| (a) Conducting a background check.
(1) A volunteer, employee, or director must be subject
to a background check prior to the commencement of volunteer, employee,
or director duties and no longer than every two years thereafter.
A background check must include a review of the individual's information
from:
(A) a fingerprint-based search conducted by the Texas
Department of Public Safety that utilizes the National Crime Information
Center (NCIC) database that is maintained by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Texas Crime Information Center (TCIC);
(B) the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry maintained
by the Texas Department of Public Safety;
(C) the National Sex Offender Public Website maintained
by the United States Department of Justice; and
(D) the Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry maintained
by DFPS in accordance with federal law and Texas Family Code §261.002.
(2) If a volunteer, employee, or director has lived
in a state other than Texas within the last seven years, the local
volunteer advocate program must conduct a criminal background check
in that state.
(3) For an individual authorized to drive children,
the local program must:
(A) investigate the individual's driving record and
insurability; and
(B) obtain documentation of a valid, state-issued driver's
license and satisfactory personal liability insurance.
(b) Ten-year bar for certain felony offenses.
(1) An individual whose background check yields a felony
conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest, or acceptance of deferred
adjudication for which fewer than ten years have passed since the
date of the offense, is barred from being a volunteer, employee, or
director.
(2) An individual whose background check yields a felony
conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest, or acceptance of deferred
adjudication for which ten years or more have passed since the date
of the offense, and if that felony offense is not described under
subsection (c) of this section, the local volunteer advocate program
may exercise the discretion to determine that individual's eligibility
for a volunteer, employee, or director position.
(c) Bar for certain offenses.
(1) An individual whose background check yields a conviction,
guilty plea, plea of no contest, acceptance of deferred adjudication,
or pending charge for any of these offenses is barred from being a
volunteer, employee, or director:
(A) Texas Penal Code Chapter 19;
(B) Texas Penal Code Chapter 20;
(C) Texas Penal Code Chapter 20A;
(D) Texas Penal Code §§21.02, 21.07, 21.08,
21.11, or 21.12;
(E) Texas Penal Code §§22.011, 22.02, 22.021,
22.04, 22.041, 22.05, 22.07, or 22.11;
(F) Texas Penal Code Chapter 25;
(G) Texas Penal Code §28.02;
(H) Texas Penal Code Chapter 29;
(I) Texas Penal Code §30.02;
(J) Texas Penal Code §33.021;
(K) Texas Penal Code §42.072;
(L) Texas Penal Code Chapter 43;
(M) Texas Penal Code §§46.06, 46.09, or 46.10;
(N) Texas Penal Code §48.02;
(O) Texas Penal Code §§49.045, 49.05, 49.07,
or 49.08;
(P) Texas Penal Code Chapter 71; or
(Q) any other offense involving violence, child abuse
or neglect, assault with family violence, or a sexual offense as described
under Chapter 21 of the Texas Penal Code.
(2) An individual whose background check produces any
founded allegations of abuse with DFPS is barred from being a volunteer,
employee, or director.
(d) An individual whose background check produces a
conviction, guilty plea, plea of no contest, or acceptance of deferred
adjudication of an offense, including a misdemeanor drug-related offense,
that is not an offense described under subsections (b) or (c) of this
section may be considered by the local volunteer advocate program
to determine eligibility for a volunteer, employee, or director position.
(e) If an individual who has applied to be a volunteer,
employee, or director has a pending charge described under subsections
(b) or (c) of this section that would otherwise bar the individual's
hiring or appointment, a new review of the application may be conducted
if the charge is subsequently dismissed or if the individual is otherwise
absolved of guilt.
(f) An individual whose background check produces information
that includes a group of offenses or information that, if considered
separately, would not bar an applicant may result in the disqualification
of an applicant volunteer, employee, or director if it is determined
that the offenses constitute a problematic pattern.
(g) A volunteer, employee, or director must be immediately
removed from his or her position and barred from future consideration
as a volunteer, employee, or director, if the volunteer, employee,
or director knowingly or intentionally places a child, through the
actions of the volunteer, employee, or director, in contact with a
person whose criminal history involves an offense described under
subsections (b) or (c) of this section.
(h) The refusal to execute consent and release forms
necessary to conduct a criminal background check disqualifies an individual
from serving as a volunteer, employee, or director.
|
