Act No. 81

Public Acts of 2010

Approved by the Governor

May 21, 2010

Filed with the Secretary of State

May 21, 2010

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 21, 2010

STATE OF MICHIGAN

95TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2010

Introduced by Reps. Dean, Durhal, Gregory, Miller, Switalski, Cushingberry, Lipton, Lemmons, Rocca, Polidori, Roy Schmidt, Slezak, Valentine, Bledsoe, Stanley and Hammel

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4971

AN ACT to amend 1975 PA 238, entitled “An act to require the reporting of child abuse and neglect by certain persons; to permit the reporting of child abuse and neglect by all persons; to provide for the protection of children who are abused or neglected; to authorize limited detainment in protective custody; to authorize medical examinations; to prescribe the powers and duties of the state department of social services to prevent child abuse and neglect; to prescribe certain powers and duties of local law enforcement agencies; to safeguard and enhance the welfare of children and preserve family life; to provide for the appointment of legal counsel; to provide for the abrogation of privileged communications; to provide civil and criminal immunity for certain persons; to provide rules of evidence in certain cases; to provide for confidentiality of records; to provide for the expungement of certain records; to prescribe penalties; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts,” by amending section 7j (MCL 722.627j), as amended by 2008 PA 374.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 7j. (1) Upon written request, the department may provide to an individual, or whoever is appropriate, documentation stating that the individual is not named in a central registry case as the perpetrator of child abuse or child neglect.

(2) An individual or the department may share the document provided in subsection (1) with whoever is appropriate for the purpose of seeking employment or serving as a volunteer if that employment or volunteer work will include contact with children.

(3) An employer, a person or agency to whom an individual is applying for employment, or a volunteer agency, with appropriate authorization and identification from the individual, may request and receive central registry clearance information if that employment or volunteer work will include contact with children.

(4) The department may develop an automated system that will allow an individual applying for child-related employment or seeking to volunteer in a capacity that would allow unsupervised access to a child for whom the individual is not a person responsible for that child’s health or welfare to be listed in that system if a screening of the individual finds that he or she has not been named in a central registry case as the perpetrator of child abuse or child neglect. The automated system developed under this section shall provide for public access to the list of individuals who have been screened for the purposes of complying with this section. An automated system developed under this section shall have appropriate safeguards and procedures to ensure that information that is confidential under this act, state law, or federal law is not accessible or disclosed through that system.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor