Criminal Background Check Screening due to Coronavirus-Related Closures

PURPOSE: This rule will allow for an alternate criminal history background check process and timeframe for foster parent applicants due to coronavirus-related closures of fingerprinting locations. (1) Notwithstanding any other regulations to the contrary, beginning April 17, 2020, any applicant, any household member age seventeen (17) and older, and any child less than seventeen (17) who has been certified as an adult for the commission of a crime, or has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere to any crime, shall register with the Family Care Safety Registry (FCSR) and submit signed release forms and fingerprints for the purpose of obtaining background screening for child abuse or neglect, criminal, and circuit court records. (A) Fingerprints shall be sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol for criminal background checks. Subject to geographic availability, as determined by the Children’s Division, fingerprinting shall be completed prior to issuance of a license. (B) In the event fingerprinting is not available due to closures of fingerprinting locations in the applicant’s geographic region, a name-based criminal background check utilizing the individual’s name, date of birth, social security number, sex, and race is satisfactory for licensure provided that fingerprints are submitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol for positive identification as soon as possible, but no later than one hundred eighty (180) calendar days from the date of the preliminary name-based background check, or ninety (90) calendar days from the expiration of the state’s emergency declaration, whichever occurs sooner. (2) The failure to follow all requirements and timeframes for criminal background checks, including fingerprints, shall be grounds for license revocation in accordance with 13 CSR 3560.090. AUTHORITY: sections 207.020, 210.486, 210.506, and 660.017, RSMo 2016, and section 210.487, RSMo Supp. 2020.* Emergency rule filed May 6, 2020, effective May 21, 2020, expired Feb. 25, 2021. Original rule filed May 6, 2020, effective Nov. 30, 2020. *Original authority: 207.020, RSMo 1945, amended 1961, 1965, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1993, 2014; 210.486, RSMo 1982, amended 1993; 210.487, RSMo 2004, amended 2007, 2013, 2018; 210.506, RSMo 1982, amended 1993, 1995; and 660.017, RSMo 1993, amended 1995.