HB1051

I am a Speech Language Pathologist who owns a private practice and employ 10 other SLP's. At times, we are contracted into various district school systems in order to support their staff and evaluate/treat for speech therapy. Every time we get a new contract, the therapist has to go to get another set of fingerprints up in Concord (even when the therapist has already gotten fingerprints completed for the same district, but is working in a different year). This is costly to my business, costly to the school systems, as well as the state because you are re-taking the same fingerprints over and over. It also wastes our time, because we have to wait weeks in order to get an appointment, then wait for processing. I completed a contract 10 days ago, and instead of my therapist already helping the school district, as well as earning money...we are waiting for appointments and processing. Please allow us to only fingerprint one time to work in any school district in NH, as an ongoing process. Keep results in a data base in order to access for future use. Fingerprints don't change every year. Lisa Minahan, MS, CCC-SLP Premier Speech Therapy, LLC (Owner/SLP)

Supporting a statewide fingerprinting and background check system would significantly reduce unnecessary administrative burden for professionals who work across multiple districts and agencies. Currently, fingerprinting requirements are duplicative, requiring individuals to complete the same process repeatedly for different employers or contracts, often during the workweek and at different locations. As a provider who works across multiple districts, I have had to travel numerous times solely to be fingerprinted, despite already having completed identical background checks elsewhere. A centralized statewide system would streamline this process, improve efficiency, reduce lost work time, and allow professionals to focus more fully on serving students and families rather than navigating redundant compliance requirements. A one-time, secure statewide fingerprinting system would better support workforce mobility, reduce barriers to employment, and strengthen recruitment and retention across education and related service professions in New Hampshire

I am a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist working in public schools across multiple districts. I strongly support this bill to create a statewide fingerprinting and background check database for school personnel. As a school-based clinician, I am required to complete fingerprinting and background checks repeatedly—often annually or every time I work in a new district—even though my role, license, and professional responsibilities remain the same. These repeated requirements create unnecessary financial costs, time burdens, and administrative delays for professionals who are already vetted and held to high ethical and legal standards. Importantly, I fully support thorough background checks for anyone working with children. Student safety must remain the highest priority. A statewide system would strengthen this goal by allowing districts to quickly verify clearance status, ensure ongoing compliance, and immediately identify any changes—rather than relying on fragmented, repetitive checks across districts. Reducing redundant fingerprinting would also help schools recruit and retain qualified providers. Many districts already struggle to staff related service position and streamlining this process would remove an unnecessary barrier while preserving accountability and safety. I urge you to support this bill as a common-sense solution that protects students, respects professional time, and allows educators and clinicians to focus on what matters most—serving children. Thank you for your consideration.

As a practicing Speech-Language Pathologist in the state who works as a specialist consultant, I am in support of a process to streamline background checks when an individual works in many school districts each year. In my 25 years of practice in New Hampshire, I have been fingerprinted many times. This required taking the necessary time off to appear in person in various districts. The associated costs were often covered by the SAU, and sometimes I paid them. A statewide database for background checks on workers like me would save time, money, and effort that is better directed to the individuals we serve. Thank you for your consideration.

