Public Act 103-1072
 
HB4412 EnrolledLRB103 36073 SPS 66161 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Child Care Act of 1969 is amended by 
changing Section 4.1 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 10/4.1)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2214.1)
    Sec. 4.1. Criminal background investigations.
    (a) In this Section, "third-party vendor" means a 
third-party fingerprinting vendor who is licensed by the 
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and 
regulated by 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1240.600.
    (b) The Department shall require that each child care 
facility license applicant as part of the application process, 
and each employee and volunteer of a child care facility or 
non-licensed service provider, as a condition of employment, 
authorize an investigation to determine if such applicant, 
employee, or volunteer has ever been charged with a crime and 
if so, the disposition of those charges; this authorization 
shall indicate the scope of the inquiry and the agencies which 
may be contacted. A child care facility, non-licensed service 
provider, day care center, group day care home, or day care 
home may authorize the Department or a third-party vendor to 
collect fingerprints for the investigation. If a third-party 
vendor is used for fingerprinting, then the child care 
facility, non-licensed service provider, day care center, 
group day care home, or day care home shall pay the third-party 
vendor for that service directly. If a child care facility, 
non-licensed service provider, day care center, group day care 
home, or day care home authorizes the Department or a 
third-party vendor to collect fingerprints for the 
investigation, Upon this authorization, the Director shall 
request and receive information and assistance from any 
federal, State, or local governmental agency as part of the 
authorized investigation. Each applicant, employee, or 
volunteer of a child care facility or non-licensed service 
provider shall submit the applicant's, employee's, or 
volunteer's fingerprints to the Illinois State Police in the 
form and manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police. These 
fingerprints shall be checked against the fingerprint records 
now and hereafter filed in the Illinois State Police and 
Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history records 
databases. The Illinois State Police shall charge a fee for 
conducting the criminal history records check, which shall be 
deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not 
exceed the actual cost of the records check. The Illinois 
State Police shall provide information concerning any criminal 
charges, and their disposition, now or hereafter filed, 
against an applicant, employee, or volunteer of a child care 
facility or non-licensed service provider upon request of the 
Department of Children and Family Services when the request is 
made in the form and manner required by the Illinois State 
Police.
    Information concerning convictions of a license applicant, 
employee, or volunteer of a child care facility or 
non-licensed service provider investigated under this Section, 
including the source of the information and any conclusions or 
recommendations derived from the information, shall be 
provided, upon request, to such applicant, employee, or 
volunteer of a child care facility or non-licensed service 
provider prior to final action by the Department on the 
application. State conviction information provided by the 
Illinois State Police regarding employees, prospective 
employees, or volunteers of non-licensed service providers and 
child care facilities licensed under this Act shall be 
provided to the operator of such facility, and, upon request, 
to the employee, prospective employee, or volunteer of a child 
care facility or non-licensed service provider. Any 
information concerning criminal charges and the disposition of 
such charges obtained by the Department shall be confidential 
and may not be transmitted outside the Department, except as 
required herein, and may not be transmitted to anyone within 
the Department except as needed for the purpose of evaluating 
an application or an employee or volunteer of a child care 
facility or non-licensed service provider. Only information 
and standards which bear a reasonable and rational relation to 
the performance of a child care facility shall be used by the 
Department or any licensee. Any employee of the Department of 
Children and Family Services, Illinois State Police, or a 
child care facility receiving confidential information under 
this Section who gives or causes to be given any confidential 
information concerning any criminal convictions of an 
applicant, employee, or volunteer of a child care facility or 
non-licensed service provider, shall be guilty of a Class A 
misdemeanor unless release of such information is authorized 
by this Section.
    A child care facility may hire, on a probationary basis, 
any employee or volunteer of a child care facility or 
non-licensed service provider authorizing a criminal 
background investigation under this Section, pending the 
result of such investigation. Employees and volunteers of a 
child care facility or non-licensed service provider shall be 
notified prior to hiring that such employment may be 
terminated on the basis of criminal background information 
obtained by the facility. 
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23.)