Bill Text: NY A10086 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the fingerprinting and background checks of contracted service providers of student support services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-10 - referred to education [A10086 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-A10086-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10086 IN ASSEMBLY May 10, 2016 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- 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. 23 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 24 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 25 as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15059-02-6A. 10086 2 1 (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal 2 justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of 3 law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprint- 4 ing of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twen- 5 ty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [and], 6 boards of cooperative educational services and contracted service 7 providers of student support services and authorizing the fingerprinting 8 of prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and second- 9 ary schools, and for the use of information derived from searches of the 10 records of the division of criminal justice services and the federal 11 bureau of investigation based on the use of such fingerprints. The 12 commissioner shall also develop a form for use by school districts, 13 charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted 14 service providers of student support services, and nonpublic and private 15 elementary and secondary schools in connection with the submission of 16 fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought and any other 17 information that may be relevant to consideration of the applicant. The 18 commissioner shall also create or expand the functionality of internet 19 based systems to provide access to contracted service providers of 20 student support services upon application of the contracted service 21 provider of student support services to the commissioner to enable them 22 to be able to review fingerprint results and subsequent arrest notifica- 23 tions based on the fingerprint and background check data by logging into 24 a protected web portal, entering in the employee name and social securi- 25 ty number, which would provide access to see the fingerprint results. 26 The commissioner shall also establish a form for the recordation of 27 allegations of child abuse in an educational setting, as required pursu- 28 ant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this chapter. No person who 29 has been fingerprinted pursuant to section three thousand four-b of this 30 chapter or pursuant to section five hundred nine-cc or twelve hundred 31 twenty-nine-d of the vehicle and traffic law and whose fingerprints 32 remain on file with the division of criminal justice services shall be 33 required to undergo fingerprinting for purposes of a new criminal histo- 34 ry record check. This subdivision and the rules and regulations promul- 35 gated pursuant thereto shall not apply to a school district within a 36 city with a population of one million or more. 37 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (b) of subdivision 30 of 38 section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws 39 of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 40 The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal justice 41 services, shall promulgate a form to be provided to all such prospective 42 employees of school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative 43 educational services, contracted service providers of student support 44 services and nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that 45 elect to fingerprint and seek clearance for prospective employees that 46 shall: 47 § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 48 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 49 as follows: 50 (d) The commissioner shall develop forms to be provided to all school 51 districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, 52 contracted service providers of student support services and to all 53 nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that elect to 54 fingerprint their prospective employees, to be completed and signed by 55 prospective employees when conditional appointment or emergency condi- 56 tional appointment is offered.A. 10086 3 1 § 6. Subdivision 31 of section 305 of the education law, as added by 2 chapter 380 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows: 3 31. The commissioner shall direct that each school district, charter 4 school, [and] private elementary and secondary school, and contracted 5 service provider of student support services appoint a designated educa- 6 tional official for the purposes set forth in section 380.90 of the 7 criminal procedure law, subdivision seventeen of section 301.2 and 8 subdivision three of section 380.1 of the family court act. In addition, 9 the commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations, in consultation 10 with the office of court administration, to facilitate electronic access 11 by the courts to the names and addresses of such designated educational 12 officials. 13 § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 14 chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 15 1. The commissioner shall submit to the division of criminal justice 16 services two sets of fingerprints of prospective employees as defined in 17 subdivision three of section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter 18 received from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative 19 educational services, contracted service providers of student support 20 services and of prospective employees received from nonpublic and 21 private elementary and secondary schools pursuant to title two of this 22 chapter, and the division of criminal justice services processing fee 23 imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight hundred thir- 24 ty-seven of the executive law and any fee imposed by the federal bureau 25 of investigation. The division of criminal justice services and the 26 federal bureau of investigation shall forward such criminal history 27 record to the commissioner in a timely manner. For the purposes of this 28 section, the term "criminal history record" shall mean a record of all 29 convictions of crimes and any pending criminal charges maintained on an 30 individual by the division of criminal justice services and the federal 31 bureau of investigation. All such criminal history records sent to the 32 commissioner pursuant to this subdivision shall be confidential pursuant 33 to the applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and 34 shall not be published or in any way disclosed to persons other than the 35 commissioner, unless otherwise authorized by law. 36 § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 37 section 7 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 38 follows: 39 3. (a) Clearance. (i) After receipt of a criminal history record from 40 the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of 41 investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate 42 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 43 services, contracted service providers of student support services or 44 nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school whether the prospec- 45 tive employee to which such report relates is cleared for employment 46 based upon his or her criminal history. All determinations to grant or 47 deny clearance for employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be 48 performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred 49 ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the 50 correction law. When the commissioner denies a prospective employee 51 clearance for employment, such prospective employee shall be afforded 52 notice and the right to be heard and offer proof in opposition to such 53 determination in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner. 54 (ii) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, 55 information regarding the results of the investigation of current or 56 prospective employees of contracted service providers of student supportA. 