(a)  The Department shall ensure that the criminal histories of all prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt a minor who is in the custody or placement responsibility of a county department of social services are checked prior to placement and, based on the criminal history, a determination is made as to the individual's fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. The Department shall ensure that all prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt a minor who is in the custody or placement responsibility of a county department of social services are checked prior to placement for county, state, and federal criminal histories.
(b)  A county department of social services may issue an unfavorable preplacement assessment to a prospective adoptive parent if the county department of social services determines pursuant to G.S. 48-3-303(e) that the individual is unfit to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children based on the criminal history.
(c)  The Department of Justice shall provide to the Department of Health and Human Services the criminal history of such a prospective adoptive parent obtained from the State and National Repositories of Criminal Histories as requested by the Department. The Department shall provide to the Department of Justice, along with the request, the fingerprints of the prospective adoptive parent to be checked, any additional information required by the Department of Justice, and a form consenting to the check of the criminal record and to the use of fingerprints and other identifying information required by the State or National Repositories signed by the individual to be checked. The fingerprints of the prospective adoptive parent shall be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation for a search of the State's criminal history record file, and the State Bureau of Investigation shall forward a set of fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check.
    (d)  At the time of the request for a preplacement assessment or at a subsequent time prior to placement, a prospective adoptive parent whose criminal history is to be checked shall be furnished with a statement substantially similar to the following:
 
 
 
 
 "NOTICE
 
   MANDATORY CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK: NORTH CAROLINA LAW REQUIRES THAT A CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK BE CONDUCTED PRIOR TO PLACEMENT ON PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS SEEKING TO ADOPT A MINOR WHO IS IN THE CUSTODY OR PLACEMENT RESPONSIBILITY OF A COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES.
 
   "Criminal history" means a county, state, or federal criminal history of conviction or a pending indictment of a crime, whether a misdemeanor or a felony, that bears upon an individual's fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children, including the following North Carolina crimes contained in any of the following Articles of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes: Article 6, Homicide; Article 7A, Rape and Kindred Offenses; Article 8, Assaults; Article 10, Kidnapping and Abduction; Article 13, Malicious Injury or Damage by Use of Explosive or Incendiary Device or Material; Article 26, Offenses Against Public Morality and Decency; Article 27, Prostitution; Article 39, Protection of Minors; Article 40, Protection of the Family; and Article 59, Public Intoxication; violation of the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act, Article 5 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, and alcohol-related offenses such as sale to underage persons in violation of G.S. 18B-302 or driving while impaired in violation of G.S. 20-138.1 through G.S. 20-138.5; or similar crimes under federal law or under the laws of other states. Your fingerprints will be used to check the criminal history records of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
 
   If it is determined, based on your criminal history, that you are unfit to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children, you shall have the opportunity to complete, or challenge the accuracy of, the information contained in the SBI or FBI identification records.
 
   If you are denied a favorable preplacement assessment by a county department of social services as a result of the criminal history check, you may request a review of the assessment pursuant to G.S. 48-3-308(a).
 
   Any prospective adoptive parent who intentionally falsifies any information required to be furnished to conduct the criminal history is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."
Refusal to consent to a criminal history check is grounds for the issuance by a county department of social services of an unfavorable preplacement assessment. Any prospective adoptive parent who intentionally falsifies any information required to be furnished to conduct the criminal history is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
(e)  The Department shall notify the prospective adoptive parent's supervising county department of social services of the results of the criminal history check in accordance with the federal and State law regulating the dissemination of the contents of the criminal history file. The Department shall not release nor disclose any portion of the prospective adoptive parent's criminal history to the prospective adoptive parent. The Department shall also ensure that the prospective adoptive parent is notified of the prospective adoptive parent's right to review the criminal history information, the procedure for completing or challenging the accuracy of the criminal history, and the prospective adoptive parent's right to contest the preplacement assessment of the county department of social services.
A prospective adoptive parent who disagrees with the preplacement assessment of the county department of social services may request a review of the assessment pursuant to G.S. 48-3-308(a).
(f)  All the information that the Department receives through the checking of the criminal history is privileged information and is not a public record but is for the exclusive use of the Department and those persons authorized under this section to receive the information. The Department may destroy the information after it is used for the purposes authorized by this section after one calendar year.
(g)  There is no liability for negligence on the part of a State or local agency, or the employees of a State or local agency, arising from any action taken or omission by any of them in carrying out the provisions of this section. The immunity established by this subsection shall not extend to gross negligence, wanton conduct, or intentional wrongdoing that would otherwise be actionable. The immunity established by this subsection shall be deemed to have been waived to the extent of indemnification by insurance, indemnification under Article 31A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, and to the extent sovereign immunity is waived under the Tort Claims Act, as set forth in Article 31 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(h)  The Department of Justice shall perform the State and national criminal history checks on prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt a minor in the custody or placement responsibility of a county department of social services and shall charge the Department of Health and Human Services a reasonable fee only for conducting the checks of the national criminal history records authorized by this section. The Division of Social Services, Department of Health and Human Services, shall bear the costs of implementing this section.