 18 (b) Conditional clearance. When the commissioner receives a request 19 for a determination on the conditional clearance of a prospective 20 employee, the commissioner, after receipt of a criminal history record 21 from the division of criminal justice services, shall promptly notify 22 the prospective employee and the appropriate school district, charter 23 school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted service 24 providers of student support services or nonpublic or private elementary 25 or secondary school that the prospective employee to which such report 26 relates is conditionally cleared for employment based upon his or her 27 criminal history or that more time is needed to make the determination. 28 If the commissioner determines that more time is needed, the notifica- 29 tion shall include a good faith estimate of the amount of additional 30 time needed. Such notification shall be made within fifteen business 31 days after the commissioner receives the prospective employee's finger- 32 prints. All determinations to grant or deny conditional clearance for 33 employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance 34 with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the execu- 35 tive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. 36 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 37 section 8 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 38 follows: 39 3. After receipt of a criminal history record from the division of 40 criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation the 41 commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate school district, 42 charter school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted 43 service providers of student support services or nonpublic or private 44 elementary or secondary school whether the prospective employee to which 45 such report relates is cleared for employment based upon his or her 46 criminal history. All determinations to grant or deny clearance for 47 employment pursuant to this subdivision shall be performed in accordance 48 with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the execu- 49 tive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. When the 50 commissioner denies a prospective employee clearance for employment, 51 such prospective employee shall be afforded notice and the right to be 52 heard and offer proof in opposition to such determination in accordance 53 with the regulations of the commissioner. 54 § 10. Section 1125 of the education law is amended by adding a new 55 subdivision 10 to read as follows:A. 4983 5 1 10. "Contracted service provider of student support services" shall 2 mean any individual or entity that contracts with, but not limited to, a 3 school district, a charter school, a board of cooperative educational 4 services, or a nonpublic school for the provision of substitute teach- 5 ers, substitute teacher assistants, substitute nurses, educational 6 professional, tutors, substitute school administrative support, and 7 other temporary student service personnel. 8 § 11. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as 9 amended by section 8 of part D of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is 10 amended to read as follows: 11 3. For purposes of this section, the term "provider" or "provider 12 agency" shall mean an authorized agency, the office of children and 13 family services, juvenile detention facilities subject to the certif- 14 ication of such office, programs established pursuant to article nine- 15 teen-H of the executive law, non-residential or residential programs or 16 facilities licensed or operated by the office of mental health or the 17 office for people with developmental disabilities except family care 18 homes, licensed child day care centers, including head start programs 19 which are funded pursuant to title V of the federal economic opportunity 20 act of nineteen hundred sixty-four, as amended, early intervention 21 service established pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty of the 22 public health law, preschool services established pursuant to section 23 forty-four hundred ten of the education law, school-age child care 24 programs, contracted service providers of student support services as 25 defined in subdivision ten of section eleven hundred twenty-five of the 26 education law, special act school districts as enumerated in chapter 27 five hundred sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as 28 amended, programs and facilities licensed by the office of alcoholism 29 and substance abuse services, residential schools which are operated, 30 supervised or approved by the education department, and any other facil- 31 ity or provider agency, as defined in subdivision four of section four 32 hundred eighty-eight of this chapter, in regard to the employment of 33 staff, or use of providers of goods and services and staff of such 34 providers, consultants, interns and volunteers. 35 § 12. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 390-a of the social 36 services law, as amended by chapter 416 of the laws of 2000, is amended 37 to read as follows: 38 (a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by 39 any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child 40 care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a 41 provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a 42 child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child 43 care program. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the 44 following requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her employ- 45 ment history, provide personal and employment references; submit such 46 information as is required for screening with the statewide central 47 register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance with the 48 provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article; sign a 49 sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, 50 he or she has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other 51 jurisdiction; and provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the 52 division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions 53 of section three hundred ninety-b of this title. Notwithstanding the 54 provisions of this paragraph, where a program has people working on 55 their premises through a contracted service provider of student support 56 services as defined in subdivision ten of section eleven hundred twen-A. 4983 6 1 ty-five of the education law, and such contracted services provider of 2 student support services has properly performed checks on its employees 3 as a provider or provider agency under section four hundred 4 twenty-four-a of this chapter, then such program does not need to run 5 the check itself on the contracted service provider employees working on 6 their site; 7 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that: 8 (a) the amendments to paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 9 of the education law made by section two of this act shall not affect 10 the expiration of such paragraph and shall expire and be deemed repealed 11 therewith; (b) the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of 12 section 305 of the education law made by section five of this act shall 13 not affect the repeal of such paragraph and shall be deemed repealed 14 therewith; and (c) the amendments to subdivision 3 of section 3035 of 15 the education law made by section eight of this act shall be subject to 16 the expiration and reversion of such subdivision, pursuant to section 12 17 of chapter 147 of the laws of 2001, as amended, when upon such date the 18 provisions of section nine of this act shall take effect.
