Child Care and Child Welfare: Background Checks

Child Care and Child Welfare: Background Checks

Order Code RL32430
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Child Care and Child Welfare:
Background Checks
Updated June 28, 2004
Kendall Swenson
Visiting Research Associate
Domestic Social Policy Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Child Care and Child Welfare: Background Checks
Summary
Recent improvements in information sharing technology and a concern over the
safety of America’s children have increased the amount of criminal background
checks performed on potential adoptive parents, foster care families, and other people
that are in close contact with children such as child care providers and youth program
volunteers. These background checks are not for criminal justice purposes, meaning
that the people under review are not being investigated for a particular crime, but are
performed with the cooperation of law enforcement agencies. While a previous
criminal conviction in someone’s past does not always mean that a person is
unsuitable to work or live with children, state social service agencies and child care
providers use this information as a part of a wider process to help ensure the safety
of children served through their organizations.
States have considerable flexibility to implement their own laws and procedures
for conducting background checks for child care and child welfare purposes.
However, federal laws and grant programs provide some assistance and guidance to
the states. For example, the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (NCPA) does not
mandate that states enact any legislation requiring background checks, but does
provide the legal framework for states to require the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) to perform background checks in accordance with any existing state legislation
for people that have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. The
Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), requires that a criminal records check be
conducted before approving a prospective foster or adoptive parent for a child who
is eligible to receive federal foster care maintenance or adoption assistance payments
(Title IV-E children). Finally, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
(CAPTA) has recently been amended to provide that (no later than 2006) states must
perform background checks on all adults residing in a prospective adoptive or foster
parent household.
States vary greatly in the types of persons required to have a background check
and the procedures needed to complete each background review. Some states
examine only the criminal history records located in their own law enforcement
databases, while other states have the FBI perform a criminal history records check
that includes information from other federal and state databases. These checks also
vary by situation. For example, states often have different background check
requirements for potential child care providers and their families than they have for
potential foster care and adoptive parents.
An important decision each state must make in creating its background check
process is whether to require applicants to submit fingerprints or to search criminal
history records solely on basic identifying information such as a person’s name,
social security number, and date of birth. Law enforcement experts consider
fingerprint submissions to be more comprehensive, though sometimes more costly
and burdensome, than basic checks. Some local law enforcement agencies have been
able to use some federal grant funding from the National Criminal History
Improvement Program (NCHIP) to help purchase electronic fingerprinting equipment
and implement other data improvement projects. This report will not be updated.

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Federal Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
National Child Protection Act of 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Victims of Child Abuse Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Adoption and Safe Families Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act . . . . . . . . 3
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Types of Background Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
State and Local Criminal History Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Federal FBI Database Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Child Abuse and Neglect Registries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Fingerprinting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Background Check Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
State by State Background Check Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Foster Care and Adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
List of Figures
Figure 1. Type of Background Checks in Child Welfare Required for all
Applicants (in 49 States) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 2. Example of a Possible Criminal Background Check Process
Using Fingerprints Submissions on Ten-Finger Print Cards . . . . . . . . . . . 13
List of Tables
Table 1. Background Checks in Child Care: Number of States that
Reported Conducting Background Checks on Regulated Providers,
by Type of Check and Provider, 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
This report was written by Kendall Swenson, a Presidential Management
Fellow on detail from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
under the direction of Karen Spar and Emilie Stoltzfus, Domestic Social
Policy Division.

