Those persons employed, residing in a licensed child care center, child development home, or non-registered child care home that receives child care assistance funding must complete required background checks.
Click Out of State Requests for State Agencies Seeking Child Abuse Information in Iowa - Child Care for additional information for State Agencies or those contracted with the State Agency to provide this service requesting registry checks of child care providers.
Who needs background checks?
- A person who is being considered for licensure or registration
- A person is being considered for employment and will have direct responsibility for a child or access to a child when alone
- A person who will reside in a child care facility or non-registered child care home that receives or has applied to receive public funding to provide child care
- A person who has applied for or receives public funding for providing child care
What Background Checks are completed?
- Criminal and child abuse record checks in Iowa every 2 years
- Iowa Sex Offender Registry and Dependent Adult Abuse records are also reviewed every 2 years
- National fingerprint background check every 4 years
What if a person has a record?
- If a person has a transgression, a record check evaluation must be completed.
- A transgression is any of the following:
- Conviction of a crime
- Record of founded child or dependent adult abuse
- Is on the sex offender registry
- Has committed a public or civil offense
- The person has had a revocation of a child care registration or license as a result of continued or repeated failure to operate in compliance
What is an evaluation?
- In an evaluation, the Department must consider:
- The type and seriousness of the transgression
- Time passed since the transgression
- The circumstances under which the transgression was committed
- The degree of rehabilitation
- The likelihood that the person will commit the transgression again
- The number of transgressions committed by the person involved.
Who is not allowed to be involved in child care?
- Any person that has a record of founded child or dependent adult abuse that was determined to be sexual abuse
- Any person listed on the sex offender registry
- Has committed the following felony offenses:
- Child endangerment or neglect or abandonment of a dependent person’
- Domestic abuse
- A crime against a child including but not limited to sexual exploitation of a minor
- A forcible felony
- The following have a 5 year prohibition:
- Convicted of a controlled substance offense
- Found to have committed physical abuse
- The department has the authority to determine if a person shall be prohibited from child care through completing an evaluation. If a person is prohibited, they may not be involved unless a new record check is completed and they are approved.
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