Home care worker background

AN ACT Relating to streamlining the home care worker background 1
check process; and amending RCW 43.20A.715 and 74.39A.056.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 43.20A.715 and 2023 c 470 s 3014 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) Where the department is required to screen a long-term care 6
worker, contracted provider, or licensee through a background check 7
to determine whether the person has a history that would disqualify 8
the person from having unsupervised access to, working with, or 9
providing supervision, care, or treatment to vulnerable adults or 10
children, the department may not automatically disqualify a person on 11
the basis of a criminal record that includes a conviction of any of 12
the following crimes once the specified amount of time has passed for 13
the particular crime: 14
(a) Selling cannabis to a person under RCW 69.50.401 after three 15
years or more have passed between the most recent conviction and the 16
date the background check is processed; 17
(b) Theft in the first degree under RCW 9A.56.030 after 10 years 18
or more have passed between the most recent conviction and the date 19
the background check is processed; 20
H-0082.3
HOUSE BILL 1395
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Farivar, Fosse, Nance, Reeves, Simmons, Obras,
Berry, Mena, Scott, Doglio, Macri, Peterson, Salahuddin, Parshley,
Cortes, Paul, Alvarado, Ryu, Duerr, Reed, Ramel, Shavers, Wylie,
Ormsby, Street, Hill, and Donaghy
Read first time 01/20/25. Referred to Committee on Postsecondary
Education & Workforce.
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(c) Robbery in the second degree under RCW 9A.56.210 after five 1
years or more have passed between the most recent conviction and the 2
date the background check is processed; 3
(d) Extortion in the second degree under RCW 9A.56.130 after five 4
years or more have passed between the most recent conviction and the 5
date the background check is processed; 6
(e) Assault in the second degree under RCW 9A.36.021 after five 7
years or more have passed between the most recent conviction and the 8
date the background check is processed; and 9
(f) Assault in the third degree under RCW 9A.36.031 after five 10
years or more have passed between the most recent conviction and the 11
date the background check is processed. 12
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section do not apply 13
where the department is performing background checks for the 14
department of children, youth, and families. 15
(3) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section do not apply 16
to department employees or applicants for department positions except 17
for positions in the state-operated community residential program.18
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, a long-term 19
care worker, contracted provider, or licensee may not provide, or be 20
paid to provide, care to children or vulnerable adults under the 21
medicare or medicaid programs if the worker is excluded from 22
participating in those programs by federal law. 23
(5) The department ((, a contracted provider, or a licensee )) or 24
an authorized entity , when conducting a character, competence, and 25
suitability review for the purpose of hiring, licensing, certifying, 26
contracting with, permitting, or continuing to permit a person to be 27
employed in any position caring for or having unsupervised access to 28
vulnerable adults or children, may, in its sole discretion, determine 29
whether to consider any of the convictions identified in subsection 30
(1) of this section. If the department or a consumer directed 31
employer as defined in RCW 74.39A.009 determines that an individual 32
with any of the convictions identified in subsection (1) of this 33
section is qualified to provide services to a department client as an 34
individual provider as defined in RCW 74.39A.240, the department or 35
the consumer directed employer must provide the client, and their 36
guardian if any, with the results of the state background check for 37
their determination of character, suitability, and competence of the 38
individual before the individual begins providing services. The 39
department((, a contracted provider, or a license e)) or an authorized 40
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entity, when conducting a character, competence, and suitability 1
review for the purpose of hiring, licensing, certifying, contracting 2
with, permitting, or continuing to permit a person to be employed in 3
any position caring for or having unsupervised access to vulnerable 4
adults or children, has a rebuttable presumption that its exercise of 5
discretion under this section or the refusal to exercise such 6
discretion was appropriate. This subsection does not create a duty 7
for the department to conduct a character, competence, and 8
suitability review. 9
(6)(a) An employer or an authorized entity shall not conduct a 10
character, competence, and suitability review for individual 11
providers and home care agency providers, based on a name and date of 12
birth or fingerprint background check result, when:13
(i) The employer or authorized entity has already conducted a 14
character, competence, and suitability review for the individual 15
provider or home care agency provider for a nonautomatically 16
disqualifying conviction, pending charge, or negative action found 17
during a previous background check, for which the employer or 18
authorized entity has previously conducted a character, competence, 19
and suitability review;20
(ii) An individual provider or home care agency provider has 21
obtained a certificate of restoration of opportunity under RCW 22
9.97.020 for a nonautomatically disqualifying conviction;23
(iii) It is known to the employer or authorized entity that more 24
than 10 years have passed since the last nonautomatically 25
disqualifying conviction or negative action against the individual 26
provider or home care agency provider; or27
(iv) The results of a name and date of birth background check or 28
fingerprint-based background check conducted on the individual 29
provider or home care agency provider identified a nonautomatically 30
disqualifying:31