Child Care and Child Welfare:
Background Checks
Introduction
Recent improvements in information sharing technology and a concern over the
safety of America’s children have increased the amount of criminal background
checks performed on potential adoptive parents, foster care families, and other people
that are in close contact with children such as child care providers and youth program
volunteers. These background checks are not for criminal justice purposes, meaning
that the people under review are not being investigated for a particular crime, but are
performed with the cooperation of law enforcement agencies. The persons required
to undergo a background check and the procedures needed to complete each review
vary greatly by state but often include a series of searches in state and federal
criminal history databases as well as state child abuse and neglect records systems.
While a previous criminal conviction does not always mean that a person is
unsuitable to work or live with children, state social service agencies and child care
providers use this information as a part of a wider process to help ensure the safety
of children served through their organizations.
Federal Legislation
States have considerable flexibility in implementing their own laws and
procedures for conducting background checks. However, federal laws and grant
programs help guide the way states organize and operate their background check
systems. This section is intended to provide an overview of the laws and programs
most relevant to the noncriminal background checks usually conducted for child care
and child welfare purposes.
National Child Protection Act of 1993. The National Child Protection Act
of 1993 (NCPA, P.L. 103-209) encourages states to improve the quality and increase
the use of their criminal history and child abuse records for child protection purposes.
Although the legislation does not mandate that states enact any legislation requiring
background checks, it does encourage states to create their own background check
process for certain child welfare and child care purposes. It also provides the legal
framework for states to require the FBI to perform background checks in accordance
with any existing state legislation. In addition, NCPA allows states to establish
procedures that mandate checks on prospective employees and volunteers for
organizations serving youth, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.
In an effort to increase the usefulness of the information being examined in
these background checks, NCPA encourages inter-state information sharing of
criminal history records and requires states to submit or index certain child abuse
crime information in FBI criminal history record systems. It further mandates that

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the U.S. Attorney General establish a series of procedures and deadlines for
improvements in each state’s criminal history records system. Generally, states
satisfy the submission requirements by reporting all felonies and particular
misdemeanors to the FBI.
The NCPA was further amended by the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322) (Section 320928) to establish a maximum
charge by the FBI of $18.00 per background check and in 1998 (P.L. 105-251) to
provide that youth-serving volunteer organizations and institutions may contact an
authorized state agency to request national criminal fingerprint background checks
in those cases where the state lacks regular procedures for requesting such checks.
Victims of Child Abuse Act. Enacted as Title XX of the Crime Control Act
of 1990, the Victims of Child Abuse Act requires background checks for federal
government employees (or employees who work at a facility operated by, or under
contract, with the federal government) who provide “child care services” to children
under the age of 18. For these purposes, the law defines “child care services” to
include child protective services (including investigation of abuse and neglect
reports), child (day) care, foster care, residential care, social services, health and
mental health care, education, recreational or rehabilitative programs, and detention,
correctional, or treatment services. The law further requires that these background
checks be based on fingerprints and other identifying information, and that they be
conducted through the FBI and through each state’s criminal history records for
which an employee lists current or former residence on an employment application.
Under the act, federal agencies may deny employment to any individual convicted of
“a sex crime, an offense involving a child victim, or a drug felony.” Finally, the act
encourages federal agencies and facilities to perform voluntary background checks
on volunteers who provide any of the listed child care services and on “adult
household members in places where child care or foster care services are being
provided in a home.”
Adoption and Safe Families Act. The Adoption and Safe Families Act
(ASFA, P.L. 105-89) provisions were developed to increase the safety of children
placed in foster or adoptive homes and to shorten the amount of time children stay
in foster care. As a part of ASFA, Congress mandated that a criminal records check
be conducted before approving a prospective foster or adoptive parent for a child who
is eligible to receive federal foster care maintenance or adoption assistance payments
(Title IV-E children). ASFA does not expressly require that states conduct these
checks for prospective foster or adoptive parents of children who are not eligible for
Title IV-E payments. However, state criminal background procedures are assessed
as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Child and Family
Services Review.
Under ASFA, states have considerable flexibility in the types of records checks
needed (e.g., one or more of FBI, state, local, child abuse and neglect registry) and
the procedures used to finalize each check. However, ASFA does list several
criminal offenses that must disqualify prospective foster or adoptive parents of Title
IV-E eligible children, if found in the background check process. These offenses
include: any felony convictions for child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, a crime
against a child (including child pornography); and for a crime involving violence,

