PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council decided that a policy to require clearance from the Department of Children and Families for city employees needs more time.

At last Tuesday's meeting, an ordinance requiring a background check with DCF for all new hires who have contact with minors was tabled.

Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto, who is an attorney, believes this is an "extreme overreach of privacy" and will have a disparate impact on otherwise qualified applicants who come from low socioeconomic status, people of color, survivors of domestic violence, and single parents.

"We want more qualified applicants in the city pool who have diverse backgrounds, not less," she asserted.

"If we want to address the actual problem in our schools then we must look to the schools themselves to follow through with disciplinary actions, disclosure, and wherever appropriate, actually removing abuse perpetrators from this field, instead of allowing them to resign and walk away quietly only to be hired by another institution."

She said that while everyone understands DCF is doing its best to serve communities, there are instances where a finding could come out negatively toward someone and then found to be without basis, successfully appealed, or overturned.

"And of note for this council, approximately half of DCF findings are overturned by the Fair Hearing office or could be the result of a non-abusive parent simply struggling to leave an abusive relationship," Noto added.

"Further, this proposed ordinance, as currently drafted, makes no distinction as to open cases versus closed cases with the department, so theoretically, otherwise qualified applicants would be subjected to having decades-old closed cases dug up for inspection, including running the risk of disclosing records involving applicants when they themselves were minors and other potential minors, of which this proposed ordinance makes no distinction."