Background:

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) has amended the following rules in Chapter 5101:2-18 of the Ohio Administrative Code to implement provisions of Amended Substitute House Bill 166 of the 133rd General Assembly.

The rules will be effective December 1, 2019.

New Policy:

To better align background check requirements for registered day camps with those for approved day camps and licensed child care programs, the authority for background checks has been moved from section 2151.86 to section 5104.013 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC). This will allow an individual who works in both a registered day camp and another ODJFS regulated child care setting (e.g. child care center) to be fingerprinted once and have the results sent to both ODJFS and the registered camp.

The following rules have been amended:

5101:2-18-01 "Definitions for registered and approved child day camps" has been amended with the following changes to align with House Bill 166 of the 133rd General Assembly: 

• Added the following definitions: child care and special needs child care
• Amended the following definitions: approved child day camp, child day camp, child day camp staff member, school-age child and employee
• Removed the definition of special needs and summer

5101:2-18-02 "Requirements for registered child day camps" has been amended with the following changes: 

• Added criminal records check and rehabilitation requirements language from Am. Sub. H.B. 166.  This language requires an applicant, employee, including an administrator and a counselor of a child day camp, to request a criminal records check and details what the administrator must do if a person is found ineligible due to a conviction or guilty plea
• Added a new appendix A which outlines the rehabilitation requirements for applicants, employees, owners, or administrators of registered day camps who have a prohibited offense

5101:2-18-05 "Child day camp administrator requirements for an approved child day camp" has been amended with the following change: 

• Added that the administrator shall ensure that no administrator, employee or child day camp staff member shall discriminate in the enrollment of children upon the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin

Implementation:

Registered camps

Any applicant, employee or child care staff member hired prior to October 17, 2019 with existing background checks on file pursuant to section 2151.86 of the Revised Code are required pursuant to section 5104.013 of the Revised Code to get a new background check when the current BCI and FBI checks expire. The new check should be completed using reason code 5104.013.

Any applicant, employee or child care staff member hired on or after October 17, 2019 or whose current checks expire on or after October 17, 2019 shall have new background checks completed pursuant to section 5104.013 of the Revised Code.