2006 Minnesota Statutes

260C.209 BACKGROUND CHECKS.
    Subdivision 1. Subjects. The responsible social services agency must conduct a background
check under this section of the following:
(1) a noncustodial parent or nonadjudicated parent who is being assessed for purposes
of providing day-to-day care of a child temporarily or permanently under section 260C.212,
subdivision 4 , and any member of the parent's household who is over the age of 13 when there is
a reasonable cause to believe that the parent or household member over age 13 has a criminal
history or a history of maltreatment of a child or vulnerable adult which would endanger the
child's health, safety, or welfare;
(2) an individual whose suitability for relative placement under section 260C.212,
subdivision 5 , is being determined and any member of the relative's household who is over
the age of 13 when:
(i) the relative must be licensed for foster care; or
(ii) the agency must conduct a background study under section 259.53, subdivision 2; or
(iii) the agency has reasonable cause to believe the relative or household member over the
age of 13 has a criminal history which would not make transfer of permanent legal and physical
custody to the relative under section 260C.201, subdivision 11, in the child's best interest; and
(3) a parent, following an out-of-home placement, when the responsible social services
agency has reasonable cause to believe that the parent has been convicted of a crime directly
related to the parent's capacity to maintain the child's health, safety, or welfare or the parent is
the subject of an open investigation of, or has been the subject of a substantiated allegation of,
child or vulnerable-adult maltreatment within the past ten years.
"Reasonable cause" means that the agency has received information or a report from the subject
or a third person that creates an articulable suspicion that the individual has a history that may
pose a risk to the health, safety, or welfare of the child. The information or report must be specific
to the potential subject of the background check and shall not be based on the race, religion,
ethnic background, age, class, or lifestyle of the potential subject.
    Subd. 2. General procedures. (a) When conducting a background check under subdivision
1, the agency may require the individual being assessed to provide sufficient information to
ensure an accurate assessment under this section, including:
(1) the individual's first, middle, and last name and all other names by which the individual
has been known;
(2) home address, zip code, city, county, and state of residence for the past ten years;
(3) sex;
(4) date of birth; and
(5) driver's license number or state identification number.
(b) When notified by the responsible social services agency that it is conducting an
assessment under this section, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, commissioners of health
and human services, law enforcement, and county agencies must provide the responsible social
services agency or county attorney with the following information on the individual being
assessed: criminal history data, reports about the maltreatment of adults substantiated under
section 626.557, and reports of maltreatment of minors substantiated under section 626.556.
    Subd. 3. Multistate information. (a) For any assessment completed under this section, if
the responsible social services agency has reasonable cause to believe that the individual is
a multistate offender, the individual must provide the responsible social services agency or the
county attorney with a set of classifiable fingerprints obtained from an authorized law enforcement
agency. The responsible social services agency or county attorney may obtain criminal history
data from the National Criminal Records Repository by submitting the fingerprints to the Bureau
of Criminal Apprehension.
(b) For purposes of this subdivision, the responsible social services agency has reasonable
cause when, but not limited to:
(1) information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that the individual is a
multistate offender;
(2) information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that multistate offender
status is undetermined;
(3) the social services agency has received a report from the individual or a third party
indicating that the individual has a criminal history in a jurisdiction other than Minnesota; or
(4) the individual is or has been a resident of a state other than Minnesota at any time
during the prior ten years.
    Subd. 4. Notice upon receipt. The responsible social services agency must provide the
subject of the background study with the results of the study under this section within 15 business
days of receipt or at least 15 days prior to the hearing at which the results will be presented,
whichever comes first. The subject may provide written information to the agency that the results
are incorrect and may provide additional or clarifying information to the agency and to the court
through a party to the proceeding. This provision does not apply to any background study
conducted under chapters 245A and 245C.
History: 2005 c 136 art 15 s 6