CRS-3
including rape, homicide, and sexual assault. In addition, ASFA also requires that
final approval be denied for persons that have a felony conviction, within the past
five years, for physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense. ASFA also allows
states to go beyond these minimum requirements by denying approval because of
other convictions.1
States are eligible to opt-out of these specific ASFA background check
mandates. To make this choice, a state must either have its legislature enact a law
or have its governor provide written notification to the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that explains the state’s decision
to opt-out of the background check requirements and provide an alternative plan to
ensure a child’s safety as intended in ASFA. According to the latest data available
from HHS (April 2003), nine states had chosen to opt-out of ASFA, although all of
these states continued to perform background checks under state mandates.2 In
general, states opt-out to avoid the requirement that applicants be automatically
rejected if they had a felony conviction of one of the specific crimes listed in the act.
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act. The
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act (Title IV of P.L. 101-
630) requires background checks for federal and tribal agency employees that have
regular contact with, or control over, American Indian children. The Department of
the Interior has interpreted the law to include prospective foster and adoptive parents.
The legislation provides some minimum guidelines and requires that an applicant be
denied if he or she has been found guilty of or entered a plea of nolo contendere to
any felony, or any two or more misdemeanor offenses, under federal, state, or tribal
law involving crimes of violence, sexual assault, molestation, exploitation, contact
or prostitution, crimes against persons, or offenses committed against children.3
Under the legislation, states and tribal governments retain considerable flexibility in
the databases they search and the procedures used to complete each check.
According to the American Public Human Services Association, when Title IV-E
subsidy payments are provided to a Native American child in tribally licensed or
approved foster and adoptive families, ASFA background check requirements must
be met in addition to any requirements mandated under the Indian Child and Family
Violence Prevention Act.4
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Within two years of its
enactment, the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (CAPTA, P.L. 108-
36) requires states to perform background checks for prospective foster and adoptive
parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives that reside in the household. The
legislation does not specify a process for performing the background checks and does
not mandate particular crimes or other findings that must disqualify potential
1 Section 106, ASFA.
2 U.S. Congressional Affairs Office, Department of Health and Human Services.
3 Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act.
4 Rebecca Dunhem and Elizabeth Oppenheim, Understanding Criminal Records, American
Public Human Services Association, Washington, DC, Oct. 2002. (Hereafter cited as
Dunhem and Oppenheim, Understanding Criminal Records.)

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applicants. Because all states currently perform some sort of background check on
prospective foster or adoptive parents, the law’s most significant impact appears to
be its requirement that other adults residing in the household must have background
checks.
Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998. The 105th Congress
enacted the Crime Identification Act of 1998 (CITA, P.L. 105-251) to upgrade
criminal history record systems and to improve the ability of law enforcement
agencies to share information across jurisdictions. As a part of CITA, Congress
continued funding for the National Criminal History Improvement Program
(NCHIP), which uses a series of grants to improve the quality, timeliness, and
immediate accessibility of criminal history records for both civil and criminal justice
purposes. NCHIP grants may be used for a variety of data improvement projects such
as: upgrading electronic fingerprinting capacities, integrating criminal history data
systems, improving a state’s ability to comply with Section 103(b) of the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922), and improving participation in
the FBI’s Interstate Identification Index (discussed below). In 2000, P.L. 106-177
(Child Abuse and Prevention Enforcement Act) amended NCHIP to specify an
additional purpose for these funds to improve the “capability of the criminal justice
system to deliver timely, accurate, and complete criminal history record information
to child welfare agencies, organizations, and programs that are engaged in the
assessment of risk and other activities related to the protection of children, including
protection against child sexual abuse, and placement of children in foster care.”
Technologies supported by NCHIP grants may assist the background check process
for child care and child welfare purposes by speeding up the processing time and
reducing the staff needed to complete the background checks in the relevant law
enforcement agencies. Most states receive at least some NCHIP funding every year,
which totaled approximately $439 million between FY1995 and FY2003.5
Interstate Identification Index (III). CITA also encouraged states to
participate fully in the FBI’s Interstate Identification Index (III) system. The III is a
national identification index that allows states to operate their own criminal history
records repositories, while storing copies of the names and basic identification
information of the people in those records in a national FBI database.6 Queries to the
III use a person’s name and identification information to search for a FBI indexed
record. If found, the record will “point” the inquiring agency to the state or federal
agencies that are in possession of those databases, thereby allowing inter-
jurisdictional exchange of criminal history information without requiring the FBI to
maintain duplicate copies of the records in a centralized database. The FBI provides
records to the III system for federal and foreign offenders as well as persons arrested
in the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories.
While all states may request criminal history information via the III system, not
all states are providing their own records to the system. As of March 2004, 47 states
5 For addition information on the NCHIP program visit [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/
bjs/nchip.htm].
6 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Use and Management of Criminal
History Record Information: A Comprehensive Report 2001 Update, Dec. 2001.

