1 Tex. Admin. Code § 377.117 - Local Volunteer Advocate Program Personnel Background Checks
(a) Conducting a background check.
(1) A volunteer, employee, or director must
be subject to a background check prior to the commencement of volunteer,
employee, or director duties and no longer than every two years thereafter. A
background check must include a review of the individual's information from:
(A) a fingerprint-based search conducted by
the Texas Department of Public Safety that utilizes the National Crime
Information Center (NCIC) database that is maintained by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Texas Crime Information Center (TCIC);
(B) the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry
maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety;
(C) the National Sex Offender Public Website
maintained by the United States Department of Justice; and
(D) the Child Abuse and Neglect Central
Registry maintained by DFPS in accordance with federal law and Texas Family
Code §
RSA
261.002.
(2) If a volunteer, employee, or director has
lived in a state other than Texas within the last seven years, the local
volunteer advocate program must conduct a criminal background check in that
state.
(3) For an individual
authorized to drive children, the local program must:
(A) investigate the individual's driving
record and insurability; and
(B)
obtain documentation of a valid, state-issued driver's license and satisfactory
personal liability insurance.
(b) Ten-year bar for certain felony offenses.
(1) An individual whose background check
yields a felony conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest, or acceptance of
deferred adjudication for which fewer than ten years have passed since the date
of the offense, is barred from being a volunteer, employee, or
director.
(2) An individual whose
background check yields a felony conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest,
or acceptance of deferred adjudication for which ten years or more have passed
since the date of the offense, and if that felony offense is not described
under subsection (c) of this section, the local volunteer advocate program may
exercise the discretion to determine that individual's eligibility for a
volunteer, employee, or director position.
(c) Bar for certain offenses.
(1) An individual whose background check
yields a conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest, acceptance of deferred
adjudication, or pending charge for any of these offenses is barred from being
a volunteer, employee, or director:
(A) Texas
Penal Code Chapter 19;
(B) Texas
Penal Code Chapter 20;
(C) Texas
Penal Code Chapter 20A;
(D) Texas
Penal Code §§
RSA
21.02,
RSA 21.07,
RSA 21.08,
RSA 21.11,
or
RSA
21.12;
(E) Texas Penal Code §§
RSA 22.011,
RSA 22.02,
RSA
22.021,
RSA
22.04,
RSA
22.041,
RSA 22.05,
RSA 22.07, or
RSA
22.11;
(F) Texas Penal Code Chapter 25;
(G) Texas Penal Code §
RSA 28.02;
(H) Texas Penal Code Chapter 29;
(I) Texas Penal Code §
RSA 30.02;
(J) Texas Penal Code §
RSA
33.021;
(K) Texas Penal Code §
RSA 42.072;
(L) Texas Penal Code Chapter 43;
(M) Texas Penal Code §§
RSA
46.06,
RSA
46.09, or
RSA
46.10;
(N) Texas Penal Code §
RSA
48.02;
(O) Texas Penal Code §§
RSA
49.045,
RSA
49.05,
RSA 49.07,
or
RSA
49.08;
(P) Texas Penal Code Chapter 71; or
(Q) any other offense involving violence,
child abuse or neglect, assault with family violence, or a sexual offense as
described under Chapter 21 of the Texas Penal Code.
(2) An individual whose background check
produces any founded allegations of abuse with DFPS is barred from being a
volunteer, employee, or director.
(d) An individual whose background check
produces a conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest, or acceptance of
deferred adjudication of an offense, including a misdemeanor drug-related
offense, that is not an offense described under subsections (b) or (c) of this
section may be considered by the local volunteer advocate program to determine
eligibility for a volunteer, employee, or director position.
(e) If an individual who has applied to be a
volunteer, employee, or director has a pending charge described under
subsections (b) or (c) of this section that would otherwise bar the
individual's hiring or appointment, a new review of the application may be
conducted if the charge is subsequently dismissed or if the individual is
otherwise absolved of guilt.
(f) An
individual whose background check produces information that includes a group of
offenses or information that, if considered separately, would not bar an
applicant may result in the disqualification of an applicant volunteer,
employee, or director if it is determined that the offenses constitute a
problematic pattern.
(g) A
volunteer, employee, or director must be immediately removed from his or her
position and barred from future consideration as a volunteer, employee, or
director, if the volunteer, employee, or director knowingly or intentionally
places a child, through the actions of the volunteer, employee, or director, in
contact with a person whose criminal history involves an offense described
under subsections (b) or (c) of this section.
(h) The refusal to execute consent and
release forms necessary to conduct a criminal background check disqualifies an
individual from serving as a volunteer, employee, or director.
Notes
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