10086 4 1 services and subsequent changes in status related to such employees 2 shall be transmitted via an internet-based system made available to 3 contracted service providers of student support services upon applica- 4 tion of the contracted service provider of student support services to 5 the commissioner where, by logging into a protected web portal and 6 entering in the employee name and social security number, contracted 7 service providers of student support services would be able to access 8 fingerprint results, whether the employee first completed a form 9 provided to them by the contracted service provider of student support 10 services, or received a form previously from a school district, charter 11 school or board of cooperative educational services. Nothing in this 12 section shall require an employee who has already submitted their fing- 13 erprints to the commissioner to have to submit them again, so long as 14 they were not destroyed. 15 (b) Conditional clearance. When the commissioner receives a request 16 for a determination on the conditional clearance of a prospective 17 employee, the commissioner, after receipt of a criminal history record 18 from the division of criminal justice services, shall promptly notify 19 the prospective employee and the appropriate school district, charter 20 school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted service 21 providers of student support services or nonpublic or private elementary 22 or secondary school that the prospective employee to which such report 23 relates is conditionally cleared for employment based upon his or her 24 criminal history or that more time is needed to make the determination. 25 If the commissioner determines that more time is needed, the notifica- 26 tion shall include a good faith estimate of the amount of additional 27 time needed. Such notification shall be made within fifteen business 28 days after the commissioner receives the prospective employee's finger- 29 prints. All determinations to grant or deny conditional clearance for 30 employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance 31 with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the execu- 32 tive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. 33 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 34 section 8 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 35 follows: 36 3. After receipt of a criminal history record from the division of 37 criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation the 38 commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate school district, 39 charter school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted 40 service providers of student support services or nonpublic or private 41 elementary or secondary school whether the prospective employee to which 42 such report relates is cleared for employment based upon his or her 43 criminal history. All determinations to grant or deny clearance for 44 employment pursuant to this subdivision shall be performed in accordance 45 with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the execu- 46 tive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. When the 47 commissioner denies a prospective employee clearance for employment, 48 such prospective employee shall be afforded notice and the right to be 49 heard and offer proof in opposition to such determination in accordance 50 with the regulations of the commissioner. 51 § 10. Section 1125 of the education law is amended by adding a new 52 subdivision 10 to read as follows: 53 10. "Contracted service provider of student support services" shall 54 mean any individual or entity that contracts with, but not limited to, a 55 school district, a charter school, a board of cooperative educational 56 services, or a nonpublic school for the provision of substitute teach-A. 10086 5 1 ers, substitute teacher assistants, substitute nurses, educational 2 professional, tutors, substitute school administrative support, and 3 other temporary student service personnel. 4 § 11. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as 5 amended by section 8 of part D of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 3. For purposes of this section, the term "provider" or "provider 8 agency" shall mean an authorized agency, the office of children and 9 family services, juvenile detention facilities subject to the certif- 10 ication of such office, programs established pursuant to article nine- 11 teen-H of the executive law, non-residential or residential programs or 12 facilities licensed or operated by the office of mental health or the 13 office for people with developmental disabilities except family care 14 homes, licensed child day care centers, including head start programs 15 which are funded pursuant to title V of the federal economic opportunity 16 act of nineteen hundred sixty-four, as amended, early intervention 17 service established pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty of the 18 public health law, preschool services established pursuant to section 19 forty-four hundred ten of the education law, school-age child care 20 programs, contracted service providers of student support services as 21 defined in subdivision ten of section eleven hundred twenty-five of the 22 education law, special act school districts as enumerated in chapter 23 five hundred sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as 24 amended, programs and facilities licensed by the office of alcoholism 25 and substance abuse services, residential schools which are operated, 26 supervised or approved by the education department, and any other facil- 27 ity or provider agency, as defined in subdivision four of section four 28 hundred eighty-eight of this chapter, in regard to the employment of 29 staff, or use of providers of goods and services and staff of such 30 providers, consultants, interns and volunteers. 31 § 12. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 390-a of the social 32 services law, as amended by chapter 416 of the laws of 2000, is amended 33 to read as follows: 34 (a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by 35 any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child 36 care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a 37 provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a 38 child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child 39 care program. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the 40 following requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her employ- 41 ment history, provide personal and employment references; submit such 42 information as is required for screening with the statewide central 43 register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance with the 44 provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article; sign a 45 sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, 46 he or she has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other 47 jurisdiction; and provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the 48 division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions 49 of section three hundred ninety-b of this title. Notwithstanding the 50 provisions of this paragraph, where a program has people working on 51 their premises through a contracted service provider of student support 52 services as defined in subdivision ten of section eleven hundred twen- 53 ty-five of the education law, and such contracted services provider of 54 student support services has properly performed checks on its employees 55 as a provider or provider agency under section four hundred 56 twenty-four-a of this chapter, then such program does not need to runA. 10086 6 1 the check itself on the contracted service provider employees working on 2 their site; 3 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that: 4 (a) the amendments to paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 5 of the education law made by section two of this act shall not affect 6 the expiration of such paragraph and shall expire and be deemed repealed 7 therewith; (b) the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of 8 section 305 of the education law made by section five of this act shall 9 not affect the repeal of such paragraph and shall be deemed repealed 10 therewith; and (c) the amendments to subdivision 3 of section 3035 of 11 the education law made by section eight of this act shall be subject to 12 the expiration and reversion of such subdivision, pursuant to section 12 13 of chapter 142 of the laws of 2001, as amended, when upon such date the 14 provisions of section nine of this act shall take effect.
