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Chapter 245C

Section 245C.05

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245C.05 BACKGROUND STUDY; INFORMATION AND DATA PROVIDED TO COMMISSIONER.

Subdivision 1.Individual studied.

(a) The individual who is the subject of the background study must provide the applicant, license holder, or other entity under section 245C.04 with sufficient information to ensure an accurate study, including:

(1) the individual's first, middle, and last name and all other names by which the individual has been known;

(2) home address, city, and state of residence;

(3) zip code;

(4) sex;

(5) date of birth; and

(6) Minnesota driver's license number or state identification number.

(b) Every subject of a background study conducted or initiated by counties or private agencies under this chapter must also provide the home address, city, county, and state of residence for the past five years.

(c) Every subject of a background study related to private agency adoptions or related to child foster care licensed through a private agency, who is 18 years of age or older, shall also provide the commissioner a signed consent for the release of any information received from national crime information databases to the private agency that initiated the background study.

(d) The subject of a background study shall provide fingerprints as required in subdivision 5, paragraph (c).

Subd. 2.Applicant, license holder, or other entity.

The applicant, license holder, or other entities as provided in this chapter shall verify that the information collected under subdivision 1 about an individual who is the subject of the background study is correct and must provide the information on forms or in a format prescribed by the commissioner.

Subd. 2a.County or private agency.

For background studies related to child foster care, county and private agencies must collect the information under subdivision 1 and forward it to the commissioner.

Subd. 2b.County agency to collect and forward information to the commissioner.

For background studies related to all family adult day services and to adult foster care when the adult foster care license holder resides in the adult foster care residence, the county agency must collect the information required under subdivision 1 and forward it to the commissioner.

Subd. 2c.Privacy notice to background study subject.

(a) For every background study, the commissioner's notice to the background study subject required under section 13.04, subdivision 2, that is provided through the commissioner's electronic NETStudy system or through the commissioner's background study forms shall include the information in paragraph (b).

(b) The background study subject shall be informed that any previous background studies that received a set-aside will be reviewed, and without further contact with the background study subject, the commissioner may notify the agency that initiated the subsequent background study:

(1) that the individual has a disqualification that has been set aside for the program or agency that initiated the study;

(2) the reason for the disqualification; and

(3) that information about the decision to set aside the disqualification will be available to the license holder upon request without the consent of the background study subject.

Subd. 3.Additional information from individual studied.

(a) For purposes of completing the background study, the commissioner may request the individual's Social Security number or race. The individual is not required to provide this information to the commissioner.

(b) The commissioner may also require additional information if the commissioner determines the information is necessary to complete the background study. Failure to provide the required information may result in a disqualification pursuant to section 245C.09.

Subd. 4.Electronic transmission.

(a) For background studies conducted by the Department of Human Services, the commissioner shall implement a system for the electronic transmission of:

(1) background study information to the commissioner;

(2) background study results to the license holder;

(3) background study results to county and private agencies for background studies conducted by the commissioner for child foster care; and

(4) background study results to county agencies for background studies conducted by the commissioner for adult foster care and family adult day services.

(b) Unless the commissioner has granted a hardship variance under paragraph (c), a license holder or an applicant must use the electronic transmission system known as NETStudy to submit all requests for background studies to the commissioner as required by this chapter.

(c) A license holder or applicant whose program is located in an area in which high-speed Internet is inaccessible may request the commissioner to grant a variance to the electronic transmission requirement.

Subd. 5.Fingerprints.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c), for any background study completed under this chapter, when the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that further pertinent information may exist on the subject of the background study, the subject shall provide the commissioner with a set of classifiable fingerprints obtained from an authorized agency.

(b) For purposes of requiring fingerprints, the commissioner has reasonable cause when, but not limited to, the:

(1) information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that the subject is a multistate offender;

(2) information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that multistate offender status is undetermined; or

(3) commissioner has received a report from the subject or a third party indicating that the subject has a criminal history in a jurisdiction other than Minnesota.

(c) Except as specified under section 245C.04, subdivision 1, paragraph (d), for background studies conducted by the commissioner for child foster care or adoptions, the subject of the background study, who is 18 years of age or older, shall provide the commissioner with a set of classifiable fingerprints obtained from an authorized agency.

Subd. 6.Applicant, license holder, other entities, and agencies.

(a) The applicant, license holder, other entities as provided in this chapter, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, commissioner of health, and county agencies shall help with the study by giving the commissioner criminal conviction data and reports about the maltreatment of adults substantiated under section 626.557 and the maltreatment of minors substantiated under section 626.556.

(b) If a background study is initiated by an applicant, license holder, or other entities as provided in this chapter, and the applicant, license holder, or other entity receives information about the possible criminal or maltreatment history of an individual who is the subject of the background study, the applicant, license holder, or other entity must immediately provide the information to the commissioner.

(c) The program or county or other agency must provide written notice to the individual who is the subject of the background study of the requirements under this subdivision.

Subd. 7.Probation officer and corrections agent.

(a) A probation officer or corrections agent shall notify the commissioner of an individual's conviction if the individual:

(1) has been affiliated with a program or facility regulated by the Department of Human Services or Department of Health, a facility serving children or youth licensed by the Department of Corrections, or any type of home care agency or provider of personal care assistance services within the preceding year; and

(2) has been convicted of a crime constituting a disqualification under section 245C.14.

(b) For the purpose of this subdivision, "conviction" has the meaning given it in section 609.02, subdivision 5.

(c) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of corrections, shall develop forms and information necessary to implement this subdivision and shall provide the forms and information to the commissioner of corrections for distribution to local probation officers and corrections agents.

(d) The commissioner shall inform individuals subject to a background study that criminal convictions for disqualifying crimes will be reported to the commissioner by the corrections system.

(e) A probation officer, corrections agent, or corrections agency is not civilly or criminally liable for disclosing or failing to disclose the information required by this subdivision.

(f) Upon receipt of disqualifying information, the commissioner shall provide the notice required under section 245C.17, as appropriate, to agencies on record as having initiated a background study or making a request for documentation of the background study status of the individual.

(g) This subdivision does not apply to family child care programs.

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Revisor of Statutes