Section 17-801-5 - Suitability(a) Results of the background checks shall be reviewed as part of the department's determination of whether a person is suitable as defined in subsection (d) to provide child care.(b) Each person subject to background checks shall be determined to be suitable by the department to operate, be employed, work in, volunteer in, or live in a child care facility or exempt child care facility, except when a person may be provisionally cleared to work: (1) A person may start working on a provisional basis when the requirements in section 17-801-4(a)(1) are completed and the department does not receive results or other information that the person may pose a risk to children in care or is not suitable to provide care; and(2) A person who has been provisionally cleared pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be continuously supervised by another person who has been determined suitable to provide care based upon the results of the background checks described in section 17-801-4(a); provided that paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply to applicants, registrants, or licensees of family child care homes or group child care homes or their household members.(c) An applicant, caregiver, staff member, employee, rehired employee, substitute, or volunteer who has stopped providing care, stopped residing in a child care home, or left the State for a period of one hundred eighty consecutive days or more, is required to complete background checks again in accordance with section 17-801-4(a), and may be allowed to meet the conditions in subsection (b).(d) A person is not suitable to provide child care for children if the person: (1) Refuses to provide consent to the background checks;(2) Makes a materially false statement or omission in disclosing any prior background history that may affect the person's ability and suitability;(3) Is registered or is required to be registered, on a state sex offender registry or repository or the national sex offender registry;(4) Is identified on another state's registry or database as the perpetrator of child abuse, neglect, harm, or threatened harm;(5) Within a five-year period starting from the date that the child abuse case record was closed, the person has been confirmed by the department as the perpetrator of threatened harm as defined in section 587A-4, HRS. In situations when a finding of threatened harm occurred more than five years from the date that the child abuse case record was closed, a person's suitability shall be based on paragraph (8);(6) Is confirmed at any time as the perpetrator of harm against a child as defined in section 587A-4, HRS;(7) Is confirmed at any time as the perpetrator of abuse of a vulnerable adult as defined in section 346-222, HRS; or(8) Is found by the department, for any other reason that has not been identified in this chapter, to not be of reputable and responsible character or may pose a risk to the health, safety, or well-being of the children in care. Factors that shall be considered by the department include but are not limited to: (A) The nature of the incident;(B) When the incident occurred;(C) Patterns of behavior the department determines resulted in or could have resulted in injury to self or others;(D) Any other relevant information received and deemed credible by the department; and(E) Evidence of rehabilitation.(e) In instances where a person is the subject of an on-going or pending criminal, child welfare, or department investigation, the person shall be excluded from the premises and the department's determination of whether the person is suitable as defined in subsection (d) cannot be completed until the investigation is closed or any related legal proceeding is completed.(f) A person shall not provide licensed or registered child care, or exempt child care for a child whose family receives a subsidy from the department pursuant to chapters 17-798.3 and 17-799, if the person has been convicted of an offense listed in Exhibit I, dated January 1, 2020, attached at the end of this chapter.(g) A person shall not provide licensed or registered child care, or exempt child care for a child whose family receives a subsidy from the department pursuant to chapters 17-798.3 and 17-799, if the person has been convicted within the past five years of the time of the background check of an offense listed in Exhibit II, dated January 1, 2020, attached to the end of this chapter.(h) The person may file a written request for an administrative appeal to appeal the decision by the department: (1) In accordance with the provisions set forth in chapters 17-891.2, 17-892.2, 17-895.1, 17-896.1, for applicants, licensees, or registrants; or(2) In accordance with the provisions set forth in chapter 17-602.1, for all other persons not specified in paragraph (1); provided that the filing of a request for an administrative appeal does not permit the person to continue to provide child care for children under this chapter, pending the decision of the administrative appeal hearing officer.[Eff 8/6/2021] (Auth: HRS § 346-14, 346-162, 346-172) (Imp: HRS § 346-151, 346-152.5, 346-154)