HB1280: Placements of children; entire record of criminal history to be obtained when contemplating thereof.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 63.2-901.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 63.2-901.1. Criminal history and central registry check for placements of children.
A. Each local board and licensed child-placing agency shall
obtain and consider, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board, statewide the
criminal history record information from the Central Criminal Records Exchange
and the results of a search of the child abuse and neglect central registry of
any individual with whom the local board or agency is considering placing a
child on an emergency, temporary or permanent basis, including the birth parent
of a child in foster care placement. The local board or agency may also obtain
such a criminal records or registry search on all adult household members
residing in the home of the individual with whom the child is to be placed.
Such criminal records or registry search shall be at no cost to the individual.
If the placement is not made because of information obtained through the
criminal history record information or registry search or both, the local board
or agency shall provide a copy of the information obtained to the individual
who is the subject of the search. Further dissemination of the information
provided to the local board or agency is prohibited.
B. In emergency circumstances, each local board or licensed child-placing agency may obtain, from a criminal justice agency, criminal history record information from the Central Criminal Records Exchange through the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) for the criminal records search authorized by this section.
C. A child-placing agency may approve as a foster parent an applicant convicted of not more than one misdemeanor as set out in § 18.2-57 not involving abuse, neglect, moral turpitude, or a minor, provided 10 years have elapsed following the conviction.
