• Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006
  Full text

• Administration for Children and Families Information Memorandum 06-04
  Provide basic information about the provisions of this law.
  
  
• Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Reviews and Monitoring of Certain Provisions under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006: Program Instruction ACYF-CB-PI-10-02
  This Program Instruction (PI) provides guidance to State title IV-E agencies on how the Children’s Bureau (CB) will enforce compliance with the criminal record check (CRC) requirement amended by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Specifically, they will monitor the fingerprint-based check requirement through the Federal regulatory foster care eligibility reviews in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 for reviews with the period under review (PUR) of October 1, 2009 – March 31, 2010. The PI also provides further clarification on what constitutes acceptable documentation of compliance with the title IV-E provisions for background checks of criminal records and evidence that the State’s safety considerations for childcare institutions have been addressed. (Issuance Date: March 26, 2010)

• Child Welfare Policy Manual
  The Child Welfare Policy Manual conveys mandatory policies that have their basis in Federal law and/or program regulations. It also provides interpretations of Federal statutes and program regulations initiated by inquiries from State Child Welfare agencies or ACF Regional Offices.
  • Questions regarding criminal record and registry checks
    

  • May a State claim title IV-E administrative costs as permitted under section 472(i) of the Social Security Act (the Act) for a child placed in an unlicensed or unapproved relative home before completing the background check requirements in section 471(a)(20) of the Act?

• State Child Abuse Registries
  The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 requires states to perform child abuse registry checks on "any prospective foster or adoptive parent and on any other adult living in the home of such a prospective parent, and request any other State in which any such prospective parent or other adult has resided in the preceding 5 years, to enable the State to check any child abuse and neglect registry maintained by such other State for such information..." This document provides contacts for some state registries, availability of information, and procedures for obtaining it.

• Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006: Issues for Child Welfare Agencies
  This brief from Child Focus outlines the law's requirements, addresses questions related to these requirements, and raises some potential consequences of the law on child welfare agency policy and practice.

• Child Care and Child Welfare: Background Checks
  This 2004 report from the Congressional Research Service reviews legislation and state processes that were in place at that time. It has not been updated.

• The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
  Listen to the audio files and download handouts from a November 15, 2006 teleconference on the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, hosted jointly by the NRCPFC and the Child Welfare League of America for state foster care and adoption managers.

State Resources

• California
  This website from the California Department of Social Services provides several resources, including a list of contacts for other state's Child Abuse and Neglect Registries developed by the agency.

• Michigan
  The Department of Human Services in Michigan has prepared this spreadsheet containing information they have collected from other states.

• Texas
  This site is provided by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.