By Kay Lazar

(Excerpt)

State rules allow regulators to demand legal records from any child-care employee or job applicant for virtually any prior criminal offense, such as disorderly conduct or drunken driving, even if the offense is decades old or was committed when they were juveniles.

Researchers at the Center for Law and Social Policy, a national group that advocates for low-income people, have been reviewing new day-care background checks nationwide and say they have found only one other state, Utah, that uses juvenile records in their background checks.

“In a field where you have disproportionately women of color in these positions, this could really create huge barriers to employment, and to having culturally and linguistically appropriate staff,” said Christine Johnson-Staub, a senior policy analyst at the center.

Read the full article here.