Grassley, Durbin Applaud Senate Passage of Legislation Securing Nationwide Background Checks for Child Care Workers

Grassley, Durbin Applaud Senate Passage of Legislation Securing Nationwide Background Checks for Child Care Workers

BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA - U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) celebrated the Senate's unanimous passage of their bipartisan Comprehensive Health and Integrity in Licensing and Documentation (CHILD) Act to secure nationwide background checks for all individuals with unsupervised access to children, including independent contractors hired by schools.

"Every individual who works with children must be thoroughly vetted - it's common sense. The bipartisan CHILD Act will ensure all child care workers, including contractors, are authorized to receive a nationwide background check. I'm glad the Senate acted unanimously to pass this important legislative fix, and I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to do the same," Grassley said.

"Kids in schools should be surrounded by the most qualified, caring staff. A loophole in federal law inadvertently complicated the process for requesting background checks for some child care workers, namely school contractors. This bill is a simple fix to ensure nationwide access to background checks for those entrusted with our children. I'm glad to see the Senate pass it unanimously, and I encourage the House to pass it expeditiously," Durbin said.

The CHILD Act is endorsed by Students Against Destructive Decisions, Student Transportation & Education Equity, Roundtable, Parents Helping Parents Inc., National Diversity Coalition, RaisingHOPE Inc., National Center on Adoption & Permanency, Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) and HopSkipDrive.

Download bill text HERE.

Background:

The National Child Protection Act of 1993 authorized nationwide background checks for all child care workers. However, the Child Protection Improvements Act of 2018 amended the National Child Protection Act and inadvertently removed the provision that allowed states to request nationwide background checks on child care contractors. The CHILD Act would amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to ensure child care contractors are authorized to receive the same national background checks as all other child care employees.

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