Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Social Services
  4. Programs and Protection for Children and Youth
  5. Employees' Records Checks for Child Welfare Agencies
  6. Definitions

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As used in this article, the term:

  1. "Center" means a child welfare agency, as defined in subsection (a) of Code Section 49-5-12, which is required to be licensed or registered under Article 1 of this chapter.
  2. "Conviction" means a finding or verdict of guilty or a plea of guilty regardless of whether an appeal of the conviction has been sought.
  3. "Crime" means any felony; a violation of Code Section 16-5-23 when the victim is a minor; a violation of Code Section 16-12-1; a violation of Chapter 6 of Title 16, excluding the offenses of bigamy or marrying a bigamist; a violation of Code Section 16-4-1 when the crime attempted is any of the crimes specified by this paragraph; or any other offenses committed in another jurisdiction which, if committed in this state, would be one of the enumerated crimes listed in this paragraph.
  4. "Criminal record" means:
    1. Conviction of a crime;
    2. Arrest, charge, and sentencing for a crime where:
      1. A plea of nolo contendere was entered to the charge;
      2. First offender treatment without adjudication of guilt pursuant to the charge was granted; provided, however, that this division shall not apply to a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16, relating to controlled substances, or any other offense committed in another jurisdiction which, if it were committed in this state, would be a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16 if such violation or offense constituted only simple possession; or
      3. Adjudication or sentence was otherwise withheld or not entered on the charge; provided, however, that this division shall not apply to a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16, relating to controlled substances, or any other offense committed in another jurisdiction which, if it were committed in this state, would be a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16 if such violation or offense constituted only simple possession; or
    3. Arrest and being charged for a crime if the charge is pending, unless the time for prosecuting such crime has expired pursuant to Chapter 3 of Title 17.
  5. "Director" means the chief administrative or executive officer of a facility.

    (5.1) "Emergency temporary employee" means an employee other than a director whose duties involve personal contact between that person and any child being cared for at the facility and who is hired on an expedited basis to avoid noncompliance with staffing standards for centers required by law, rule, or regulation.

  6. "Employee" means any person, other than a director, employed by a center to perform at any of the center's facilities any duties which involve personal contact between that person and any child being cared for at the facility and also includes any adult person who resides at the facility or who, with or without compensation, performs duties for the center which involve personal contact between that person and any child being cared for by the center.
  7. "Employment history" means a record of where a person has worked for the past ten years.
  8. "Facility" means a center's real property at which children are received for care.
  9. "Fingerprint records check determination" means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department based upon a records check comparison of GCIC information with fingerprints and other information in a records check application.
  10. "Foster care home" means a private home used by a child-placing agency which has been approved by the child-placing agency to provide 24 hour care, lodging, supervision, and maintenance for no more than six children who are unrelated to the foster parent or parents.
  11. "Foster parent or parents" means the person or persons who provide care, lodging, supervision, and maintenance in a foster care home used by a child-placing agency.
  12. "GCIC" means the Georgia Crime Information Center established under Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 35.
  13. "GCIC information" means criminal history record information as defined in Code Section 35-3-30.
  14. "License" means the document issued by the department to authorize the center to which it is issued to operate a facility under this chapter.

    (14.1) "National fingerprint records check determination" means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department in accordance with applicable law based upon a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a search of bureau records and fingerprints.

  15. "Preliminary records check application" means an application for a preliminary records check determination on forms provided by the department.
  16. "Preliminary records check determination" means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department based only upon a comparison of GCIC information with other than fingerprint information regarding the person upon whom the records check is being performed.
  17. "Records check application" means two sets of classifiable fingerprints, a records search fee to be established by the department by rule and regulation, payable in such form as the department may direct to cover the cost of a fingerprint records check under this article, and an affidavit by the applicant disclosing the nature and date of any arrest, charge, or conviction of the applicant for the violation of any law, except for motor vehicle parking violations, whether or not the violation occurred in this state, and such additional information as the department may require.
  18. "Satisfactory determination" means a written determination that a person for whom a records check was performed was found to have no criminal record.

    (18.1) "State fingerprint records check determination" means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department in accordance with applicable law based upon a records check comparison of GCIC information with fingerprints and other information in a records check application.

  19. "Unsatisfactory determination" means a written determination that a person for whom a records check was performed has a criminal record.

(Code 1981, §49-5-60, enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1397, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 963, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 822, § 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1416, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1605, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 49; Ga. L. 1993, p. 757, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 539, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 574, § 3; Ga. L. 2004, p. 333, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 645, § 10; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-23/HB 228; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 49/HB 79; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-57/HB 242.)

The 2013 amendments. The first 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in paragraph (3). See editor's note for extent of application. The second 2013 amendment, effective January 1, 2014, in paragraph (3), deleted ", relating to simple battery," following "Code Section 16-5-23", deleted ", relating to contributing to the delinquency of a minor" following "Code Section 16-12-1", deleted ", relating to sexual offenses" following "Title 16", and deleted ", relating to criminal attempt" following "Code Section 16-4-1". See editor's note for applicability.

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 54(f)/HB79, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "In the event of a conflict between a provision in Sections 1 through 53 of this Act and a provision of another Act enacted at the 2013 regular session of the General Assembly, the provision of such other Act shall control over the conflicting provision in Sections 1 through 53 of this Act to the extent of the conflict." Accordingly, the amendment to paragraph (3) of this Code section by Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 49(6)/HB 79 will not be given effect in this Code section effective January 1, 2014.

Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions."

Law reviews.

- For note on 1999 amendments to Code sections in this article, see 16 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 227 (1999).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Supervisor of corporate child care institution was not foster parent.

- Trial court erred in ruling that a supervisor of a corporate child care institution was a foster parent, and therefore a state employee for whose negligence the state waived sovereign immunity under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq., in a wrongful death suit when a juvenile that the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice placed in the corporate child care institution was accidentally killed. Ga. Dep't of Human Res. v. Johnson, 264 Ga. App. 730, 592 S.E.2d 124 (2003).

Cited in Johnson v. Ga. Dep't of Human Res., 278 Ga. 714, 606 S.E.2d 270 (2004); Coleman v. State, 308 Ga. App. 731, 708 S.E.2d 638 (2011).


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