The law, which passed quietly this spring, applies to providers who care for relatives or fewer than five children, and want to accept state child care payments for low-income parents. Such providers are not required to be licensed and had previously been asked to self-disclose whether they met requirements. The state did not routinely check background records.

As of September 30, 13 percent - or about 180 of approximately 1,300 nonlicensed providers reviewed - had been disqualified for subsidies. In such cases, the care provider or someone in the household was found to have a criminal history or substantiated finding of child abuse or neglect.

The state provides the subsidies to save low-income parents hundreds of dollars on child care costs.

"To me, this is gratifying," said Lynette Rasmussen, the director of the state office of work and family life. "Today, children are safer."

Before the 2008 law, the Department of Workforce Services did not have the authority to check necessary databases to confirm providers' history. Suspicious that people were not fully disclosing their records, officials did random checks that verified their concerns. That led them to seek the legislative change.

Now, if a provider fails the checks, parents will be notified that child care subsidies can no longer be used there. They are then offered help finding another provider where the child care payments will be accepted.

The Utah Private Child Care Association, which represents licensed facilities, supported the background checks law. Their employees were already required to have their backgrounds checked.

"It was wanting to make sure the kids, especially those disadvantaged kids who were being paid for by subsidy, were in as safe a place as they could be," said Johnny Anderson, the association's executive director. "We knew that some other states had attempted this and were finding some pretty high rates of folks with criminal histories."

Some nonlicensed providers have told state officials that they didn't understand their backgrounds were a problem. In some cases, they thought their records had been erased. Parents have been both supportive and critical of the new process, state officials say.

The child advocacy organization Voices for Utah Children described the background checks as a "positive step forward," but more oversight is needed in general, said Karen Crompton, executive director. "Hopefully if they can't receive the subsidy, it may mean they can't stay in business either."

The state has about 3,000 "family, friend or neighbor" providers, so about 1,700 more providers remain to be checked. Once that is complete, the entire group will be checked again in a year, then every two years.

"It's a relief to know that those children are protected," said Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights, who sponsored the bill. "These results confirm our fears."

jlyon@sltrib.com

More information

* To learn more about finding a licensed child care provider, go to health.utah.gov/licensing/cc.htm.