I support a commission to study the creation of a statewide fingerprint and background check database.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in support of HB 1051. My name is Emily Pinkham, and I am a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) and AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) specialist. I live and work in New Hampshire, and my role requires me to travel extensively across the state to support students in multiple school districts. On any given week, I may be consulting in several different schools, providing AAC evaluations, collaborating with IEP teams, training staff, and supporting students who rely on communication devices to express even their most basic needs. While I fully support fingerprinting and background checks to ensure student safety, the current SAU-by-SAU system creates significant and unnecessary barriers for providers like myself. Despite already being fingerprinted and cleared in one district, I am often required to repeat the entire process for another district—sometimes multiple times in a single year. Each request involves scheduling appointments, travel, paperwork, fees, and time away from students who are actively waiting for services. HB 1051 would allow school-based service providers to utilize a single, statewide fingerprinting and background-check system, improving both student safety and service delivery. This bill has the support of the New Hampshire Department of Education and would allow providers to be fingerprinted through RSA 189:13-B, the same secure and established system currently used statewide for school bus drivers. This approach maintains rigorous safety standards while eliminating costly and redundant duplication. Under the current SAU-by-SAU system, providers can be required to complete fingerprinting dozens of times over the course of their careers. For specialized providers—particularly those serving students with disabilities—this leads to avoidable delays in services that are often mandated through IEPs, including speech-language therapy, AAC services, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. As an AAC specialist, I work with students who may be non-speaking or minimally speaking. For these students, delays in services are not minor inconveniences—they mean additional time without a reliable way to communicate wants, needs, thoughts, or emotions. I have experienced situations where services were postponed or limited not because of a lack of provider availability or student need, but solely due to administrative barriers related to repeated fingerprinting requirements. HB 1051 is a practical, common-sense solution that protects students, reduces administrative burden, lowers costs, and helps ensure critical services are delivered without unnecessary delay. It supports both school safety and the efficient delivery of specialized services across New Hampshire. I respectfully urge the committee to consider supporting HB 1051 and support a system that allows providers like myself to spend less time navigating redundant processes and more time serving New Hampshire’s students. Thank you for your time and for your continued service to our state. Respectfully submitted, Emily Pinkham, MS, CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist Assistive Technology Professional Boothby Therapy Services

I am strongly in support of this bill. Waiting for background checks to be completed delays the provision of services to children in need throughout the state. One system for providing a background check to all schools would allow schools to bring in the support they need in a timely manner.

I strongly support this bill to create a statewide fingerprinting and background check database in New Hampshire. It will drastically increase the rate that schools can onboard licensed professionals to support children and reduce administrative overhead.

As a parent, I am grateful that New Hampshire takes student safety seriously by requiring background checks and fingerprinting for those working in schools. I value these protections for my own children and for all students. As a small business owner who contracts with multiple public school districts, I also recognize the importance of these safeguards. However, the current system creates a significant financial and logistical burden. Each school district requires a separate fingerprinting and background check, with costs ranging from $50–$70 per district, depending on local law enforcement policies. For a sole proprietor, these repeated costs add up quickly and become difficult to sustain. Additionally, the repeated processing of identical background checks through the state creates unnecessary administrative work for state offices. Many local police departments now charge for fingerprinting, further increasing costs and placing additional demands on limited law enforcement resources. Law enforcement time and effort should be focused on ensuring community safety, rather than duplicating background checks for individuals who have already been cleared.

Having a state wide fingerprinting and background check system will reduce barriers to providing timely services to students. When each school district has their own procedure it causes hold ups and results in missed work for the provider due to a delayed start and missed services to students. For itinerant providers (AAC specialists, Teachers of the Deaf, Teachers of the Visually Impaired) who work in multiple districts across the state, it means multiple background checks and is costly. Maine has a state wide system that is good for 5 years, allows providers to work in any district, allows the district to verify that in a statewide system and it means no delayed starts and the same system for ALL schools. We need this bill to remove barriers to working in schools.

I'm a Speech/Language Pathologist working with schools across NH. I have needed to get fingerprinted on numerous occasions depending on the requirements of the school districts. A statewide system is needed! Thank you, Scott Herman, MS, CCC-SLP Speech/Language Pathologist NH License # 0675

I am an Occupational Therapist who frequently works in public schools, including charter schools, who has students from multiple sending districts in a single school. I have been required to drive to each student's sending district to obtain fingerprinting and background checks prior to providing services to these students, which has sometimes postponed my ability to begin providing services to students sooner. I am also frequently asked to help out with last-minute work coverage requests, maternity coverage requests, and evaluation overflow requests in districts that need immediate support, but I often can't begin helping until the fingerprinting and background checks are complete. Having a statewide system in place that keeps records of my fingerprints would certainly make it easier for me and other therapists like me to provide occupational therapy services to students in schools when their current district needs last-minute support. I support this bill, and thank you for consideration of my testimony.

