                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT DATA REQUIRED (§ 22.1-296.4)

A. Every school board and every governing board or administrator of a private
school accredited pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-19 shall require, as a condition of
employment, that any applicant who is offered or accepts employment requiring
direct contact with students, whether full-time or part-time, permanent or
temporary, provide written consent and the necessary personal information for
the school board, governing board, or administrator to obtain a search of the
registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect maintained by the
Department of Social Services pursuant to &#xA7; 63.2-1515. The school board,
governing board, or administrator shall ensure that all such searches are
requested in conformance with the regulations of the Board of Social Services.
In addition, where the applicant has resided in another state within the last
five years, the school board, governing board, or administrator shall require as
a condition of employment that such applicant provide written consent and the
necessary personal information for the school board, governing board, or
administrator to obtain information from each relevant state as to whether the
applicant was the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect in
such state. The school board, governing board or administrator shall take
reasonable steps to determine whether the applicant was the subject of a founded
complaint of child abuse and neglect in the relevant state. The Department of
Social Services shall maintain a database of central child abuse and neglect
registries in other states that provide access to out-of-state school boards,
for use by local school boards, governing boards, and administrators. The
applicant may be required to pay the cost of any search conducted pursuant to
this subsection at the discretion of the school board, governing board, or
administrator. From such funds as may be available for this purpose, however,
the school board or the governing board or administrator may pay for the search.
			The Department of Social Services shall respond to such request by the school
board, governing board, or administrator in cases where there is no match within
the central registry regarding applicants for employment within 10 business days
of receipt of such request. In cases where there is a match within the central
registry regarding applicants for employment, the Department of Social Services
shall respond to such request by the school board, governing board, or
administrator within 30 business days of receipt of such request. The request
and response may be sent electronically or by first-class mail or facsimile
transmission.

B. If the response obtained pursuant to subsection A indicates that the
applicant is the subject of a founded case of child abuse and neglect, such
applicant shall be denied employment or the employment shall be rescinded.

C. If an applicant is denied employment because of information appearing on his
record in the registry, the school board, governing board, or administrator
shall provide a copy of the information obtained from the registry to the
applicant. The information provided to the school board, governing board, or
administrator by the Department of Social Services shall be confidential and
shall not be disseminated by the school board, governing board, or
administrator.

HISTORY: 1997, c. 103; 2000, cc. 95, 734; 2008, c. 555; 2009, c. 58; 2016, c.
454; 2020, c. 300.