Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
On Oct. 1, the North Dakota Department of Human Services (NDDHS) will implement two additional federal requirements for criminal background checks of North Dakota licensed and regulated child care providers. The changes are the result of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, which directed states to implement additional criminal background check requirements to ensure the protection and safety of children in licensed an regulated child care.
The first change requires all child care staff, regardless of position or age, to complete a comprehensive fingerprint-based background check. This includes volunteers who may have unsupervised access to children.
The second requirement impacting providers is that new staff members cannot begin work until the department receives and reviews their in-state Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) or their national Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal history records. New staff can begin working under direct supervision if their record shows no convictions that would disqualify them from working with children. A new staff member can begin full unrestricted employment only after their entire background check is complete, which may include receiving records from each state he or she has lived in during the past five years.
The background check process is very detailed. Applicants need to make sure they complete all the required information on their application to avoid delays in processing their background checks.
“Incomplete applications are one of the main causes of delays in completing background checks,” Tara Reed of NDDHS said. “When the department receives an incomplete application, it is sent back to the provider to correct and resubmit. This really slows down the process.”
These two federal requirements are part of a series of background check enhancements affecting early childhood services. The state has already implemented several other federal requirements. Most recently, North Dakota incorporated into the background check process searches of interstate criminal history records and interstate sex offender registries of each state an individual has lived within the past five years.
The department mailed information about the upcoming changes to about 1,800 licensed and regulated early childhood service providers who will be affected by this change.
