A bill that passed the Indiana House of Representatives unanimously would require all employees at childcare facilities to undergo criminal history background checks, but it would have a limited effect on Johnson County daycares, which already have such measures in place.
The current legal requirement for background checks only applies to employees who come into direct contact with children at childcare facilities. House Bill 1264 passed the House of Representatives 93-0 on Feb. 3, and had its first reading in the Indiana Senate on Thursday, according to Indiana General Assembly documents.
If signed into law, the bill, authored by Rep. Chris May, R-Bedford, who represents parts of Johnson County, would take effect July 1.
The Johnson County Learning Center, which has a preschool at Westwood Elementary School, has been doing its background checks on all employees since it opened 10 years ago. The law wouldn’t change anything since all employees are in the classroom at some point, legally requiring they undergo background checks, said Dawn Underwood, the preschool’s director.
“We currently do background checks on anyone in the classroom with children; we do that through the state. There’s fingerprinting and a consent form that checks if there’s any sexual charges in addition to fingerprinting,” Underwood said. “(The new bill) doesn’t change anything. Our director, administrators, and assistant directors are all in the classroom at some point, and they all work with families. They all do background checks required by the state.”
With the bill, workers who don’t come into contact with children but are hired by daycares would legally have to undergo background checks for the first time, including volunteers or individuals employed by outside agencies a daycare may contract with for cleaning or other services, for example.
If Greenwood Community Schools approves a measure during its school board meeting today, it will establish Timberlings Community Preschool, which will replace the Johnson County Learning Center when it moves to its own building in Whiteland this summer. As is the case with the learning center, employees who work at Timberlings will already be involved with children as part of their job descriptions, so they would have to undergo background checks with or without the law, said Kent DeKoninck, Greenwood schools superintendent.
“What we do now for any employee with the early learning center, we have state mandated (background) checks,” DeKoninck said. “If they were an employee of our district, they would have extended criminal history checks.”
The school wants to hire a full-time teacher and an aid, both of whom would spend time in the classroom, DeKoninck said.
Franklin Community Schools has been running its Cub Academy Preschool for almost five years. The preschool’s 40 workers fall under the umbrella of Franklin Community Schools, all of whom undergo criminal background checks, spokesperson Robin Betts said.
“Right now, we do criminal history checks on any employees paid by the district. (Cub Academy employees) are included in that, (The Indiana Department of Child Services) checks and we do criminal history checks on employees and coaches,” Betts said.
“The safety of our students is our No. 1 priority.”
Ensuring all childcare employees undergo criminal background checks is essential to keeping children safe, said Indiana Rep. Melanie Wright, D-Yorktown, who co-authored the bill.
“We’re trying to provide an atmosphere for children to be safe in (with background checks) even for people who have informal contact on facility grounds,” she said.
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House Bill 1264
“Child care background checks. Requires employees and volunteers of a child care facility who may be present on the premises of the child care facility during operating hours to submit to a national criminal history background check. (Under current law, employees and volunteers who have direct contact with children must submit to a national criminal history background check.) Specifies that results of the background check may be used as grounds for denial or revocation of a child care license or registration or eligibility for a child care and development fund voucher payment. Makes technical corrections.”
Source: Indiana General Assembly
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