I am writing in support of HB1051, a house bill that establishes a statewide fingerprinting and background check database for the state of New Hampshire. As a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP), I provide consultations, evaluations, and therapy to New Hampshire students in need of communication support. I hold licenses in two states, New Hampshire and Maine. I was previously licensed in Tennessee. I hold two national certifications that require ongoing continuing education and documentation of my knowledge, skills, and preparedness for this field. School districts regularly request my services to support their non-speaking students, and my consultations and evaluations are often in addition to the treating SLP in their buildings. I've had the pleasure of working in many of our schools in New Hampshire, often supporting one to two students in our smaller communities, to ensure they are accessing their education and communication. Over the years, the number of students with more intensive needs has increased, while a shortage of therapists across all disciplines persists. This means that many schools rely heavily on contracted service providers like me to meet the ethical and legal requirements of their IEPs and to best support students in achieving their communication and educational goals. As both a parent and a school provider, I appreciate and demand transparency, understanding who is working with children, and knowing that they are safe adults, particularly when assisting the most vulnerable students. I believe that a fingerprinting system and background checks on all employees and volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults are absolutely mandatory. However, the current system causes delays, service duplication, and an unnecessary financial burden on providers who are trying to support our schools. Since 2017, I have supported students in 63 districts in New Hampshire. Under the current law, that would be 63 fingerprinting appointments in nine years. In the last 12 months, I've been fingerprinted by six different districts, all requiring time away from work and students to schedule it during the workday, delaying the initiation of services while fingerprinting appointments were scheduled, completed, and the results sent to each district. In August of 2024, I was fingerprinted for three districts on the same day, since I could not send a singular copy to all three. This past December, I was fingerprinted for two districts on the same day. During less busy times of the year, this may take a 2-week delay. However, during busier times, it has taken up to six weeks. The creation of a centralized database that allows districts to access previously obtained fingerprinting results would expedite service delivery for our most vulnerable students in New Hampshire. This would provide districts with the critical information they need to determine, in a timely manner, whether Speech Language Pathologists are safe to work with our students. It will also reduce the overburdening of the New Hampshire Criminal justice system's fingerprinting, as contractors and specialized service providers will not need to be fingerprinted multiple times in the same month just to send the same information to different people. This database would allow for students to receive services without delay, districts to screen potential candidates in a timely manner, and the state to ensure that background checks remain mandatory for all persons supporting children. Thank you for considering House Bill 1051, which will provide faster access to providers for NH students, while continuing to ensure that those providers are safe individuals. Sincerely, Lauren M Koczarski, MS CCC-SLP, ATP Speech Language Pathologist Assistive Technology Professional Boothby Therapy Services

Good Afternoon, I am an occupational therapist who works for a company that contracts with schools. Year to year, I can work in 4-5 districts. Additionally, there are times were I provide immediate coverage in the case that another provider is out unexpectedly. Having to be fingerprinted for each entity is a time consuming process that ultimately delays children receiving services as well as crowds the system. For example, there was one year that I was contracted to work in 3 different districts. Within the month of August I needed to make 3 separate appointments within the span of a month in order to be finger printed for each district. A statewide finger printing system would alleviate this burden on providers, school districts, and the finger printing system while also not compromising the safety of students. Thank you!

I am strongly in favor of passing a statewide system of fingerprinting and background checks. As a speech-language pathologist who contracts to school districts, I am often required to go through the process every time I need to provide services at a school - sometimes several times a year! This is time-consuming and costly - for myself, for the school districts, and for the public service employees. I do believe that performing the checks is crucial for anyone working with our young people, but getting fingerprinted for one school sometimes a month after having it done for a different school is a bit ridiculous. I am sure I am not alone in thinking, if only they could talk to each other! Passing this bill would be increasing efficiency and would get needed services to our children in a much more timely manner. Thank you.

I fully support HB1051 in creating a statewide fingerprinting and background check database for New Hampshire's educators. As a speech-language pathologist who serves multiple districts, I see the need for this type of legislation. The adoption of this bill into NH law would allow for more efficient service provision to New Hampshire's students by creating a streamlined process for NH educators to serve multiple districts.

Although Medical Providers are finger printed before being allowed to obtain a license, and the State is making huge efforts to streamline licensing and reduce administrative burdens... licensed physical, occupational and speech therapists trying to cover school system are routinely and repetitively asked to submit fingerprints. Even new providers to the State get "streamlined" licensing, but somehow we miss the connection that healthcare is actually delivered in schools and there should not be repetitive fingerprinting burdens. HB 1051 attempts to try and reconcile some of the absurd ways that NH can have good intentions but miss the mark. Please support this bill. Regards, Deirdre Daley

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