§41105 Criminal background checks for applicants for employment in nursing facilities and home health care agencies

Summary

Nursing homes and home health agencies can ask the Attorney General to run an FBI criminal-record check on job applicants who will do direct patient care. To make the request, the facility must send the applicant’s fingerprints, a signed permission form from the applicant, and other ID through the state agency (or an agency the Attorney General names). Those items must be sent within 7 days after getting them, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or federal public holidays under 5 U.S.C. 6103(a). The Attorney General will check the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services records and send any matches to the state or designated agency. The facility may only use the results to decide if the applicant is fit for a direct-care job. The Attorney General may charge up to $50 per request. A report to Congress was required no later than 2 years after October 21, 1998. Anyone who knowingly uses the information for other reasons can be fined under federal law, jailed up to 2 years, or both. A facility that reasonably relied on the information in denying a job is not liable if the information was incomplete or wrong. The Attorney General can make rules on handling, security, and fees. Home health care agency: an agency that provides home or personal care by visiting people at their residence. Nursing facility: a place mainly providing nursing or skilled nursing care and related services for people who need medical or nursing care. This law has no fiscal year limit.