Amendment #785 to H4000

outside sections 57 and 97

Representatives Fox of Boston, Swan of Springfield and O'Day of West Boylston move to amend the bill by deleting outside sections 57 and 97 and inserting in place thereof, the following:

SECTION 57.  The department shall ensure that it meets all federal and state requirements for conducting criminal offender checks for all applicants filing a request to become foster or adoptive parents.  Such laws include but are not limited to The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, 42 U.S.C. § 671 (A)(20), Chapter 77 of the Acts of 2013, and all statutes and regulations promulgated thereunder.

DCF shall maintain comprehensive paper and electronic records of all required background checks of pre-adoptive and foster parents.  These records shall be made available to the state auditor upon request.

The department shall report to the clerks of the house and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities by July 31, 2014, after review of the final recommendations of the Child Welfare League of America, on its plan for ensuring that children are not placed in foster or pre-adoptive homes in which caregivers or household members have criminal records that would endanger the child.