N.Y. Social Services Law § 390-e: Criminal history review; mentoring programs

§ 390-e. Criminal history review; mentoring programs. 1. For the

purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following

meanings:

(a) "Prospective employee" shall mean a person being considered for

employment by a mentoring program.

(b) "Prospective mentor" shall mean an individual who is currently

applying to volunteer to help a child or a group of children in a

mentoring program for a period of time. Such help shall include, but not

be limited to, being a positive role model for youth, building

relationships with youth, and providing youth with academic assistance

and exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance

the ability of children to become responsible adults.

(c) "Mentoring program" shall mean a formalized program, operated by a

corporation which has been incorporated pursuant to subparagraph five of

paragraph (a) of section one hundred two of the not-for-profit

corporation law or pursuant to subparagraph four of paragraph (a) of

section one hundred two of the business corporation law, or operated by

an educational institution or school district, that matches youth with

adult volunteers with the purpose of providing such youth with positive

role models to enhance their development.

(d) "Office" shall mean the office of children and family services.

2. Mentoring programs may perform a criminal history record check on

all prospective employees and mentors.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, subject

to the rules and regulations of the division of criminal justice

services, mentoring programs may apply for a criminal history record

check with the division of criminal justice services regarding any

prospective employee or any prospective mentor who may engage in

unsupervised activities with youth or in activities with youth in a

setting without constant agency or parental oversight. Each mentoring

program that chooses to complete such criminal background checks on

prospective employees or on prospective mentors shall establish a policy

for completing criminal background checks on such prospective employees

or mentors. Such policy shall apply one uniform standard for the

completion of criminal background checks for all prospective employees

and one uniform standard for the completion of criminal background

checks for all prospective mentors. Any mentoring program that chooses

to complete criminal background checks on both prospective employees and

prospective mentors may utilize the same uniform process for the

completion of the criminal background checks on prospective employees

and prospective mentors or they may choose one uniform process for

prospective employees and another uniform process for prospective

mentors.

4. Every mentoring program that chooses to apply for a criminal

history background check with the division of criminal justice services

shall obtain a set of fingerprints from each individual for whom a

criminal background check is to be completed and such other information

as is required by the office and the division of criminal justice

services. For each prospective employee or mentor for whom the

mentoring program completes a criminal background check, the mentoring

program shall provide the applicant with blank fingerprint cards and a

description of how the completed fingerprint card will be used upon

submission to the mentoring program. The mentoring program shall

promptly transmit such fingerprint card and the processing fee to the

office. The office shall promptly submit the fingerprint card and the

processing fee, imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight

hundred thirty-seven of the executive law, to the division of criminal

justice services for its full search and retain processing.

5. Upon receipt of a criminal history record from the division of

criminal justice services, the office shall promptly provide to the

mentoring program the criminal history record, if any, with respect to

the prospective employee or mentor, or a statement that the individual

has no criminal history record.

6. Upon receipt of the results of a criminal background check pursuant

to this section, the mentoring program shall determine whether or not

the prospective employee or mentor shall be offered employment or the

opportunity to volunteer with the program. Such determination shall be

made in accordance with the criteria established in section seven

hundred fifty-two of the correction law.

7. Upon the request of any person previously convicted of one or more

criminal offenses who has been denied employment pursuant to subdivision

six of this section, the mentoring program shall provide, within thirty

days of such request, a written statement setting forth the reasons for

such denial. Any such person denied employment pursuant to subdivision

six of this section shall be afforded the opportunities for enforcement

available pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-five of the correction

law.

8. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, with the exception

of a sex offense or a crime against a child, a custodial parent or

guardian may sign a waiver authorizing a mentor to work with his or her

child regardless of a criminal charge or crime related to a mentor. Such

process shall only be initiated upon the consent of the prospective

mentor, and be on a form and of a content to be developed by the office.

Where applicable, a mentoring program may notify a custodial parent or

guardian of his or her waiver right, but a waiver shall only be

authorized by a custodial parent or guardian.

9. Any criminal history record provided to a mentoring program

pursuant to this section shall be confidential pursuant to the

applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and shall not

be published or in any way disclosed to persons other than authorized

personnel, unless otherwise authorized by law.

10. Every mentoring program shall provide each custodial parent or

guardian of every child participating in its mentoring program with a

description of the kind of criminal background checks conducted by the

mentoring program on its prospective employees and mentors. Such

description shall include identification of the source utilized to

obtain criminal background histories on prospective employees and

mentors, a list of crimes that would lead the program to deny employment

or the opportunity to volunteer as a prospective employee or mentor, and

any other process utilized to determine whether or not a prospective

employee or mentor with a conviction record shall be offered employment

or the opportunity to volunteer. Such description shall clearly state

whether or not prospective employees or mentors may be hired or offered

the opportunity to volunteer despite the existence of a conviction

history.