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Committee advances bill to share BCA/NCMEC alerts with child-care background checks
Summary
After testimony from parents and child-care providers about staff who had prior alerts for child sexual material, the committee moved House File 2,226 to be re-referred to the Judiciary Committee; the bill would allow limited data sharing so background checks reflect NCMEC/BCA alerts.
House File 2,226, carried by Chair West, would change background-study procedures so that certain alerts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) could be surfaced in the Department of Human Services background-study results provided to child-care providers.
Adrian Lundeen Hornung and his wife, Diana, testified that their young child was identified as a victim in an incident involving a daycare employee who had been under earlier NCMEC/BCA alert, and they described ongoing trauma. Hornung said the family learned about the arrest via the center’s email; he urged lawmakers to act so other families do not face the same uncertainty and harm.
Huang Murphy, CEO of People Serving People (which operates family shelters and childcare centers), told the committee his organization’s checks showed the state had received multiple NCMEC alerts concerning the offender but that those alerts were not visible to DHS background-study results provided to providers. “We knew about this for three years,” Murphy said, and added that a minimal data-sharing step — a yes/no marker indicating an active NCMEC/BCA alert — could allow providers to pause hiring or restrict unsupervised access to children without disclosing investigative details or harming ongoing criminal investigations.
Members questioned data-privacy and investigatory concerns and asked staff to coordinate with the BCA, DHS and legal committees. Representative Spencer Murrah and other members said they supported a high bar for people who work with children and urged quick interagency work to close the apparent information gap.
Chair West moved to re-refer House File 2,226 to the Judiciary Committee; the motion carried by voice vote and the bill was re-referred.
