Background checks

AN ACT Relating to fingerprint-based background checks; and 1
reenacting and amending RCW 43.43.837. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 43.43.837 and 2023 c 437 s 1 and 2023 c 223 s 3 are 4
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 5
(1) In order to determine ((the)) an applicant's character, 6
competence, and suitability ((of any applicant or service provider to 7
have unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, children, or 8
juveniles, the secretary of the department of social and health 9
services shall require the )) for working unsupervised as a department 10
of social and health services or department of children, youth, and 11
families long-term care service provider, direct care worker, child 12
placement provider, individuals over 16 years old living in home of 13
child placement provider, individuals over 16 years old living in 14
home of companion home provider, high-risk provider, residential 15
habilitation center worker, transitional care facility worker, or a 16
contracted home and community-based service provider, the applicant 17
shall be fingerprinted.18
(2) The department of social and health services may require an 19
applicant ((or service provider )) to submit fingerprints for the 20
purpose of investigating conviction records through ((both)) the 21
Z-0268.1
HOUSE BILL 1490
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Obras, Gregerson, Peterson, and Cortes; by request
of Department of Social and Health Services
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
Human Services.
p. 1 HB 1490
Washington state patrol ((and the federal bureau of investigation 1
when the applicant or service provider )) at any time they apply for 2
the listed positions or new information regarding a pending charge, 3
criminal conviction, and/or negative action. The applicant or service 4
provider must submit fingerprints for the purpose of investigating 5
conviction records through both the Washington state patrol and the 6
federal bureau of investigation when the applicant or service 7
provider has resided in the state less than three consecutive years 8
before application and: 9
(a) ((Has resided in the state less than three consecutive years 10
before application and:11
(i))) Is a contractor providing services funded by ((other)) home 12
and community long -term care programs, established pursuant to 13
chapters 71A.12, 74.09, 74.39, and 74.39A RCW, administered by the 14
department of social and health services; 15
(((ii) Is an individual who is authorized by the department of 16
social and health services to provide services to people with 17
developmental disabilities under RCW 74.15.030; or18
(iii))) (b) Is applying for employment or is already employed by 19
an area agency on aging or federally recognized Indian tribe, or is 20
an employee of a contractor of an area agency on aging or federally 21
recognized Indian tribe, that will, or may, have unsupervised access 22
to vulnerable adults, children, or juveniles when engaging in the 23
activities described in RCW 74.09.520(5); 24
(c) Is an individual 16 years of age or older and resides in a 25
certified community residential companion home authorized by the 26
developmental disabilities administration to provide services to 27
individuals with developmental disabilities under chapter 71A.12 RCW;28
(((b))) (d) Is applying for employment or is already employed at 29
any secure facility operated by the department of social and health 30
services under chapter 71.09 RCW; 31
(((c))) (e) Is applying to be an adult family home licensee, 32
entity representative, or resident manager under chapter 70.128 RCW;33
(((d))) (f) Is applying to be an assisted living facility 34
licensee or administrator under chapter 18.20 RCW. For the purposes 35
of this subsection (2)(f), "administrator" means an assisted living 36
facility administrator who must be in active administrative charge of 37
the assisted living facility as required in this chapter. Unless 38
exempt under RCW 18.88B.041, the administrator must complete long-39
term care worker training and home care aide certification;40
p. 2 HB 1490
(((e))) (g) Is applying to be an enhanced services facility 1
licensee or administrator under chapter 70.97 RCW. For the purposes 2
of this subsection (2)(g), "administrator" means an enhanced services 3
facility administrator who must be in active administrative charge of 4
the enhanced services facility as required in this chapter. Unless 5
exempt under RCW 18.88B.041, the administrator must complete long-6
term care worker training and home care aide certification;7
(((f))) (h) Is applying to be a certified community residential 8
((services and supports provider )) service provider or administrator 9
under chapter 71A.12 RCW. For the purposes of this subsection (2)(h), 10
"administrator" means an individual who is responsible for or has 11
control over daily operations of a certified community residential 12
service provider, who may or will have unsupervised access to 13
vulnerable adults in a certified community residential service 14
setting, whether or not they provide direct care to vulnerable 15
adults. An individual who is responsible for or has control over 16
daily operations of a certified community residential service 17
provider includes any person who:18
(i) Oversees aspects of staffing, such as recruitment, staff 19
training, or performance reviews;20
(ii) Develops and maintains policies and procedures that give 21
