A.(1)(a) The provisions of this Section shall apply to the following persons:

            (i) Any person who owns, operates, or manages a licensed therapeutic group home.

            (ii) Any person who has applied for a license to operate a therapeutic group home.

            (iii) Any person who is employed by, is contracted by, volunteers at, or interns with a therapeutic group home.

            (iv) Any person who has applied to be employed or contracted by a therapeutic group home.

            (v) Any person who has applied to volunteer or intern with a therapeutic group home.

            (b) This Section shall not apply to contractors and other individuals providing a service at the therapeutic group home who are not employees, volunteers, interns, or contracted members of the staff of the therapeutic group home, including but not limited to plumbers, landscapers, or visiting resources.

            (2) The Louisiana Department of Health shall request, consistent with the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 15:587.1.2, from the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, information concerning whether or not any of the persons listed in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection has been arrested for, convicted of, or pled nolo contendere to any criminal offense.

            (3) The therapeutic group home shall request information from the Department of Children and Family Services as to whether the individual’s name is recorded on the state central registry as a perpetrator for a justified finding of abuse or neglect of a child.

            (4) For any individual subject to these provisions that has lived in any other state within the last five years, the Louisiana Department of Health shall request information from the child abuse and neglect registry or repository of each of those states as to whether the individual’s name is recorded on that state’s registry or repository.

            (5) The Louisiana Department of Health may request any information necessary from the therapeutic group home, any person subject to the provisions of this Section, or any other appropriate agency, to ensure compliance with this Section.

            (6) The Louisiana Department of Health shall require and provide for the submission of a person’s fingerprints in a form acceptable to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information.

            (7) The Louisiana Department of Health may charge a processing fee not to exceed fifteen dollars, and may collect from the therapeutic group home the charges and processing fees charged by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information for a state criminal history report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a federal criminal history information report, and any other state’s registry or repository of abuse and neglect. The Louisiana Department of Health shall timely submit the appropriate charges and processing fees to the appropriate agencies.

            B. The Louisiana Department of Health may adopt rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to implement the provisions of this Section, including requirements and provisions for utilizing the criminal history information. The department may utilize the process provided in La. Rev. Stat. 49:962 for adoption of the rule.

            Acts 2019, No. 243, §2, eff. June 11, 2019; Acts 2020, No. 34, §1, eff. June 4, 2020; Acts 2021, No. 211, §10.