We’ll help you and people in your household complete background checks. If a child or youth comes to live with you, we require background checks to protect the child or youth. We pay the costs related to background checks.

We’re committed to keeping children with relatives or kin. We’ll work with you to understand background check results. In most cases, criminal records will not prevent licensing. Talk about your individual circumstances with your licensing worker.

What a background check covers

When we do a background check, we look for information that’s related to the health, safety, and well-being of children and youth. We will not look at citizenship status, or minor violations like speeding tickets.

We’ll review information about you and the people in your household from multiple sources.

We’ll email each person to schedule an appointment for fingerprinting. You’ll need to complete these appointments within 10 days of the child or youth’s placement in your home.

If someone has a conviction, negative action, or pending criminal charge

You may still be able to become a kinship caregiver or have a kinship license even if you or someone in your household has certain criminal convictions, civil or administrative penalties (also called “negative actions”), or pending criminal charges on record.

For some criminal convictions, negative actions, or pending criminal charges, we’ll review other information about the person’s character, suitability, and competence to make a decision on the application.

A previous criminal conviction does not affect the application if:

• You or someone else received a pardon.
• A court expunged the record.
• A court vacated a conviction.

For the full list of criminal convictions and negative actions and how they may affect your eligibility to be a caregiver or have unsupervised access to children, visit the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services’ Secretary's List of Crimes and Negative Actions for Employees and Providers.

If you or someone in your household has a criminal conviction or negative action on the list that’s “permanently disqualifying” for child welfare, we cannot approve your application.

If you or someone in your household has a criminal conviction or negative action on the list that’s “5-year disqualifying” for child welfare, we cannot consider your application until 5 years after the conviction or negative action.

If someone received a Certificate of Parental Improvement (CPI)

We may still consider the events that led to the substantiated or “founded finding” of child abuse or neglect to decide whether to grant you or someone in your household unsupervised access to children.

Learn more about a Certificate of Parental Improvement

If someone has a Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CROP)

A CROP is a civil court order that prevents people with criminal records from automatically being disqualified for certain opportunities.

If you or someone in your household has a CROP, we’ll still see the person’s criminal record, but we’ll consider the CROP when we review the person’s character, suitability, and competence to make a decision about the application.

Learn more about a Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity

Who needs a background check when you apply to be a kinship caregiver

When you apply to be a kinship caregiver, we run background checks on the names and birthdays of all these people:

• You, the caregiver
• Anyone age 16 or older who lives in your home
• Anyone age 16 or older who lives on your property and who has unsupervised access to the child or youth

This includes any former kinship children age 16 or older who you’ve adopted or who you’re currently a guardian for.

We also require fingerprinting for you and everyone in your household, age 18 and older. Youth age 16 and over will need to be fingerprinted if they have lived out of state within the last three years.

Who does not need background checks

Current kinship children or youth we placed in your care, including youth in the Extended Foster Care program, do not need background checks, even if they’re 16 or older.

People who occasionally visit your home or property for less than 72 hours do not need a background check.

Other times we run background checks

We run background checks on you and the people in your household if you’re caring for a relative or friend’s child or youth through a voluntary placement, instead of as a kinship caregiver. A voluntary placement is a short-term agreement between parents and DCYF, which happens without a court order.

We run background checks on people who plan to be with the child or youth on a regular basis, or for more than 72 hours at any one time. For example, if you want to send the child or youth to a relative’s house for a week, we need to run a background check on the relative.

How we use background check information

If you’re working with a Child Placing Agency or a tribal Child Placing Agency, we let them know whether you’ve passed your background check.

We will not share specific information about criminal records with any other people or agencies, regardless of whether you pass the background check or not.

What happens after your background check

If we find a criminal charge, negative action, or pending charge, we’ll let you know. We'll work with you to continue your application.

If you and the other people in your household pass the background checks, we will not let you know. We’ll continue reviewing your application.

If we denied your application because of a background check result, you can appeal our decision. Follow the instructions in the decision letter we send you. You cannot appeal your criminal record at the hearing.