Arizona Laws 36-425.03. Children’s behavioral health programs; personnel; fingerprinting requirements; exemptions; definitions
A. Except as provided in subsections B, C and D of this section, children’s behavioral health program personnel, including volunteers, shall submit the form prescribed in subsection E of this section to the employer and shall have a valid fingerprint clearance card issued pursuant to Title 41, Chapter 12, Article 3.1 or, within seven working days after employment or beginning volunteer work, shall apply for a fingerprint clearance card.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 36-425.03
- Behavioral health services: means services that pertain to mental health and substance use disorders and that are either:
(a) Performed by or under the supervision of a professional who is licensed pursuant to title 32 and whose scope of practice allows the professional to provide these services. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Continuous: means available at all times without cessation, break or interruption. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Department: means the department of health services. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Health care institution: means every place, institution, building or agency, whether organized for profit or not, that provides facilities with medical services, nursing services, behavioral health services, health screening services, other health-related services, supervisory care services, personal care services or directed care services and includes home health agencies as defined in section 36-151, outdoor behavioral health care programs and hospice service agencies. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Health-related services: means services, other than medical, that pertain to general supervision, protective, preventive and personal care services, supervisory care services or directed care services. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Medical services: means the services that pertain to medical care and that are performed at the direction of a physician on behalf of patients by physicians, dentists, nurses and other professional and technical personnel. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Nursing services: means those services that pertain to the curative, restorative and preventive aspects of nursing care and that are performed at the direction of a physician by or under the supervision of a registered nurse licensed in this state. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. Source:
- Supervision: means directly overseeing and inspecting the act of accomplishing a function or activity. See Arizona Laws 36-401
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
B. The following persons are exempt from the fingerprinting requirements of this section:
1. When under the direct visual supervision and in the presence of children’s behavioral health program personnel who have a valid fingerprint clearance card:
(a) Except as provided in subsection C of this section, parents, foster parents, kinship foster care parents and guardians who participate in group activities that include their children who are receiving behavioral health services from a children’s behavioral health program if they are not employees of the children’s behavioral health program.
(b) A volunteer who provides services to children receiving behavioral health services.
(c) An employee or contractor who is eligible pursuant to Section 41-1758.07, subsection C to petition the board of fingerprinting for a good cause exception and who provides documentation of having applied for a good cause exception pursuant to Section 41-619.55 but who has not yet received a decision.
(d) A person who is not providing medical services, nursing services, behavioral health services, health-related services, home health services or supportive services and who is either not an employee or contractor or not on the premises on a regular basis.
2. Hospital medical staff members, employees, contractors and volunteers who are not present in an area of the hospital authorized by the department for providing children’s behavioral health services.
C. A parent, foster parent, kinship foster care parent or guardian of a child who is receiving behavioral health services from a children’s behavioral health program is not required to be fingerprinted or supervised for purposes of this section if the person is in the presence of or participating with only the person’s own child.
D. Applicants and employees who are fingerprinted pursuant to section 15-512 or 15-534 are exempt from the fingerprinting requirements of subsection A of this section.
E. Children’s behavioral health program personnel shall certify on forms that are provided by the department and notarized that they are not awaiting trial on or have never been convicted of or admitted in open court or pursuant to a plea agreement to committing any of the offenses listed in Section 41-1758.03, subsection B or C in this state or similar offenses in another state or jurisdiction.
F. Forms submitted pursuant to subsection E of this section are confidential.
G. Employers of children’s behavioral health program personnel shall make documented, good faith efforts to contact previous employers of children’s behavioral health program personnel to obtain information or recommendations that may be relevant to an individual’s fitness for employment in a children’s behavioral health program.
H. A person who is awaiting trial on or who has been convicted of or who has admitted in open court or pursuant to a plea agreement to committing a criminal offense listed in Section 41-1758.03, subsection B is prohibited from working in any capacity in a children’s behavioral health program that requires or allows contact with children.
I. A person who is awaiting trial on or who has been convicted of or who has admitted in open court or pursuant to a plea agreement to committing a criminal offense listed in Section 41-1758.03, subsection C shall not work in a children’s behavioral health program in any capacity that requires or allows the employee to provide direct services to children unless the person has applied for and received the required fingerprint clearance card pursuant to Title 41, Chapter 12, Article 3.1.
J. The department of health services shall accept a certification submitted by a United States military base or a federally recognized Indian tribe that either:
1. Personnel who are employed or who will be employed and who provide services directly to children have not been convicted of, have not admitted committing or are not awaiting trial on any offense prescribed in subsection H of this section.
2. Personnel who are employed or who will be employed to provide services directly to children have been convicted of, have admitted committing or are awaiting trial on any offense prescribed in subsection I of this section if the personnel provide these services while under direct visual supervision.
K. The employer shall notify the department of public safety if the employer receives credible evidence that a person who possesses a valid fingerprint clearance card either:
1. Is arrested for or charged with an offense listed in Section 41-1758.03, subsection B.
2. Falsified information on the form required by subsection E of this section.
L. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Children’s behavioral health program" means a program provided in a health care institution that is licensed by the department to provide children’s behavioral health services.
2. "Children’s behavioral health program personnel" means an owner, employee or volunteer who works at a children’s behavioral health program.
3. "Direct visual supervision" means continuous visual oversight of the supervised person that does not require the supervisor to be in a superior organizational role to the person being supervised.