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were providing at least some record access to the III, although some states were only
partially participating and had not integrated all of their records with the system.7
Records that cannot be provided directly from states’ repositories for III uses are
sometimes available to requesting agencies through other federal databases consisting
of state record submissions sent to the FBI. However, criminal history records
exchanged directly from the state repositories through the III system are sometimes
more current than records obtained from FBI duplicate files because information
from the state repositories reflect the latest changes in each record’s information.
CITA also recognized that existing state policy and legal barriers prevented
some states from sharing their records directly with other states through the III for
purposes other than criminal justice investigations, including background checks for
child care and child welfare. To address this, CITA created the National Crime
Prevention and Privacy Compact to regulate the use of the III system for noncriminal
justice purposes. Participation in the Compact is not mandatory and requires that it
be ratified by a state’s legislature in identical form. Once adopted, the Compact takes
precedence over other state policies, and states are able to exchange the most current
state records with other agencies authorized through the III system. States that have
not ratified the Compact cannot directly provide their criminal history records to
other state agencies for noncriminal purposes, although they can provide duplicate
records to the FBI, which then can exchange some information in those records with
the requesting states. As of March 2004, seven states had ratified the Compact and
are providing records to the III for authorized noncriminal uses.8
Types of Background Checks
Describing the noncriminal background check process in generic terms is
difficult since state governments organize and operate their child protection and child
care services in very different ways. However, enough similarities exist across states
to describe the basic types of background checks performed and the fundamental
procedures needed to complete the process. Although some states perform personal
interviews with an applicant’s family or place of employment in some cases, most
of the background check process for potential child care providers and foster care and
adoptive parents consists of searching state and federal government databases for
criminal history records as well as state-controlled child abuse and neglect registries.
Every state performs background checks, although some states will not perform all
of the types of checks listed below.
State and Local Criminal History Checks. The most common type of
background check performed for child care and child welfare purposes consists of a
7 U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information
Services Division, “Interstate Identification Index (III): National Fingerprint File (NFF)
Program, revised Mar. 2004.
8 Many states have ratified the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, but are not
yet exchanging records through the III for noncriminal justice purposes because of
administrative and technological reasons. Twenty-one states have ratified the Compact: AK,
AR, AZ, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, KS, ME , MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OK, SC, and
TN. [http://www.search.org/policy/compact/privacy.asp]

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state database search of its criminal history records. Although states vary on what
they store in these systems, the databases normally contain records documenting most
felony and some misdemeanor offenses committed within the state. Some states
retain only the most basic case information such as the date and purpose of arrest,
while other states keep more in-depth information such as the disposition of the case
and the sentence served. Some background checks for child care and child welfare
issues also examine criminal history databases from city or county law enforcement
agencies, but this process may be unnecessary if the state’s main criminal history
database is regularly updated by local court systems and law enforcement agencies.
Federal FBI Database Checks. While state databases generally contain the
most accurate and current data on criminal activity within a state, individual state
records systems do not provide information reported by other federal and state law
enforcement agencies. Since people may move across state lines, some states require
that background checks performed for child care and child welfare purposes utilize
the more comprehensive background check systems facilitated through the FBI.
These federal checks require fingerprinting and can be used to share certain criminal
history information housed in other state and federal databases. The information in
these databases includes most of the felony and some misdemeanor criminal records,
as well as some information related to a few specific homeland security databases.9
Child Abuse and Neglect Registries. Many substantiated cases of child
abuse or neglect do not lead to criminal convictions and may not be included in state
and federal criminal history files. Therefore, most states have a central registry for
the reporting of certain child abuse and neglect cases that may not have resulted in
a criminal conviction. States vary in the way they organize and operate their
registries and not all states use the information in the registry during the background
check process. At the current time, no national mechanism exists for the inter-state
sharing of information stored in state child abuse and neglect registries, although
individual states and localities sometimes create their own information sharing
agreements.
Fingerprinting
An important decision each state must make in creating its background check
process is whether to require applicants to submit fingerprints or to search criminal
history records solely on basic identifying information such as a person’s name,
social security number, and date of birth. Law enforcement experts consider
fingerprint submissions to be more reliable and comprehensive than basic checks
since many criminals use an alias to hide their true identity. In addition, states that
do not require fingerprinting are unable to perform FBI background checks for most
9 The FBI background checks described in this report should not be confused with the
checks performed to comply with the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which uses
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). NICS is specifically
designed to perform background checks for transfers of firearms and is not used for child
care and child welfare purposes. For additional information on the NICS background check
system, see CRS Issue Brief IB10112, Gun Control Legislation in the 108th Congress, by
William J. Krouse.

