26 Tex. Admin. Code § 350.310 - Criminal Background Checks
(a) The
contractor must complete a fingerprint-based criminal background check on every
new hire, volunteer, or other person who will be working under the auspices of
the contractor before the person has direct contact with children or families,
including employees who have had a fingerprint-based check as a requirement of
their professional licensure.
(b)
The contractor must complete a fingerprint-based criminal background check
renewal on any employee, or any other person who will be working under the
auspices of the contractor who has direct contact with children or families, at
least every 24 months, unless the contractor uses Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) Rap Back and gets alerts of any new arrests and
convictions. Employees who are covered by the FBI Rap Back service must
complete fingerprint-based criminal background checks at least every five
years. Employees deemed "unfingerprintable" by the Texas Department of Public
Safety or other fingerprinting entity must have a name-based background check
completed every 24 months. If at any time a contractor has reason to suspect an
employee has been convicted of a crime specified in §
745.661 of this title (relating to
What types of criminal convictions may affect a subject's ability to be present
at an operation?), the contractor must complete a fingerprint-based criminal
background check renewal on the employee in question.
(c) The contractor must ensure that all
therapists providing Medicaid services for Early Childhood Intervention
children are correctly enrolled with the Texas Medicaid Program. This
requirement includes disclosing all criminal convictions and arrests as
required by 1 TAC §
371.1005(relating to Disclosure
Requirements). The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Office of
Inspector General may recommend denial of an enrollment or re-enrollment based
on criminal history, in accordance with 1 TAC §
371.1011(relating to Recommendation
Criteria).
(d) HHSC Child Care
Licensing maintains three charts of criminal history requirements for people
who regularly enter licensed child care facilities.
(1) The three charts are published on the
HHSC website:
(A) Licensed or Certified Child
Care Operations: Criminal History Requirements;
(B) Foster or Adoptive Placements: Criminal
History Requirements; and
(C)
Registered Child Care Homes and Listed Family Homes: Criminal History
Requirements.
(2) The
contractor must review each employee's criminal background check to ensure that
staff members who regularly enter regulated child care facilities or foster
homes to provide early childhood intervention services do not have criminal
convictions that would result in an absolute bar to entering them in compliance
with §
745.661 of this
title.
(e) If a criminal
background check reveals criminal convictions that are not on the HHSC Child
Care Licensing charts of criminal history requirements or would result in the
individual being eligible for a HHSC Child Care Licensing risk assessment, the
program director may conduct a risk assessment. The risk assessment process
must include, at a minimum, consideration of:
(1) the number of convictions;
(2) the nature and seriousness of the
crime;
(3) the age of the
individual at the time the crime was committed;
(4) the relationship of the crime to the
individual's fitness or capacity to serve in the role of an early childhood
intervention professional;
(5) the
amount of time that has elapsed since the person's last conviction;
and
(6) any relevant information
the individual provides or otherwise demonstrates.
Notes
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