Bill
Indiana Senate Bill 1357 (Bill Text)
Statutes Impacted
Creates the new statutes:
- 31-26-3.5-5.5
- 31-26-3.5-7
- 31-27-3-3.5
- 31-27-5-4.5
- 31-27-6-2.5
Amends the existing statutes:
- 31-27-3-3
- 31-27-5-4
- 31-27-6-2
Employers Impacted
The requirement applies to the following employers:
- Preventative providers operating child welfare programs
- Home-based family preservation service providers
- Child caring institutions
- Group homes
- Child placing agencies
Summary
Concerns family law and juvenile law; relates to a preventative provider that operates a child welfare program shall undergo a background check to which the employee is required by federal law to submit for purposes of the employee’s provision of child welfare services not later than four (4) years after the individual’s date of hire and one (1) time every four (4) years thereafter.
Before this bill, Indiana law and Department of Child Services (DCS) policy already required initial criminal history background checks for individuals working with children in licensed programs and child welfare placements.
However:
- The law did not require periodic re-checks for employees after they were hired.
- DCS policy required a national criminal history check when the person begins working, but there was no statutory requirement for recurring checks afterward.
So once a worker passed the initial screening, they could potentially work indefinitely without another full criminal history check.
Adds mandatory recurring checks
The new law changes requires that certain employees undergo a new background check every four years.
The requirement applies to employees of:
- Preventative providers operating child welfare programs
- Home-based family preservation service providers
- Child caring institutions
- Group homes
- Child placing agencies
The first re-check must occur within four years of the employee’s hire date, and then every four years thereafter.
Practical effect:
Indiana moves from “check once at hiring” → “check at hiring and every four years.”
Eliminates duplicate federal background checks
The bill also addresses situations where workers perform multiple child welfare services for the same employer.
Under the change:
- If an employee already completed the federally required background check,
- They do not need to complete another one to perform additional services for the same employer.
Practical Effect:
This avoids redundant checks when employees take on new roles or programs within the same organization.
Expands statutory coverage of child welfare providers
HB 1357 also explicitly places background-check rules in several sections of the Indiana Code covering different provider types (e.g., preventative services, family preservation services).
Practical Effect:
This standardizes the requirement across major child welfare service providers rather than leaving it entirely to agency policy.
Effective Dates
Retroactively effective to July 1, 2026.
AI summary reviewed by Drew Lunt.