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child care and child welfare purposes.10 Therefore, background checks that do not
include fingerprint submissions will have only minimal information about crimes
committed in states other than the one initiating the background check.
Many states, however, choose not to require fingerprints for their background
checks because the fingerprinting process is usually slower, more expensive,11 and
places additional burden on both the agencies performing the check and the applicant.
Child care organizations and child protection agencies cite the fingerprint process as
a reason for delays in the approval process.12 Unlike background checks that rely on
a person’s name and social security number alone, fingerprinting often requires a
person to make an additional trip to a law enforcement agency for the printing
service. This process may be burdensome for people with busy work schedules or
who live in rural areas without a fingerprinting location nearby. In addition, some
organizations that are dependent on volunteer support have expressed concern that
a lengthy background check process may discourage people from applying for a
needed position.
Some of the delays and administrative burdens associated with fingerprint-based
records checks are reduced when submitted to state and FBI databases electronically
(paperless), rather than on 10-finger print cards. Electronic submissions are faster
because they do not have to be converted to electronic format before the check can
be made. They also reduce some of the errors associated with 10-finger cards such
as misprinted or smeared submissions that can cause considerable delays in foster
care and adoption placements as well as the hiring of new child care employees. For
electronic submissions, people usually visit a local law enforcement agency and are
fingerprinted using an optical scanning machine called Livescan. These machines
put the fingerprints in electronic format for quick transmission to state and federal
crime information centers.13 This potentially can shorten the background check
process several days or weeks since the cards no longer need to be physically
delivered between agencies. While electronic submissions are generally preferred
over 10-finger cards, the large cost of Livescan equipment is the main reason that
many local law-enforcement agencies are still using 10-finger print cards. Some local
law enforcement agencies have been able to use grant funding from NCHIP and other
10 Exceptions to the fingerprinting requirement are sometimes made for people with serious
hand injuries or physical conditions that make fingerprinting difficult.
11 Each FBI background check costs between $18 and $24, although state and local agencies
may also charge their own fees for the service. The FBI is allowed to charge a slightly
higher fee for states that have just recently passed their state statutes requiring background
checks to help cover technological improvement expenses. FBI Congressional Affairs
Office, Department of Justice, telephone conversation, Apr. 20, 2004.
12 Dunhem and Oppenheim, Understanding Criminal Records Checks.
13 A few states do not have the ability to electronically transmit fingerprints to the FBI even
though some law enforcement agencies in those states have Livescan equipment. In these
situations, state law enforcement agencies receive the electronic transmissions from the local
governments, then print out paper copies of the fingerprints before mailing them to the FBI.
For more information on fingerprint submissions see U.S. General Accounting Office, Law
Enforcement: Information on Timeliness of Criminal Fingerprint Submissions to the FBI,
GAO-04-260, Jan. 2004.

