A Michigan childcare background check is a fingerprint-based state and federal screening required for anyone who will have unsupervised access to children in a licensed childcare center, group or family day care home, or children’s camp. It pulls from Michigan State Police records, the FBI, the state’s child abuse and neglect central registry, and sex offender registries in every state where the applicant has lived in the past five years. For someone who has lived only in Michigan for the past five years, the check costs $64.25.1State of Michigan MiLEAP. Frequently Asked Questions on Background Checks for Licensed Child Care Facilities
Who Has to Be Screened
The requirement reaches further than most new hires expect. A comprehensive background check applies to the facility’s licensee or owner, every paid staff member, and any unsupervised volunteer age 18 or older.2State of Michigan MiLEAP. Licensing Child Care Centers Administrative Rules For group day care homes and family day care homes, every adult who lives in the home must also be screened, whether or not they help with the children.
Supervised volunteers age 16 and older skip the full comprehensive check but still need a public sex offender registry clearance before any contact with children in care. The word “supervised” is literal: the moment that volunteer is left alone with a child, they count as unsupervised and need the full check. Child care aides, who must be at least 17 and enrolled in an approved vocational training program, are also screened and cannot be left alone with children.
What the Check Covers
Before a facility can make a conditional job offer, it must run the applicant through the Michigan State Police Internet Criminal History Access Tool, known as ICHAT.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.115d – Child Care Organizations ICHAT returns Michigan criminal history quickly and must come back before any hiring decision moves forward.
Once a conditional offer is made, the full comprehensive check begins. The applicant submits fingerprints that go to the Michigan State Police and the FBI for a national criminal records search. The state also checks the applicant against the Department of Health and Human Services central registry of substantiated child abuse and neglect perpetrators; anyone on that registry is barred from contact with children in a licensed setting.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Chapter 722 – Section 722.115q The National Sex Offender Registry and the National Crime Information Center database are searched as well.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 9858f – Criminal Background Checks
If you lived in another state at any point in the past five years, Michigan has to pull criminal history, sex offender registry, and child abuse registry results from each of those states too.
Cost and Processing Time
The fee is $64.25 if you have lived only in Michigan for the past five years, with no separate charge for fingerprint processing.1State of Michigan MiLEAP. Frequently Asked Questions on Background Checks for Licensed Child Care Facilities If you have lived outside Michigan during that five-year window, each out-of-state check adds its own fee, which varies by state. MiLEAP sends an Additional Information Letter spelling out which checks apply and what each one costs.
ICHAT results typically come back within days. The full comprehensive check takes longer because it waits on FBI fingerprint results and central registry clearances, and out-of-state components can stretch it further. Plan on that lag when you line up a start date.
Convictions That Disqualify You
Michigan sorts disqualifying convictions into tiers. Where your record falls determines whether you can ever work in licensed childcare again or whether a waiting period applies.
Permanent Disqualifiers
Under MCL 722.115r, a felony conviction for any of the following permanently bars you from childcare employment:
- Murder or homicide
- Child abuse or child neglect
- Crimes against a minor child, including child pornography
- Spousal abuse or domestic violence
- Rape or sexual assault
- Kidnapping
- Arson
- Physical assault or battery
- Human trafficking or involuntary servitude
Permanent disqualification also applies to anyone registered or required to be registered on a state or national sex offender registry, anyone convicted of a violent misdemeanor against a child (such as child abuse, child endangerment, or sexual assault), and anyone convicted of a misdemeanor involving child pornography.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.115r – Child Care Organizations
Ten-Year Disqualifiers
A second group of felonies disqualifies you until ten years have passed since the date of conviction. These are felonies involving harm or threatened harm to a person, use of a firearm or dangerous weapon, cruelty or torture, fraud or theft, impaired driving causing serious injury or death, use of a computer to commit a crime, and cruelty to animals.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.115r – Child Care Organizations The clock runs from conviction, not from the offense date or release from incarceration.
Five-Year Disqualifier for Drug Felonies
Federal law adds a five-year bar for drug-related felonies.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 9858f – Criminal Background Checks After five years, the conviction no longer automatically disqualifies you, though the state may still weigh it in the eligibility decision.
Starting Work Before Results Come Back
Because the full FBI fingerprint check takes time, Michigan allows conditional employment in most settings. The order is strict: the facility must have a clean ICHAT result before extending a conditional offer. With that in hand, you can begin working while the FBI check and other components finish.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.115d – Child Care Organizations
Child caring institutions subject to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act are different. At those facilities, no one starts work until the full criminal history check (FBI fingerprint results included) is complete and the facility has evaluated any convictions in writing, addressing the nature of the conviction, how much time has passed, and whether the offense relates to the role.
Moving Between Employers and Renewing
If you already cleared a comprehensive check at one Michigan childcare facility, you may be able to carry it to a new one. A new employer can accept the previous check if it was completed within the past five years, it was done while you worked at or applied to another Michigan childcare provider, and you have not been out of childcare employment for more than 180 consecutive days.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 9858f – Criminal Background Checks
Portability aside, every childcare worker has to be re-screened at least once every five years, no matter how long they have been at the same facility. Between renewals, you have a separate reporting duty: if you are arraigned on any listed offense, you must notify the department within three business days.2State of Michigan MiLEAP. Licensing Child Care Centers Administrative Rules
Fixing a Wrong Result
Databases get things wrong. If you receive a disqualifying result you believe is inaccurate, Michigan gives you 30 days after receiving notice of a license denial, revocation, or refusal to file a written appeal with the department director.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.121 – Child Care Organizations The state must then hold a hearing where you can present evidence and question witnesses. Notice of the hearing goes out at least two weeks ahead by certified mail, and the director has to issue a decision within ten days of the hearing.
If the error is in your FBI criminal history record rather than a state file, you can challenge the record directly with the FBI at no cost. The challenge needs to identify the specific information you believe is wrong and include supporting documentation. The FBI typically processes challenges within 45 days.8Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions For nonfederal arrest records that need correction or expungement, the FBI will direct you to the state identification bureau where the offense occurred.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Michigan treats background check violations as crimes, not just paperwork problems. Failing to report an arraignment or conviction for a listed offense or a felony is itself a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both. If the unreported crime was a misdemeanor that is not a listed offense, the violation is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.115e – Child Care Organizations
The facility itself also has skin in the game. The state can suspend or revoke a license for background check violations, which shuts the operation down.
Which Agency Handles This Now
Older guidance that names LARA as the regulator is out of date. Under Executive Order 2023-6, authority over child care centers, day care centers, family day care homes, group day care homes, and children’s camps moved from LARA to the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) effective December 1, 2023. MiLEAP now runs background check eligibility determinations, inspects facilities, and takes complaints.
The Department of Health and Human Services keeps a narrower role: it holds the central registry of substantiated child abuse and neglect cases and passes clearance results to MiLEAP during the check. DHHS, not MiLEAP, oversees child caring institutions, child placing agencies, and foster homes.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Section 722.115d – Child Care Organizations If your work is in one of those settings rather than a licensed childcare facility, you are in a different regulatory lane.