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CNews
MACCP strives to provide its members with the most up to date and relevant news regarding the child care
industry. Check here often for the latest news and updates.
New Legislation Requires FIA Central Registry
Background Checks for Employees and Volunteers
Late last year, the State of Michigan enacted several laws which affect the operation of child day care
centers in the state. Effective April 1, 2004, staff members and unsupervised volunteers who have contact
with a child in the care of a child care center must provide the center with documentation from the Family
Independence Agency that he or she has not been named in a central registry case as the perpetrator of child
abuse or child neglect. This includes parents who volunteer to assist at the center or on field trips.
For current employees and volunteers, the required documentation must be obtained not later than the date of
the center's first renewal after April 1, 2004. New employees and volunteers must provide the documentation
before they have contact with any child at the center.
Staff members may not have been convicted of child abuse or neglect at any time or of a felony involving
harm or threatened harm to an individual within the 10 years immediately preceding the date of hire. A
volunteer may not have unsupervised contact with children in the care of the center if he or she has been
convicted of child abuse or neglect at any time or of a felony involving harm or threatened harm to an
individual within the 10 years immediately preceding the date of offering to volunteer at the center.
Additionally, centers must establish and maintain a policy regarding supervision of volunteers.
The selection of qualified individuals to work in a licensed child care organization is a challenging process.
Employers must make professional judgments relating to the prospective employee's education, professional
experience, references, good moral character and other related issues. Good moral character assessments are
somewhat difficult to make. Documentation that a prospective employee has not been named in a FIA central
registry case as the perpetrator of child abuse or neglect provides valuable information in assessing an
applicant's good moral character. An additional tool which helps employers to make good moral character
assessments is the criminal history check available through the Michigan State Police. This process is
better known by law enforcement officials as the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN).
Although a criminal background check is not required by law, the new legislation requires
that child care centers conspicuously post on the premises a notice stating whether or not the center
requires a criminal history check on employees or volunteers. This notice requirement may prompt parents
to use whether a center conducts a criminal history check on employees and volunteers as part of the decision
making process when selecting a center for their child. MACCP attorneys encourage providers to consider
requiring criminal background checks on employees and volunteers.
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