(a) As used in this section and § 38-6-109, “organization” means a facility or service licensed under chapter 2, part 4 of this title.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-2-1202

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the department of mental health and substance abuse services. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Service recipient: means a person who is receiving service, has applied for service, or for whom someone has applied for or proposed service because the person has mental illness or serious emotional disturbance. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Each organization shall have a criminal background check completed on any employee or volunteer who will be in a position that involves providing direct contact with or direct responsibility for service recipients. The background check shall be completed before allowing the person to have any direct contact with or direct responsibility for service recipients. The persons applying for employment shall:

(1) Provide past work history containing a continuous description of activities over the past five (5) years;
(2) Identify at least three (3) individuals as personal references, one (1) of whom shall have known the applicant for at least five (5) years;
(3) Release all investigative records to the organization for examination for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of criminal violation information contained on an application to work for the organization; and
(4)

(A) Supply fingerprint samples to be submitted for a criminal history records check to be conducted by the Tennessee bureau of investigation or the federal bureau of investigation; or
(B) Release information for a criminal background investigation by a state licensed private investigation company.
(c)

(1) The organization shall check past work and personal references prior to employment of applicants. At a minimum the organization shall communicate directly with the most recent employer and each employer identified by the applicant as having employed the applicant for more than six (6) months in the past five (5) years. The organization shall communicate directly with at least two (2) of the personal references identified by the applicant.
(2) Subsection (b) and this subsection (c) shall not apply to organizations which contract with the division of intellectual disabilities services for residential services, day services or supported employment services and such organizations shall comply with subsection (e).
(3) The organization shall check the registry maintained by the department of health pursuant to § 68-11-1001 prior to employment of applicants or their use as a volunteer in the organization. No individual who is listed on the registry may be hired or otherwise permitted to provide services in the organization.
(d) Any cost incurred by the Tennessee bureau of investigation, the federal bureau of investigation, or a state licensed private investigation company shall be paid by the organization requesting the investigation and information. If the background check is conducted by the Tennessee bureau of investigation or the federal bureau of investigation, the payment of the costs shall be made in the amounts established by § 38-6-103.
(e)

(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b), only with respect to organizations which contract with the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities for residential services, day services or supported employment services, each such organization shall have a criminal background check completed prior to employing any person who will be in a position that involves providing direct care to a service recipient. If a current employee of such organization has a change of responsibilities that includes direct care to a service recipient, then the organization shall have a criminal background check completed prior to such change. The organization shall inform the employee that it will conduct a background check. The employee shall:

(A) Provide past work history containing a continuous description of activities over the past five (5) years;
(B) Identify at least three (3) individuals as personal references, one (1) of whom shall have known the applicant for at least five (5) years;
(C) Release all investigative records to the organization for examination for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of criminal violation information contained on an application to work for the organization; and
(D)

(i) Supply fingerprint samples to be submitted for a criminal history records check to be conducted by the Tennessee bureau of investigation or the federal bureau of investigation; or
(ii) Release information for a criminal background investigation by a state licensed private investigation company.
(2) An organization which contracts with the division of intellectual disabilities services for residential services, day services or supported employment services shall check past work and personal references prior to employment of applicants. At a minimum such organization shall communicate directly with the most recent employer and each employer identified by the applicant as having employed the applicant for more than six (6) months in the past five (5) years. The organization shall communicate directly with at least two (2) of the personal references identified by the applicant. Prior to employment, the organization shall submit the information required to be provided by this subsection (e) to the entity that will conduct the criminal background check.
(3) An organization which contracts with the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities shall check the registry maintained by the department of health pursuant to § 68-11-1001 prior to employment of applicants or their use as volunteers in the organization. No individual who is listed on the registry may be hired or otherwise permitted to provide services in the organization.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, background checks for employees of state-operated intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities shall fully comply with § 33-2-1201.
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