(1) As used in this section, “staff member” means:
(a) An individual who is employed by a child-caring facility or child-placing agency for compensation;

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 199.642

  • Cabinet: means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. See Kentucky Statutes 199.011
  • Child-caring facility: means any institution or group home, including institutions and group homes that are publicly operated, providing residential care on a twenty-four (24) hour basis to children, not related by blood, adoption, or marriage to the person maintaining the facility, other than an institution or group home certified by an appropriate agency as operated primarily for educational or medical purposes, or a residential program operated or contracted by the Department of Juvenile Justice that maintains accreditation, or obtains accreditation within two (2) years of opening from a nationally recognized accrediting organization. See Kentucky Statutes 199.011
  • Child-placing agency: means any agency licensed by the cabinet, which supervises the placement of children in foster family homes or child-caring facilities, or which places children for adoption. See Kentucky Statutes 199.011
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the Department for Community Based Services. See Kentucky Statutes 199.011
  • Federal: refers to the United States. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Rap back system: means a system that enables an authorized entity to receive ongoing status notifications of any criminal history from the Department of Kentucky State Police or the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported on an individual whose fingerprints are registered in the system, upon approval and implementation of the system. See Kentucky Statutes 199.011
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(b) A contract employee or a self-employed individual whose employment directly involves the care or supervision of children or unsupervised access to children placed with the child-caring facility or child-placing agency; or
(c) A volunteer or intern whose activities on behalf of a child-caring facility or child-placing agency involve the care or supervision of children or unsupervised access to children.
(2) The cabinet shall require a staff member of a child-caring facility or child-placing agency to submit to background checks in accordance with 42 U.S.C. sec.
671(a)(20)(D) and the implementing federal rules, including national and state
fingerprint-supported criminal background checks by the Department of Kentucky
State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(3) The child-caring facility or child-placing agency staff member shall provide the staff member’s fingerprints to the Department of Kentucky State Police for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a state criminal background check is conducted.
(4) The results of the national and state criminal background checks shall be sent to the cabinet.
(5) The cabinet shall provide notice to a child-caring facility or child-placing agency if a staff member is eligible for employment not to exceed seven (7) business days after the date the staff member submitted fingerprints through a means approved by the cabinet to the Department of Kentucky State Police. The cabinet shall reissue notice of the staff member’s eligibility for employment subsequent to the cabinet’s receipt of additional information about the staff member, including a result from the rap back.
(6) The cabinet may register a child-caring facility or child-placing agency staff member in the rap back system.
(7) The request for background checks shall be in a manner approved by the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services may charge a fee to be paid by a child-caring facility or child-placing agency not to exceed the actual cost of processing the request.
(8) The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to implement this section.
(9) The requirements of this section shall apply to a child-placing agency only if a background check required under subsection (2) of this section can be accomplished electronically, pursuant to KRS § 17.185.
Effective: July 15, 2020
History: Repealed and reenacted 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 53, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2020. –
– Created 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 33, sec. 1, effective March 19, 2019.
Formerly codified as 199.8966