1. (a) Department or facility policy must prohibit direct, unsupervised access to juveniles in a juvenile justice program or facility by any person with a disqualifying criminal history as described in §344.400 of this title.

2. (b) A criminal history check as described in this section must be conducted for:

   1. (1) an individual in a position requiring certification or eligible for optional certification; and

   2. (2) an individual who may have direct, unsupervised access to juveniles in a juvenile justice facility or program and who is:

      1. (A) an employee in a position not requiring certification and not eligible for optional certification;
      2. (B) a volunteer;
      3. (C) an intern; or
      4. (D) an individual who provides goods or services under contract, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section.

3. (c) A criminal history check as specified in this section is not required for employees of a public school district who:

   1. (1) provide services in a juvenile justice facility or program; and
   2. (2) have completed all criminal history checks required by the Texas Education Agency.

4. (d) Before any individual listed in subsection (b) of this section begins employment or service provision:

   1. (1) the department or facility must ensure the individual has electronically submitted fingerprints using Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) and verify that the department is able to subscribe to the individual's Fingerprint-Based Applicant Clearinghouse of Texas (FACT) record;
   2. (2) the department must subscribe to that individual's record in FACT; and
   3. (3) the department must use the information in FACT to determine if the individual has a disqualifying criminal history as specified in §344.400 of this title.
5. (e) The department must maintain a FACT subscription for each individual in a position requiring a criminal history check for as long as the individual remains in such a position. This requirement applies regardless of the date employment or service provision began.
6. (f) The requirements of this section do not apply to the juvenile's attorney, family members, managing conservator, guardians, individuals listed as a juvenile's approved visitors, or any other individual not listed in subsection (b) of this section.

Source Note:The provisions of this §344.300 adopted to be effective February 1, 2018, 42 TexReg 5688.