Child Care: State Requirements for Background Checks.

Background checks involve gathering information from state and federal databases to determine if child care providers have a history of child abuse or other criminal convictions that would make them unacceptable for working with children. Background checks include state criminal history checks, state child abuse registry checks, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) checks. In response to a Congressional request, the Government Accounting Office provided information for each state about the background checks required for its regulated child care providers. The information expands on aggregate data presented on background check requirements in a previous report examining state activities to enforce child care requirements. The data used were collected by a survey sent to child care licensing directors in 50 states and the District of Columbia in May 1999. The correspondence indicates that all but four states require at least one type of check be conducted on their regulated providers, while many states require more than one be conducted. Also shown are which types of background checks are required by each state for regulated family child care homes, group homes, and child care centers. (EV)