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sources to help purchase Livescan equipment and improve data integration to
decrease transmission time between local, state, and federal law enforcement
agencies.
The Background Check Process
Every step in a background check process varies by state and the reason for the
check. Therefore, this section is intended to describe a generic process that an
applicant might complete in a typical background check process, but this overview
will not apply to all situations. This example assumes that an applicant is required
to submit two 10-finger print cards for identification purposes in state and FBI
criminal history database systems. For a visual flowchart of this example, see Figure
1 at the end of this paper.
The first step in the background check process is usually for a person to go to
a local law enforcement agency to be fingerprinted on two separate print cards. Some
states require a fee for this service, while others may not. Assuming the person is
fingerprinted correctly, the fingerprint cards are then forwarded to the state’s central
law enforcement agency, either directly or via local and state social service agencies.
Once the fingerprint cards arrive at the state’s criminal history repository, the state
usually enters the person’s name, social security number, and fingerprint card data
into an identification system and searches for any criminal history records in the
system. After the state examines its own criminal history files, the state sends the
fingerprints to the FBI if it wants the FBI to look for criminal history records located
in other state and federal databases. Some states mail one of the print cards to the
FBI, while other states first convert the 10-finger print card into electronic format and
digitally transmit it to the FBI. Background check requests electronically submitted
to the FBI take on average about two hours to process, whereas requests submitted
with 10-finger print cards require an additional five to 10 business days to process.14
Since the fingerprints are submitted to the FBI using a 10-finger print card in
this example, the FBI forwards the fingerprint card upon its arrival to a contractor
who scans the card and enters the data into electronic format. Once electronically
entered into the database, the FBI uses both fingerprint and personal search data
information such as the person’s name, date of birth, and social security number to
locate any matches in the system. If the FBI receives a record match in its central
identification database it takes the necessary steps to locate the criminal history
records through the III network. These records are sometimes housed directly in FBI
databases and are sometimes located in individual state databases. If a requested
record is located in a state that has ratified the National Crime Prevention and
Privacy Compact and is exchanging records through the III for noncriminal justice
purposes, the record is sent directly to the requesting state from the state that houses
14 In FY2003, the FBI received a total of 17,736,541 fingerprint submissions; 8.6 million
(48% of total) of these submissions were for civil purposes. Of these 8.6 million civil
submissions, 73% were submitted electronically. For more information see Testimony of
Michael D. Kirkpatrick, Assistant Director in Charge, Criminal Justice Information Services
Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mar. 30, 2004. [http://www.fbi.gov/congress/
congress04/033004kirkpatrick.htm]

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the record. If a requested record is located in a state that has not yet ratified the
National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact or is not yet participating in the III
for noncriminal justice purposes, the state that houses the record cannot directly send
it to the requesting state. However, since states send copies of many of their criminal
history records to the FBI, the FBI is often able to send what information it has in its
own databases to the requesting state. Once a state’s law enforcement agency
receives the records, they are forwarded to the proper caseworkers or administrators
in the requesting local social services office.
State by State Background Check Requirements
Foster Care and Adoption. As previously stated, states vary considerably
on both the types of background checks required and the process used to complete
the checks. This diversity was documented in a study by the American Public Human
Services Association (APHSA) published in October 2002.15 As shown in Figure 1,
out of the 49 states that participated in the study, 46 required a state check, 14
required a local check, and 23 required a check in the state’s child abuse and neglect
registry for potential foster care and adoptive parents. State policies varied in their
requirements for the FBI checks based on whether a person was applying to be a
foster care or an adoptive parent. Of the 49 states, 20 required both foster care and
adoptive parents to have an FBI check, one required only foster parent applications
to be checked, two required only adoptive parent applicants to be checked, and 11
required only applicants that do not meet minimum residency conditions to be
checked with the FBI databases. Some states “pre-screen” their applicants and only
do a more thorough review if they find something in the original screening that they
feel merits further investigation.
15 Dunhem and Oppenheim, Understanding Criminal Records Checks.

