MO HB2437

Expands the Family Care Safety Registry to include school district staff (administrators, teachers, aides, paraprofessionals, assistants, secretaries, custodians, cooks, and nurses) with all current school district employees required to register by January 1, 2011, and all newly hired school district staff required to register on or after January 1, 2011.

Establishes the Family Care Safety Registry as Missouri's sole background check repository, with the Missouri State Highway Patrol collecting fingerprints and conducting state and national criminal background checks, with results retained in and reported by the registry to all relevant state departments.

Requires all licensed and license-exempt child-care providers, applicants for licensure, employees, and volunteers to register with the Family Care Safety Registry and submit to state and national fingerprint criminal background checks and child abuse registry checks.

Makes criminal background check costs the responsibility of the state of Missouri (subject to appropriations), with provisions allowing applicants or employers to pay if no state appropriation is made, and specifying that employers must pay if the check cost would reduce an employee's wages below minimum wage.

Authorizes the use of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to update and enhance the technological capabilities of the registry and establish interdepartmental uniform infrastructure across the departments of public safety, social services, mental health, and elementary and secondary education.