staff direction to provide appropriate services and supports under 22
chapter 71A.12 RCW; or23
(iii) Maintains and securely stores client, personnel, or 24
financial records; 25
(((g))) (i) Has been categorized as a high-risk provider as 26
defined in subsection (((8))) (9)(f) of this section; ((or27
(h))) (j) Is applying for employment ((or is already employed at 28
any)) by a residential habilitation center ((or other state-operated 29
program for individuals with developmental disabilities under chapter 30
71A.20 RCW)) under chapter 71A.20 RCW or is applying for a job class 31
series change at a residential habilitation center; or32
(k) Is applying for employment by a transitional care facility.33
(((2))) (3) Long-term care workers, as defined in RCW 74.39A.009, 34
who are hired after January 7, 2012, are subject to fingerprint-based 35
background checks under RCW 74.39A.056. 36
(((3))) (4) In order to determine the character, competence, and 37
suitability of an applicant or service provider to have unsupervised 38
access to children or juveniles, the secretary of the department of 39
children, youth, and families shall require the applicant or service 40
p. 3 HB 1490
provider to submit fingerprints for the purpose of investigating 1
conviction records through both the Washington state patrol and the 2
federal bureau of investigation when the applicant or service 3
provider: 4
(a) Is applying for a license under RCW 74.15.030 or is an adult 5
living in a home where a child is placed; 6
(b) Is applying for employment or already employed at a group 7
care facility, regardless of whether the applicant is working 8
directly with children; 9
(c) Is newly applying for an agency license, is newly licensed, 10
is an employee of an agency that is newly licensed, or will newly 11
have unsupervised access to children in child care, pursuant to RCW 12
43.216.270; or 13
(d) Has resided in the state less than three consecutive years 14
before application; and: 15
(i) Is applying for employment, promotion, reallocation, or 16
transfer to a position the department of children, youth, and 17
families has identified as one that will, or may, require the 18
applicant to have unsupervised access to children or juveniles 19
because of the nature of the work; 20
(ii) Is a business or individual contracted to provide services 21
to children or people with developmental disabilities under RCW 22
74.15.030; or 23
(iii) Is an individual 16 years of age or older who: (A) Is not 24
under the placement and care authority of the department of children, 25
youth, and families; and (B) resides in an applicant or service 26
provider's home, facility, entity, agency, or business or who is 27
authorized by the department of children, youth, and families to 28
provide services to children under RCW 74.15.030. 29
(((4))) (5) The secretary of the department of children, youth, 30
and families shall require a fingerprint -based background check 31
through the Washington state patrol identification and criminal 32
history section and the federal bureau of investigation when the 33
department seeks to approve an applicant or service provider for a 34
foster or adoptive placement of children in accordance with federal 35
and state law. Fees charged by the Washington state patrol and the 36
federal bureau of investigation for fingerprint-based background 37
checks shall be paid by the department of children, youth, and 38
families for foster care and childcare applicants and service 39
providers. 40
p. 4 HB 1490
(((5))) (6) Applicants and service providers of the department of 1
social and health services, except for long-term care workers subject 2
to RCW 74.39A.056, who are required to complete a fingerprint-based 3
background check may be hired for a ((one hundred twenty-day )) 120-4
day provisional period as allowed under law or program rules when:5
(a) A fingerprint-based background check is pending; and6
(b) The applicant or service provider is not disqualified based 7
on the immediate result of the background check. 8
(((6))) (7) Fees charged by the Washington state patrol and the 9
federal bureau of investigation for fingerprint-based background 10
checks shall be paid by the applicable department for applicants or 11
service providers providing: 12
(a) Services to people with a developmental disability under RCW 13
74.15.030; 14
(b) In-home services funded by medicaid personal care under RCW 15
74.09.520; 16
(c) Community options program entry system waiver services under 17
RCW 74.39A.030; 18
(d) Chore services under RCW 74.39A.110; 19
(e) Services under ((other)) home and community long -term care 20
programs, established pursuant to chapters 74.39 and 74.39A RCW, 21
administered by the department of social and health services or the 22
department of children, youth, and families; and 23
(f) Services in, or to residents of, a secure facility under RCW 24
71.09.115. 25
(((7))) (8) The department of social and health services and the 26
department of children, youth, and families shall develop rules 27
identifying the financial responsibility of service providers, 28
applicants, and the respective department for paying the fees charged 29
by law enforcement to roll, print, or scan fingerprints -based for the 30
purpose of a Washington state patrol or federal bureau of 31
investigation fingerprint-based background check. 32
(((8))) (9) For purposes of this section, unless the context 33
plainly indicates otherwise: 34
