Bill Text: NY S04357 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the fingerprinting and background checks of contracted service providers of student support services.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S04357 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04357-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4357--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 11, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. STAVISKY, AMEDORE, BIAGGI, MONTGOMERY, RANZENHOFER, SAVINO, SEWARD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families -- committee discharged and said bill committed to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee 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 amended by chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 3. "Employee" shall mean any person: (i) who is receiving compensation 5 from a school or (ii) whose duties involve direct student contact and 6 (a) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 7 contracts with a school to provide transportation services to children, 8 or (b) who is an employee of a contracted service provider or worker 9 placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, 10 pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, or 11 (c) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 12 contracts with a school to provide student support services, and 13 consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of 14 services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through 15 contract. 16 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 17 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 18 as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07679-08-9S. 4357--A 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 § 3. 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 § 4. 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.S. 4357--A 3 1 § 5. 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 § 6. 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 § 7. 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 supportS. 4357--A 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 § 8. 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 § 9. Section 1125 of the education law is amended by adding a new 52 subdivision 11 to read as follows: 53 11. "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-S. 4357--A 5 1 ers, substitute teacher assistants, substitute nurses, educational 2 professional, tutors, substitute school administrative support, and 3 other temporary student service personnel. 4 § 10. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as 5 amended by section 14-a of part H of chapter 56 of the laws of 2019, 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 the office of children and family services; programs estab- 11 lished pursuant to article nineteen-H of the executive law; non-residen- 12 tial or residential programs or facilities licensed or operated by the 13 office of mental health or the office for people with developmental 14 disabilities except family care homes; 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; contracted service provid- 20 ers of student support services as defined in subdivision eleven of 21 section eleven hundred twenty-five of the education law; special act 22 school districts as enumerated in chapter five hundred sixty-six of the 23 laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as amended; programs and facili- 24 ties licensed by the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services; 25 residential schools which are operated, supervised or approved by the 26 education department; health homes, or any subcontractor of such health 27 homes, who contracts with or is approved or otherwise authorized by the 28 department of health to provide health home services to all those 29 enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of a developmental disability as 30 defined in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene 31 law and enrollees who are under twenty-one years of age under section 32 three hundred sixty-five-l of this chapter, or any entity that provides 33 home and community based services to enrollees who are under twenty-one 34 years of age under a demonstration program pursuant to section eleven 35 hundred fifteen of the federal social security act; publicly-funded 36 emergency shelters for families with children, provided, however, for 37 purposes of this section, when the provider or provider agency is a 38 publicly-funded emergency shelter for families with children, then all 39 references in this section to the "potential for regular and substantial 40 contact with individuals who are cared for by the agency" shall mean the 41 potential for regular and substantial contact with children who are 42 served by such shelter; and any other facility or provider agency, as 43 defined in subdivision four of section four hundred eighty-eight of this 44 chapter, in regard to the employment of staff, or use of providers of 45 goods and services and staff of such providers, consultants, interns and 46 volunteers. 47 § 11. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 390-a of the social 48 services law, as amended by chapter 416 of the laws of 2000, is amended 49 to read as follows: 50 (a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by 51 any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child 52 care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a 53 provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a 54 child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child 55 care program. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the 56 following requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her employ-S. 4357--A 6 1 ment history, provide personal and employment references; submit such 2 information as is required for screening with the statewide central 3 register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance with the 4 provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article; sign a 5 sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, 6 he or she has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other 7 jurisdiction; and provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the 8 division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions 9 of section three hundred ninety-b of this title. Notwithstanding the 10 provisions of this paragraph, where a program has people working on 11 their premises through a contracted service provider of student support 12 services as defined in subdivision eleven of section eleven hundred 13 twenty-five of the education law, and such contracted services provider 14 of student support services has properly performed checks on its employ- 15 ees as a provider or provider agency under section four hundred twenty- 16 four-a of this chapter, then such program does not need to run the check 17 itself on the contracted service provider employees working on their 18 site; 19 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that: 20 (a) the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of 21 the education law made by section four of this act shall not affect the 22 repeal of such paragraph and shall be deemed repealed therewith; and (b) 23 the amendments to subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law 24 made by section seven of this act shall be subject to the expiration and 25 reversion of such subdivision, pursuant to section 12 of chapter 147 of 26 the laws of 2001, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of 27 section eight of this act shall take effect.
