HOUSE BILL No. 5910

 

March 19, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Dean, Corriveau, Clack, Hopgood, Brown, Valentine, Accavitti and Lemmons and referred to the Committee on Families and Children's Services.

 

     A bill to amend 1975 PA 238, entitled

 

"Child protection law,"

 

by amending section 7j (MCL 722.627j), as amended by 2004 PA 563.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 7j. (1) Upon written request, the department may provide

 

to an individual documentation stating that the individual is not

 

named in a central registry case as the perpetrator of child abuse

 

or child neglect. The written request required under this section

 

shall include the individual's affirmation that he or she is

 

employed by, volunteers at, is applying for employment in, or is

 

seeking to volunteer in a child care center, child caring

 

institution, or child placing agency.

 

     (2) For the purpose of applying for employment or seeking to

 


volunteer in a child care center, child caring institution, or

 

child placing agency, an An individual may share, or direct the

 

department to share, the document provided in subsection (1) with

 

the child care center owner or licensee, or a child caring

 

institution or child placing agency, or an individual authorized by

 

the child care center owner or licensee, the child caring

 

institution, or the child placing agency whoever is appropriate for

 

the purpose of seeking employment or serving as a volunteer.

 

     (3) The family independence agency department may develop an

 

automated system that will allow an individual applying for child-

 

related employment or seeking to volunteer in a capacity that would

 

allow unsupervised access to a child for whom the individual is not

 

a person responsible for that child's health or welfare to be

 

listed in that system if a screening of the individual finds that

 

he or she has not been named in a central registry case as the

 

perpetrator of child abuse or child neglect. The automated system

 

developed under this section shall provide for public access to the

 

list of individuals who have been screened for the purposes of

 

complying with this section. An automated system developed under

 

this section shall have appropriate safeguards and procedures to

 

ensure that information that is confidential under this act, state

 

law, or federal law is not accessible or disclosed through that

 

system.

 

     (4) As used in this section, "child care center", "child

 

caring institution", and "child placing agency" mean those terms as

 

defined in section 1 of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111.