Rep. Schiff Introduces Legislation to Protect Children From Predators by Requiring Criminal Background Checks

Press Release

Every year, thousands of youth recreation programs are a vulnerable target for child predators who hope to gain access to their next victims under the guise of seeking employment or volunteer opportunities. In as many as 34 states, child-serving organizations do not have reliable access to both state and national FBI fingerprint-based background checks -- the gold standard for criminal background checks -- because access to the FBI system is often limited, unreasonably time-consuming, or prohibitively expensive.

The bipartisan Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA), introduced by Rep. Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Bishop (R-MI), will make FBI fingerprint-based background checks permanently and widely available to youth-serving organizations nationwide.

"Parents deserve to know that their children are in safe hands when they participate in after-school programs, sports camps, or meet with their mentors," Schiff said. "And this is why all youth-serving organizations must be equipped with access to the FBI fingerprint-based background check system to thoroughly screen prospective employees and volunteers that will work with kids. The results of a multi-year pilot program provides striking evidence that our legislation would be effective in catching child predators who attempt to avoid detection by moving from state to state."

"Congress has a duty to ensure every youth-serving organization in America can afford and access the gold-standard of nationwide background checks. Anything less is unacceptable," said Bishop. "Keeping children safe was a top priority of mine in the Michigan Senate, and I am proud to continue that work on a bipartisan basis in Congress."

Source