2014 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 17 - Education
RS 17:407.41 - State Central Registry Disclosure Requirement

§407.41. State Central Registry Disclosure Requirement

A. No individual whose name is recorded on the state central registry within the Department of Children and Family Services 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, including any therapeutic professionals, extracurricular personnel, and other independent contractors, unless there is a finding by the Department of Children and Family Services that the individual does not pose a risk to children.

B. Any owner, operator, current or prospective employee, or volunteer of a licensed early learning center shall report annually, and at any time upon the request of the department, on the state central registry disclosure form promulgated by the Department of Children and Family Services, whether or not his name is currently recorded on the state central registry for a justified finding of abuse or neglect and he is the named perpetrator.

C. Any such current or prospective employee or volunteer of a licensed early learning center shall submit the state central registry disclosure form to the owner or operator of the facility, who shall maintain the documents in accordance with current licensing requirements. Any state central registry disclosure form that is maintained in an early learning center licensing file shall be confidential and subject to the confidentiality provisions of R.S. 46:56(F) pertaining to the investigations of abuse and neglect.

D. Any owner, operator, current or prospective employee, or volunteer of a licensed early learning center who knowingly falsifies the information on the state central registry disclosure form shall be guilty of a misdemeanor offense and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

E. Any owner, operator, current or prospective employee, or volunteer of a licensed early learning center who discloses that he is currently recorded on the state central registry for a justified finding of abuse or neglect shall be entitled to a risk assessment evaluation provided by the Department of Children and Family Services to determine whether the individual poses a risk to children. Any such individual who is determined to pose a risk to children shall have the right to file an appeal in accordance with R.S. 49:992 of the Administrative Procedure Act. Any such determination shall be kept on file at all times by the Department of Children and Family Services.

Acts 2014, No. 868, §2, eff. Oct. 1, 2014.