(a) Within 60 days after August 19, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-441), the Department shall require all of its community developmental services agencies to conduct required registry checks on employees at the time of hire and annually thereafter during employment. The required registries to be checked are the Health Care Worker Registry, the Department of Children and Family Services’ State Central Register, and the Illinois Sex Offender Registry. A person may not be employed if he or she is found to have disqualifying convictions or substantiated cases of abuse or neglect. At the time of the annual registry checks, if a current employee’s name has been placed on a registry with disqualifying convictions or disqualifying substantiated cases of abuse or neglect, then the employee must be terminated. Disqualifying convictions or disqualifying substantiated cases of abuse or neglect are defined for the Department of Children and Family Services’ State Central Register by the Department of Children and Family Services’ standards for background checks in Part 385 of Title 89 of the Illinois Administrative Code. Disqualifying convictions or disqualifying substantiated cases of abuse or neglect are defined for the Health Care Worker Registry by the Health Care Worker Background Check Act and the Department’s standards for abuse and neglect investigations in Section 1-17 of the Department of Human Services Act.
     (b) In collaboration with the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Public Health, the Department of Human Services shall establish a waiver process from the prohibition of employment or termination of employment requirements in subsection (a) of this Section for any applicant or employee listed under the Department of Children and Family Services’ State Central Register seeking to be hired or maintain his or her employment with a community developmental services agency under this Act. The waiver process for applicants and employees outlined under Section 40 of the Health Care Worker Background Check Act shall remain in effect for individuals listed on the Health Care Worker Registry.
     (c) In order to effectively and efficiently comply with subsection (a), the Department of Children and Family Services shall take immediate actions to streamline the process for checking the State Central Register for employees hired by community developmental services agencies referenced in this Act. These actions may include establishing a website for registry checks or establishing a registry check process similar to the Health Care Worker Registry.