Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4010-C is enacted to read:

§4010-C.__Criminal history record check

The department shall ensure that, prior to the placement of a child who is in the custody or care of the department with a custodian, foster parent, guardian ad litem, preadoptive parent or other person responsible for the child, that custodian, foster parent, guardian ad litem, preadoptive parent or other person responsible for the child with whom that child is to be placed has undergone a criminal history record check.__A child who is in the custody or care of the department may not be placed with a person who has a history of abuse or neglect.

SUMMARY

This bill requires a person with whom a child in the custody or care of the Department of Human Services is to be placed to undergo a criminal history record check. The department is responsible for ensuring the completion of the record check. A child may not be placed with a person who has a history of abuse or neglect, defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 4002, subsection 1 as "a threat to a child's health or welfare by physical, mental or emotional injury or impairment, sexual abuse or exploitation, deprivation of essential needs or lack of protection from these, by a person responsible for the child."