Existing law requires public or private institutions and agencies to which a juvenile court commits a child to conduct background investigations of employees of such institutions and agencies. (NRS 62B.270) Existing law also requires agencies which provide child welfare services to conduct background investigations of applicants for employment with, and employees of, such agencies. (NRS 432B.198) Existing law additionally requires certain facilities which provide residential mental health treatment to children to conduct background investigations of employees of such facilities. (NRS 433B.183) Such background investigations are conducted for the purpose of determining whether an applicant or employee has been convicted of certain specified crimes and, with respect to agencies which provide child welfare services, whether an applicant or employee has charges pending against him or her for any such crime. (NRS 62B.270, 432B.198, 433B.183) If the results of a background investigation correctly provide that an applicant or employee has been convicted of any such crime, the application for employment or the employment of the person must be denied or terminated, respectively. (NRS 62B.275, 432B.199, 433B.185) Additionally, if the results of a background investigation conducted by an agency which provides child welfare services correctly provide that an applicant or employee has charges pending against him or her for any such crime, the application for employment or the employment of the person may be denied or terminated, respectively. (NRS 432B.199) Sections 1, 3 and 5 of this bill revise the specified crimes authorizing or requiring, as applicable, the denial of an application for employment or the termination of employment with such an institution, agency or facility. For the purposes of conforming with background investigations conducted by agencies which provide child welfare services, sections 1 and 5 also provide that, in addition to determining whether an employee has been convicted of certain specified crimes, the purpose of a background investigation conducted by public or private institutions and agencies to which a juvenile court commits a child and certain facilities which provide residential mental health treatment to children is to determine whether an employee has criminal charges pending against him or her for a specified crime. Accordingly, sections 2 and 6 of this bill provide that if such an employee has criminal charges pending against him or her for a specified crime, his or her employment may be terminated. Sections 1-6 of this bill specify when the period during which criminal charges are pending against an applicant or employee begins and ends. Section 4 of this bill authorizes agencies which provide child welfare services to waive the prohibition on hiring an applicant who has been convicted of a specified crime if the institution, agency or facility adopts and applies an objective weighing test pursuant to which certain factors are considered relating to the applicant and the crime committed. Section 4 requires such an agency to track certain data regarding each applicant to whom the objective weighing test is applied and review the data at least once every 2 years to determine the efficacy of the test and whether the data indicates the presence of implicit bias. Section 4 also provides that: (1) the prohibition on hiring an applicant who has been convicted of a specified crime may not be waived through the use of the objective weighing test if the specified crime was sexually-related and the victim was a child who was less than 18 years of age when the crime was committed; and (2) the hiring determination made by such an institution, agency or facility after applying the objective weighing test to an applicant is final. Existing law requires: (1) an employee of a public or private institution or agency to which a juvenile court commits a child or a facility which provides residential mental health treatment to children to submit two complete sets of his or her fingerprints as part of a background investigation; and (2) an applicant for employment with, or an employee of, an agency which provides child welfare services to submit one complete set of his or her fingerprints as part of a background investigation. (NRS 62B.270, 432B.198, 433B.183) Sections 1 and 5 require an employee of a public or private institution or agency to which a juvenile court commits a child or a facility which provides residential mental health treatment to children to submit one complete set of his or her fingerprints as part of a background investigation instead of two sets of fingerprints.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 62B.270, 62B.275, 432B.198, 432B.199, 433B.183, 433B.185
Reprint 1: 62B.270, 62B.275, 432B.198, 432B.199, 433B.183, 433B.185
Reprint 2: 62B.270, 62B.275, 432B.198, 432B.199, 433B.183, 433B.185
As Enrolled: 62B.270, 62B.275, 432B.198, 432B.199, 433B.183, 433B.185