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Figure 1. Type of Background Checks in Child Welfarea
Required for all Applicants (in 49 States)
Child Abuse &
23
Neglect Registry
Local
14
State
46
FBI
20
0
10
20
30
40
50
Number of States
Source: Figure prepared by CRS from American Public Human Services Association (APHSA).
a. In addition to the 20 states requiring FBI background checks for all foster care and adoptive parent
applicants, 14 additional states require FBI checks for some applicants; including one state for
only foster parents, two states for only adoptive parents, and 11 states for applicants not meeting
minimum residency conditions.
Child Care. Background checks involving child care providers and their
families also vary by state. The most recent review of these state checks was
published in a January 2000 General Accounting Office (GAO) report, which
surveyed all 50 states and the District of Columbia on each state’s requirements.16
At the time of the study, GAO noted that state requirements varied by the type of
child care provider service. As shown in Table 1, 40 states required a state
background check for family child care providers, 35 required a state child abuse and
neglect registry check, and 16 required a FBI check in 1999. For group homes, 32
required a state check, 30 required a state child abuse and neglect registry check, and
14 required a FBI check for the provider of the homes. For the directors of child care
centers, 40 states required a state check, 32 required a child abuse and neglect
registry check, and 16 required a FBI check.
A significant part of the background check process in many states includes the
requirements regarding the family and coworkers of the provider. At the time of the
GAO study, over half of the states required some kind of background check for both
the provider and the other adults living or working in the child care unit. A provider’s
minor children living in the provider’s home were also required to perform a
16 U.S. General Accounting Office, Child Care: State Efforts to Enforce Safety and Health
Requirements, GAO-00-28, Jan. 2000.

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background check in some states. When performed, these checks often included a
state criminal history check as well as a check in the state’s child abuse and neglect
registries, but normally did not include a FBI check.
Table 1. Background Checks in Child Care: Number of States
that Reported Conducting Background Checks on
Regulated Providers, by Type of Check and Provider, 1999
State background
State child abuse
Types of background checks
checks
registry checks
FBI checks
Family child carea
Provider
40
35
16
Provider’s assistant
37
32
13
Provider’s spouse
38
32
12
Provider’s minor children
14
18
1
Other adults living in the
37
30
11
provider’s home
Group homesb
Provider
32
30
14
Provider’s assistant
32
28
12
Provider’s spouse
28
25
9
Provider’s minor children
9
14
0
Other adults living in the
27
24
9
provider’s home
Centersc
Center director
40
32
16
Teaching staff
39
29
15
Other nonteaching staff
36
25
12
Source: Table reproduced from the U.S. General Accounting Office, Child Care: State Efforts to
Enforce Safety and Health Requirements, GAO-00-28, Jan. 2000.

a. Family child care usually consists of one provider caring for six or fewer children in the provider’s
home.
b. Group homes usually involve two providers caring for seven to 12 children in the provider’s home.
c. Centers usually involves care by a provider in a nonresidential setting such as a school, church, or
business.

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Figure 2. Example of a Possible Criminal Background Check Process Using Fingerprints
Submissions on Ten-Finger Print Cards
Name, social security
Applicant goes to local law
Two fingerprint cards are sent to the state's criminal history
number, and fingerprint
enforcement agency and is
repository, either directly from the local law enforcement
card data are entered into
fingerprinted on 10-finger print
agency or via state and local social service agencies.
state criminal history
cards.
repository and processed.
Since, in this example, the
FBI conducts search using name,
state is not electronically
FBI forwards card to digital scanning contractors,
date of birth, social security
submitting fingerprints to
who scan cards into electronic format.
number, and fingerprint images.
the FBI, one fingerprint card
is mailed to the FBI.
Criminal record checks report is
forwarded to proper caseworkers
FBI and state records are returned to the
or administrators in field office.
No
Are previous
requesting state law enforcement agency.
Some states have the report first
records found?
If no record matches are found then the
sent through a state's central
requesting state is notified.
social service agency before
reaching the field office.
Yes
FBI and state law
enforcement agencies
gather records.
Source: U.S. General Accounting Office, Law Enforcement: Information on Timeliness of Criminal Fingerprint Submissions to the FBI, GAO-04-260, Jan. 2004. and
Understanding Criminal Records Checks, by Rebecca Dunhem and Elizabeth Oppenheim, American Public Human Services Association, Washington, DC, Oct. 2002.