(A) Negative action, except when involving the harm or 32
exploitation of a minor or vulnerable adult;33
(B) Misdemeanor, except when involving the harm or exploitation 34
of a minor, vulnerable adult, or animal; or35
(C) Gross misdemeanor under chapter 69.50 RCW or Title 46 RCW.36
(b) The department shall develop rules to establish standards for 37
conducting character, competence, and suitability reviews under this 38
subsection (6), including parameters to ensure the safety of 39
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vulnerable adults and minors, and an equitable review process for 1
individual providers and home care agency providers.2
(7)(a) Individual providers and home care agency providers who 3
are required to complete a character, competence, and suitability 4
review pursuant to a review required result following a name and date 5
of birth background check or fingerprint-based background check may 6
have unsupervised access to minors or vulnerable adults for a period 7
of up to 30 days while the character, competence, and suitability 8
review is being conducted by the department or the authorized entity 9
if the individual is not disqualified by reason of a name and date of 10
birth background check or fingerprint-based background check that 11
identifies a conviction, pending charge, or negative action as 12
described in RCW 43.43.842 and 43.20A.710(5), as well as any related 13
implementing rules adopted by the department of social and health 14
services, unless the character, competence, and suitability review 15
has been completed and concluded that the applicant may not have 16
unsupervised access to minors and vulnerable adults.17
(b)(i) Prior to the provision of any care services by an 18
individual provider or home care agency provider during the 30-day 19
temporary practice period established in (a) of this subsection, the 20
parent or guardian of the minor, the vulnerable adult, or the 21
guardian of the vulnerable adult must be:22
(A) Notified in writing that the character, competence, and 23
suitability review for the individual provider or home care agency 24
provider has not been completed; and25
(B) Provided with an opportunity to decline the receipt of care 26
services from the individual provider or home care agency provider 27
and an explanation of the procedure for declining the receipt of 28
care.29
(ii) The notice requirement of (b)(i) of this subsection does not 30
apply to any home care agency provider that has been employed by the 31
same employer since the previous name and date of birth background 32
check or fingerprint-based background check had been conducted.33
(8) For the purposes of the section: 34
(a) "Authorized entity" means a service provider, licensee, 35
contractor, or other public or private agency that:36
(i) Is required to conduct background checks; and37
(ii) Is authorized to conduct background checks through the 38
department's background check central unit.39
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(b) "Character, competence, and suitability review" means a 1
review process that the employer or an authorized entity uses to 2
decide whether a person has the character, competence, and 3
suitability to work in a position that may have unsupervised access 4
to minors or vulnerable adults.5
(c) "Contracted provider" means a provider, and its employees, 6
contracted with the department or an area agency on aging to provide 7
services to department clients under programs under chapter 74.09, 8
74.39, 74.39A, or 71A.12 RCW. "Contracted provider" includes area 9
agencies on aging and their subcontractors who provide case 10
management. 11
(((b))) (d) "Fingerprint-based background check" means a search 12
of in-state criminal history records through the Washington state 13
patrol and national criminal history records through the federal 14
bureau of investigation.15
(e) "Home care agency provider" means a long-term care worker 16
paid by a home care agency, as described in RCW 43.20A.710(1)(b).17
(f) "Individual provider" has the same meaning as in RCW 18
74.39A.240.19
(g) "Licensee" means a nonstate facility or setting that is 20
licensed or certified, or has applied to be licensed or certified, by 21
the department and includes the licensee and its employees.22
(h) "Name and date of birth background check" means a search of 23
Washington state criminal history and negative action records using 24
the applicant's name and date of birth conducted by the department's 25
background check central unit.26
(i) "Nonautomatically disqualifying" means, when used in 27
reference to a conviction, pending charge, or negative action, that 28
the conviction, pending charge, or negative action is one other than 29
a permanently disqualifying conviction, permanently disqualifying 30
negative action, or a time-limited permanently disqualifying 31
conviction or negative action after the defined amount of time has 32
passed, as described in RCW 43.43.842 and 43.20A.710(5), and related 33
department rules.34
(j) "Review required result" means the result of a name and date 35
of birth background check or fingerprint-based background check for 36
an individual provider or a home care agency provider that requires 37
the employer or an authorized entity to determine if a character, 38
competence, and suitability review is necessary, based on subsection 39
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(6)(a)(iv) of this section, and related implementing rules adopted by 1
the department. 2
Sec. 2. RCW 74.39A.056 and 2023 c 223 s 4 are each amended to 3
read as follows: 4
(1)(a) All long-term care workers shall be screened through state 5
and federal background checks in a uniform and timely manner to 6
verify that they do not have a history that would disqualify them 7
from working with vulnerable persons. The department must process 8
background checks for long-term care workers and, based on this 9
screening, inform employers, prospective employers, and others as 10
authorized by law, whether screened applicants are ineligible for 11
employment. 12
(b)(i) For long-term care workers hired on or after January 7, 13
2012, the background checks required under this section shall include 14
