The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, also known as H.R. 4472, was passed in July 2006. The purpose of the act is to protect children from sexual exploitation, violent crime, prevent child abuse and child pornography, to promote Internet safety, and to honor the memory of Adam Walsh and other child crime victims. 

Since the Act was signed into federal law, the Children’s Division has made changes such as FBI fingerprint checks on Resource homes and checking the Sex Offender Registry to be in compliance with this Act. 

An additional background check is now to be implemented to further comply with the Adam Walsh Act and to ensure the safety of the children placed in the Division’s care and custody. As part of the licensing process, staff will now expand the CA/N background checks on each household member 17 years of age and older to include each state they have resided in since the age of 17. 

The search can be conducted by accessing the Department of Social Services 50 states web site or the Family Support Division’s Public Human Services Agency Directory web site. Staff will click on each appropriate state to obtain contact information for verifying any child abuse/neglect history for each household member 17 years of age and older for each state they resided in since 17 years of age. 

To further enhance a comprehensive C/AN background check, resource/licensing staff also need to enter the residence address of the resource home on the State Highway Patrol’s sexual offender list located on the Missouri Highway Patrol’s website. This search will determine if a sexual offender is registered as residing at the resource home address.