New York Laws
Title 1 - Care and Protection of Children
390-E - Criminal History Review; Mentoring Programs.

(a) "Prospective employee" shall mean a person being considered for
employment by a mentoring program.
(b) "Prospective mentor" shall mean an individual who is currently
applying to volunteer to help a child or a group of children in a
mentoring program for a period of time. Such help shall include, but not
be limited to, being a positive role model for youth, building
relationships with youth, and providing youth with academic assistance
and exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance
the ability of children to become responsible adults.
(c) "Mentoring program" shall mean a formalized program, operated by a
corporation which has been incorporated pursuant to subparagraph five of
paragraph (a) of section one hundred two of the not-for-profit
corporation law or pursuant to subparagraph four of paragraph (a) of
section one hundred two of the business corporation law, or operated by
an educational institution or school district, that matches youth with
adult volunteers with the purpose of providing such youth with positive
role models to enhance their development.
(d) "Office" shall mean the office of children and family services.
2. Mentoring programs may perform a criminal history record check on
all prospective employees and mentors.
3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, subject
to the rules and regulations of the division of criminal justice
services, mentoring programs may apply for a criminal history record
check with the division of criminal justice services regarding any
prospective employee or any prospective mentor who may engage in
unsupervised activities with youth or in activities with youth in a
setting without constant agency or parental oversight. Each mentoring
program that chooses to complete such criminal background checks on
prospective employees or on prospective mentors shall establish a policy
for completing criminal background checks on such prospective employees
or mentors. Such policy shall apply one uniform standard for the
completion of criminal background checks for all prospective employees
and one uniform standard for the completion of criminal background
checks for all prospective mentors. Any mentoring program that chooses
to complete criminal background checks on both prospective employees and
prospective mentors may utilize the same uniform process for the
completion of the criminal background checks on prospective employees
and prospective mentors or they may choose one uniform process for
prospective employees and another uniform process for prospective
mentors.
4. Every mentoring program that chooses to apply for a criminal
history background check with the division of criminal justice services
shall obtain a set of fingerprints from each individual for whom a
criminal background check is to be completed and such other information
as is required by the office and the division of criminal justice
services. For each prospective employee or mentor for whom the
mentoring program completes a criminal background check, the mentoring
program shall provide the applicant with blank fingerprint cards and a
description of how the completed fingerprint card will be used upon
submission to the mentoring program. The mentoring program shall
promptly transmit such fingerprint card and the processing fee to the
office. The office shall promptly submit the fingerprint card and the
processing fee, imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight
hundred thirty-seven of the executive law, to the division of criminal
justice services for its full search and retain processing.

5. Upon receipt of a criminal history record from the division of
criminal justice services, the office shall promptly provide to the
mentoring program the criminal history record, if any, with respect to
the prospective employee or mentor, or a statement that the individual
has no criminal history record.
6. Upon receipt of the results of a criminal background check pursuant
to this section, the mentoring program shall determine whether or not
the prospective employee or mentor shall be offered employment or the
opportunity to volunteer with the program. Such determination shall be
made in accordance with the criteria established in section seven
hundred fifty-two of the correction law.
7. Upon the request of any person previously convicted of one or more
criminal offenses who has been denied employment pursuant to subdivision
six of this section, the mentoring program shall provide, within thirty
days of such request, a written statement setting forth the reasons for
such denial. Any such person denied employment pursuant to subdivision
six of this section shall be afforded the opportunities for enforcement
available pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-five of the correction
law.
8. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, with the exception
of a sex offense or a crime against a child, a custodial parent or
guardian may sign a waiver authorizing a mentor to work with his or her
child regardless of a criminal charge or crime related to a mentor. Such
process shall only be initiated upon the consent of the prospective
mentor, and be on a form and of a content to be developed by the office.
Where applicable, a mentoring program may notify a custodial parent or
guardian of his or her waiver right, but a waiver shall only be
authorized by a custodial parent or guardian.
9. Any criminal history record provided to a mentoring program
pursuant to this section shall be confidential pursuant to the
applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and shall not
be published or in any way disclosed to persons other than authorized
personnel, unless otherwise authorized by law.
10. Every mentoring program shall provide each custodial parent or
guardian of every child participating in its mentoring program with a
description of the kind of criminal background checks conducted by the
mentoring program on its prospective employees and mentors. Such
description shall include identification of the source utilized to
obtain criminal background histories on prospective employees and
mentors, a list of crimes that would lead the program to deny employment
or the opportunity to volunteer as a prospective employee or mentor, and
any other process utilized to determine whether or not a prospective
employee or mentor with a conviction record shall be offered employment
or the opportunity to volunteer. Such description shall clearly state
whether or not prospective employees or mentors may be hired or offered
the opportunity to volunteer despite the existence of a conviction
history.

Structure New York Laws