2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 216
BY SENATOR MIZELL
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to remove the name
of an individual from the state central registry for abuse and neglect, if a risk
evaluation panel has issued a written finding that the individual poses no risk to
children.
WHEREAS, Article 616 of the Children's Code requires the Department of Children
and Family Services (DCFS) to maintain a central registry of all reports of abuse and neglect
and to promulgate rules regarding the maintenance, deletion, and release of information in
the central registry; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 17:407.41 provides that no individual whose name is recorded on
the DCFS state central registry as a perpetrator for a justified finding of abuse or neglect of
a child shall own or operate a licensed early learning center or shall be hired by a licensed
early learning center as an employee or volunteer of any kind, unless there is a finding by
the DCFS that the individual does not pose a risk to children; and
WHEREAS, current DCFS regulations provide that an individual whose name is
recorded on the state central registry may request the department to perform a risk evaluation
assessment, whereupon a risk evaluation panel shall conduct an investigation and make a
determination as to whether the individual poses a risk to children; and
WHEREAS, if a risk evaluation panel issues a written finding that an individual does
not pose a risk to children, the individual is deemed eligible to own, operate, or be employed
by an early learning center, but DCFS does not remove the individual's name from the
central registry; and
WHEREAS, passed and pending legislation delete provisions in current law that
allow an individual whose name is on the DCFS state central registry, but who has a written
finding from a risk evaluation panel that he does not pose a risk to children, to be employed
in an early learning center; and
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WHEREAS, the rules and regulations established by DCFS for the state central
registry and the risk assessment and risk evaluation process are contradictory and confusing,
thus causing problems for both licensed early learning centers and current and prospective
employees; and
WHEREAS, approximately two hundred day care center employees who have been
cleared by a DCFS risk evaluation panel will no longer be eligible for employment, because
their names remain on the state central registry; and
WHEREAS, the loss of these employees could hinder early learning centers from
complying with established minimum child-to-staff ratios, thus endangering their licensure
and ability to continue to operate; and
WHEREAS, it is only fair and just that DCFS remove an individual's name from the
state central registry if the department's risk evaluation assessment and risk evaluation panel
process result in the issuance of a written finding that the individual does not pose a threat
to children.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services to remove the
name of an individual from the state central registry for abuse and neglect, if a risk
evaluation panel has issued a written finding that the individual poses no risk to children.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of the Department of Children and
Family Services submit a written report detailing the actions taken in response to this
Resolution to the Senate Committee on Education, the House Committee on Education, and
the state superintendent of education not later than February 1, 2018.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services and the state superintendent
of education.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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