OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 6235 (as amended by House “A”)*

AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION FOR EMERGENCY PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN.

SUMMARY:

This bill codifies the Department of Children and Families' (DCF) practice of making emergency placements of children with friends and relatives who have been cleared by an FBI instant criminal record search. It includes (1) provisions for a subsequent mandatory fingerprint-based check, (2) requires the child's removal if a person refuses to give fingerprints or other identifying information, and (3) allows anyone whose name-based search resulted in DCF removing the child from the household to request a full criminal history records check.

*House Amendment “A” makes fingerprint–based background checks mandatory and requires the child's removal when any person refuses to give fingerprints or other identifying information on request.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2009

FBI NAME-BASED CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS FOR EMERGENCY CHILD PLACEMENTS

State and federal law prohibit DCF from placing children in homes without conducting a fingerprint-based criminal records check of all adults living there. The bill codifies DCF's ability to use the FBI's instant name-based database of people who have been arrested for felonies and serious misdemeanors when it seeks to place children with people they know (such as relatives, friends, or neighbors) when their primary caretaker becomes suddenly unable to care for them. It authorizes DCF to request a criminal justice agency (presumably the state police) to perform the check and share the results with the department.

Under the bill, DCF must later request that the state police conduct fingerprint-based state and national criminal history checks of household members. It must make the request within 15 days after the date the name-based check was conducted and follow existing statutory procedures for submitting fingerprints and paying for those checks. DCF must remove children immediately if any person refuses a request to (1) give written permission for the records check or (2) provide fingerprints or other positive identifying information for purposes of conducting the background check.

When DCF denies an emergency placement or removes a child from a household based on the results of a name-based criminal history search, the bill allows the resident whose reported criminal history resulted in the denial or removal to challenge the action by requesting that the State Police Bureau of Identification conduct a fingerprint-based check following procedures specified in law.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Select Committee on Children

Joint Favorable Change of Reference

Human Services Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute