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Drug Tests and Background Checks for Child Care Workers

For child care staff, the background check is mostly a state process. Federal Child Care and Development Fund rules require states to run fingerprint-based checks on staff of licensed, regulated or registered child care providers, and many states write that into their own licensing laws. Pact does not sell those state fingerprint checks. Drug testing works differently: it depends on state law and the center's own policy. Where a center's policy calls for a drug test, Pact's $40 lab drug test can be used. This guide explains both.

Updated October 24, 2026 · Checked against the official sources listed at the end

The federal background check rule for child care staff

Under 45 CFR 98.43, states, territories and tribes that run the federal Child Care and Development Fund must have requirements to conduct background checks for child care staff members of all licensed, regulated or registered child care providers, and of providers paid with program funds.

A child care staff member includes someone employed by a provider for pay (including contract employees), someone whose work involves caring for or supervising children or gives unsupervised access to them, and any adult age 18 or older living in a family child care home.

The required check has these parts (98.43(b)):

An FBI fingerprint check using Next Generation Identification.
A search of the National Crime Information Center's National Sex Offender Registry.
Searches of the state criminal registry or repository (with fingerprints in the state where the person lives), the state sex offender registry, and the state child abuse and neglect registry, in the person's current state and each state lived in during the past five years.

How the state process works

The provider submits the request to the state agency named on the state's website (98.43(d)(1)). It is due before the person becomes a staff member and at least once every 5 years for existing staff (98.43(d)(2)).

The state must finish the check as fast as possible, and within 45 days of the request (98.43(e)(1)). It tells the provider whether the person is eligible or ineligible without revealing the disqualifying crime.

A new hire may start work after a qualifying result on either the FBI fingerprint check or the in-state fingerprint-based criminal check. Until every part is done, the new hire must be supervised at all times by someone with a qualifying result from the past five years (98.43(d)(4)).

Example: Tennessee

Tennessee puts the fingerprint step in its child care law. Tenn. Code Ann. 71-3-507 requires covered persons to supply a fingerprint sample and submit to a fingerprint-based review of criminal history and juvenile records conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) explains who needs the check: anyone who works in a DHS-licensed child care facility with unsupervised access to children. That includes all employees, directors, managers and substitutes working 36 or more hours a year, residents over age 15, and contractors who serve enrolled children. DHS's comprehensive check covers national and Tennessee fingerprint-based criminal files, the state child abuse and neglect registry, the Vulnerable Persons Registry, and state and national sex offender registries, plus out-of-state checks for anyone who lived elsewhere in the past five years.

Other states run their own versions. Your state child care licensing agency publishes its process, as 98.43(g) requires.

What Pact does not sell

Pact does not sell fingerprint checks or state child care background checks. A Pact background check does not replace the check your state requires, and it can't make someone eligible to work in a licensed center.

If a center wants more screening on top of the state's check, it can talk to its attorney about whether that is allowed and useful. Pact's background checks (Standard $32, Premium $70) run through Checkr, which collects the person's disclosure and authorization before anything runs. Employers that use a background report in a hiring decision have their own duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and state law. This isn't legal advice.

Do child care centers drug test?

The federal background check list above doesn't include a drug test. Drug testing comes from state law or the center's own policy.

Tennessee is one state with a law on it. Tenn. Code Ann. 71-3-514 says child care agencies, unless exempt, shall establish a drug testing policy for employees, directors, licensees and operators, and for contractors and others paid to provide services, who have direct contact with a child in the agency's care. The policy must be given to new staff upon initial employment or engagement.

In other states, check your licensing rules and your own written policy. A center that tests should apply its policy the same way to everyone it covers.

Do daycares test for marijuana?

That depends on the test the center orders. Pact's 10-panel includes marijuana (THC), along with amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methadone, methaqualone, MDMA/MDA, opiates, oxycodone and oxymorphone, PCP and propoxyphene. It is Quest Diagnostics unit code 65190N and does not test for alcohol.

If you are testing in New York, New Jersey or Rhode Island, call Pact before you order.

Using Pact's drug test under a center's policy

Price: $40, paid online by card. It covers the urine collection at a Quest Diagnostics patient service center, the lab test, and review by a medical review officer (MRO). Nothing is paid at the site.
Order it with the person's full legal name exactly as on their photo ID and their date of birth, and name your center to receive the result.
Pact emails the donor pass, usually within one business day (Monday to Friday), to you to pass along, or to the person tested if you ask.
The person brings the donor pass and a government-issued photo ID to the Quest site.
A lab result that isn't negative goes to the MRO, a licensed physician, who contacts the person about prescriptions before the result is final.
Testing often? Pact offers a free employer account with no monthly fee and per-test pricing.
All sales are final.

A short checklist for directors

Find your state licensing agency's background check page and follow its fingerprint process for every new hire and every 5 years.
Keep new hires supervised until all parts of the state check are back.
Check whether your state requires a drug testing policy, as Tennessee does.
Put your testing policy in writing, give it to staff at hire, and apply it the same way to everyone.
Keep test results and background results private.

Common questions

Do child care workers need a fingerprint background check?

For staff of licensed, regulated or registered providers, federal Child Care and Development Fund rules require states to run a check that includes an FBI fingerprint check (45 CFR 98.43(b)). Your state agency runs it.

Can Pact run my state's child care background check?

No. Pact does not sell fingerprint checks or state child care checks, and a Pact background check does not replace them.

How often are child care staff rechecked?

Under 45 CFR 98.43(d)(2), providers request a check before someone becomes a staff member and at least once every 5 years for existing staff.

Do daycares drug test?

Some do, based on state law or their own policy. Tennessee, for example, requires child care agencies to have a drug testing policy for people with direct contact with children (Tenn. Code Ann. 71-3-514).

Can a center use Pact's drug test?

Yes, where the center's policy calls for a drug test and a non-DOT lab urine test fits it. It is $40 and includes MRO review. Testing in New York, New Jersey or Rhode Island? Call Pact first.