checking against the federal bureau of investigation fingerprint 15
identification records system or its successor program. The 16
department shall require these long-term care workers to submit 17
fingerprints for the purpose of investigating conviction records 18
through both the Washington state patrol and the federal bureau of 19
investigation. The department shall not pass on the cost of these 20
criminal background checks to the workers or their employers.21
(ii) A long-term care worker who is not disqualified by the state 22
background check can work and have unsupervised access pending the 23
results of the federal bureau of investigation fingerprint background 24
check as allowed by rules adopted by the department.25
(c)(i) Individual providers and home care agency providers must 26
complete a fingerprint-based background check required in this 27
section and RCW 43.43.837 only:28
(A) Except as provided in (c)(ii) of this subsection, at the 29
point of initial hire;30
(B) As required by federal law; and31
(C) If there is a reasonable, good faith belief the employer or 32
authorized entity needs to conduct a fingerprint-based background 33
check, due to potential new findings in a fingerprint-based 34
background check, as documented in writing by the employer.35
(ii) Notwithstanding the requirement of (c)(i)(A) of this 36
subsection, individual providers and home care agency providers may 37
not be required to complete a fingerprint-based background check 38
pursuant to (a) of this subsection and RCW 43.43.837 at the point of 39
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initial hire if the individual provider or home care agency provider 1
had been previously employed by the same employer and has not lived 2
outside of Washington after the last fingerprint-based background 3
check. 4
(2) A provider may not be employed in the care of and have 5
unsupervised access to vulnerable adults if: 6
(a) The provider is on the vulnerable adult abuse registry or on 7
any other registry based upon a finding of abuse, abandonment, 8
neglect, or financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult;9
(b) On or after October 1, 1998, the department of children, 10
youth, and families, or its predecessor agency, has made a founded 11
finding of abuse or neglect of a child against the provider. If the 12
provider has received a certificate of parental improvement under 13
chapter 74.13 RCW pertaining to the finding, the provider is not 14
disqualified under this section; 15
(c) A disciplining authority, including the department of health, 16
has made a finding of abuse, abandonment, neglect, or financial 17
exploitation of a minor or a vulnerable adult against the provider; 18
or 19
(d) A court has issued an order that includes a finding of fact 20
or conclusion of law that the provider has committed abuse, 21
abandonment, neglect, or financial exploitation of a minor or 22
vulnerable adult. If the provider has received a certificate of 23
parental improvement under chapter 74.13 RCW pertaining to the 24
finding of fact or conclusion of law, the provider is not 25
disqualified under this section. 26
(3)(a) A client who has elected to receive services from an 27
individual provider must be notified of the results of a background 28
check and of the client's right to request a copy of the background 29
check's results under (b) of this subsection.30
(b) When a background check produces a review required result, as 31
defined in RCW 43.20A.715, the authorized entity must provide the 32
client who is the managing employer of the individual provider with a 33
copy of the background check results and the Washington state record 34
of arrests and prosecutions, if requested by the client. The 35
individual provider may choose to provide a copy of the federal 36
bureau of investigation record of arrests and prosecutions to the 37
client.38
(4) The department shall establish, by rule, a state registry 39
which contains identifying information about long-term care workers 40
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identified under this chapter who have final substantiated findings 1
of abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or abandonment of a 2
vulnerable adult as defined in RCW 74.34.020. The rule must include 3
disclosure, disposition of findings, notification, findings of fact, 4
appeal rights, and fair hearing requirements. The department shall 5
disclose, upon request, final substantiated findings of abuse, 6
neglect, financial exploitation, or abandonment to any person so 7
requesting this information. This information must also be shared 8
with the department of health to advance the purposes of chapter 9
18.88B RCW. 10
(((4))) (5) For the purposes of this section ((, "provider" 11
means)): 12
(a) "Authorized entity" means a service provider, licensee, 13
contractor, or other public or private agency that:14
(i) Is required to conduct background checks; and15
(ii) Is authorized to conduct background checks through the 16
department's background check central unit.17
(b) "Fingerprint-based background check" means a search of in-18
state criminal history records through the Washington state patrol 19
and national criminal history records through the federal bureau of 20
investigation.21
(c) "Home care agency provider" means a long-term care worker 22
paid by a home care agency, as described in RCW 43.20A.710(1)(b).23
(d) "Provider" means:24
(i) An individual provider ((as defined in RCW 74.39A.240));25
(((b))) (ii) An employee, licensee, or contractor of any of the 26
following: A home care agency licensed under chapter 70.127 RCW; a 27
nursing home under chapter 18.51 RCW; an assisted living facility 28
under chapter 18.20 RCW; an enhanced services facility under chapter 29
70.97 RCW; a certified resident services and supports agency licensed 30
or certified under chapter 71A.12 RCW; an adult family home under 31
chapter 70.128 RCW; or any long-term care facility certified to 32
provide medicaid or medicare services; and 33
(((c))) (iii) Any contractor of the department who may have 34
unsupervised access to vulnerable adults. 35
(((5))) (6) The department shall adopt rules to implement this 36
section. 37
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