AN ACT CONCERNING CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR EMPLOYEES OF HOMEMAKER-COMPANION AGENCIES AND HOME HEALTH AGENCIES.

AN ACT CONCERNING CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR EMPLOYEES OF HOMEMAKER-COMPANION AGENCIES AND HOME HEALTH AGENCIES.

This bill makes changes in the laws regarding background checks for homemaker-companion and home health agencies. It:

1. requires a homemaker-companion agency applicant to submit to state and national criminal history records checks;

2. allows the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) commissioner to revoke, suspend, or deny registration certificates if a homemaker-companion agency fails to perform a comprehensive background check of any applicant for employment;

3. requires home health agency employees hired on or after October 1, 2009 to submit to a comprehensive background check and sign a written form regarding prior disciplinary action; and

4. defines the term “comprehensive background check. ”

Under the bill, “comprehensive background check” means a background investigation performed by a home health or homemaker-companion agency that includes:

1. a review of the applicant's employment application;

2. an in-person interview of the applicant;

3. verification of the applicant's Social Security number;

4. if the position requires the applicant's licensure, verification that the required license is in good standing;

5. a check of the Department of Public Safety's sex offender registry;

6. a review of criminal conviction information obtained through an in-state public records search based on the applicant's name and date of birth;

7. if the applicant has lived in the state less than five years before the employment application date, a review of criminal conviction information in any state where the applicant lived during this five year period; and

8. a review of any additional information the agency deems necessary to evaluate the applicant's suitability for the position.

Current law does not define “comprehensive background check,” specify particular procedures, or identify who must conduct these checks. (In practice, background checks vary in terms of their scope, complexity, and the years covered, among other things. They may include checks of any or all of the following: criminal history, credit, professional license, employment, and education records. )

The bill requires any person applying to DCP for a homemaker-companion agency registration certificate to submit to state and national criminal history record checks. By law, these checks must be requested through the State Police Bureau of Identification.

Current law requires applicants to certify under oath that all employees hired after October 1, 2006 have (1) submitted to a comprehensive background check and (2) signed a written form regarding prior criminal convictions or disciplinary actions.

The bill adds a condition under which the DCP commissioner may revoke, suspend, or deny certificates; place registrants on probation; or issue letters of reprimand: the agency's failure to perform a comprehensive background check of an employment applicant. Current law allows the commissioner to take any of these actions for (1) agency conduct (or that of an employee in the course of employment) likely to mislead, deceive, or defraud the public or the commissioner or (2) untruthful or misleading advertising.

Under the bill, a home health agency must require an employee hired on or after October 1, 2009 to submit to a comprehensive background check. It also requires these employees to complete and sign a form containing questions about whether they were subject to any decision imposing disciplinary action by a licensing agency in any state, the District of Columbia, a U. S. possession or territory, or a foreign jurisdiction. If an employee makes a false written statement about his or her prior disciplinary action, the bill makes the employee guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, for which the penalty is up to one year imprisonment, up to a $ 2,000 fine, or both.

Yea

Nay

(03/05/2009)

Yea

Nay

(03/25/2009)