(a) "Applicant" means a current or prospective department of 35
social and health services, department of children, youth, and 36
families, or service provider employee, volunteer, student, intern, 37
researcher, contractor, or any ((other)) individual specified in 38
subsection (((1))) (2)(a) through (((g))) (i) or (((3))) (4)(a) 39
through (d) of this section who will or may have unsupervised access 40
p. 5 HB 1490
to vulnerable adults, children, or juveniles because of the nature of 1
the work or services he or she provides. "Applicant" includes any 2
individual who will or may have unsupervised access to vulnerable 3
adults, children, or juveniles and is: 4
(i) Applying for a license or certification from the department 5
of social and health services or the department of children, youth, 6
and families; 7
(ii) Seeking a contract with the department of social and health 8
services, the department of children, youth, and families, or a 9
service provider; 10
(iii) Applying for employment, promotion, reallocation, or 11
transfer; or 12
(iv) An individual that a department of social and health 13
services or department of children, youth, and families client or 14
guardian of a department of social and health services or department 15
of children, youth, and families client chooses to hire or engage to 16
provide services to himself or herself or another vulnerable adult, 17
juvenile, or child and who might be eligible to receive payment from 18
the department of social and health services or the department of 19
children, youth, and families for services rendered.20
(b) "Area agency on aging" means an agency that is designated by 21
the state to address the needs and concerns of older persons at the 22
regional and local levels and is responsible for a particular 23
geographic area that is a tribal reservation, a single county, or a 24
multicounty planning area. Area agencies on aging have governance 25
based on the corresponding county, city, tribal government, or 26
council of governments. 27
(c) "Authorized" means the department of social and health 28
services or the department of children, youth, and families grants an 29
applicant, home, or facility permission to: 30
(i) Conduct licensing, certification, or contracting activities;31
(ii) Have unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, juveniles, 32
and children; 33
(iii) Receive payments from a department of social and health 34
services or department of children, youth, and families program; or35
(iv) Work or serve in a department of social and health services 36
or department of children, youth, and families employment position.37
(d) "Community residential services and supports provider" means 38
a person or entity certified by the department of social and health 39
services to deliver one or more of the services described in RCW 40
p. 6 HB 1490
71A.12.040 to a person with a developmental disability, as defined in 1
RCW 71A.10.020, who is eligible to receive services from the 2
department of social and health services. 3
(e) "Entity representative" means the individual designated by an 4
entity provider or entity applicant ((who:5
(i) Is the representative of the entity for the purposes of 6
fulfilling the training and qualification requirements of the state 7
that only an individual can fulfill and an entity cannot;8
(ii) Is responsible for overseeing the operation of the home; and9
(iii) Does not hold the license on behalf of the entity )) as its 10
representative for the purposes of fulfilling the training and 11
qualification requirements under this chapter that only an individual 12
can fulfill where an entity cannot. The entity representative is 13
responsible for overseeing the operation of the home. The entity 14
representative does not hold the license on behalf of the entity.15
(f) "High-risk provider" means a service provider that has been 16
designated by the state medicaid agency as posing an increased 17
financial risk of fraud, waste, or abuse to the medicaid program. A 18
"high-risk provider" additionally includes any person who has a five 19
percent or more direct or indirect ownership interest in such a 20
provider. 21
(g) "Long-term care workers" include all persons who provide 22
paid, hands-on personal care services for the elderly or persons with 23
disabilities, including but not limited to individual providers of 24
home care services; direct care workers employed by home care 25
agencies or a consumer directed employer; providers of home care 26
services to persons with developmental disabilities under Title 71A 27
RCW; all direct care workers in state-licensed assisted living 28
facilities, enhanced services facilities, and adult family homes; 29
respite care providers; direct care workers employed by community 30
residential service businesses; and any other direct care worker 31
providing home or community-based services to the elderly or persons 32
with functional disabilities or developmental disabilities.33
(h) "Service provider" means entities, facilities, agencies, 34
businesses, or individuals who are licensed, certified, authorized, 35
or regulated by, receive payment from, or have contracts or 36
agreements with the department of social and health services or the 37
department of children, youth, and families to provide services to 38
vulnerable adults, juveniles, or children. "Service provider" 39
includes individuals whom a department of social and health services 40
p. 7 HB 1490
or department of children, youth, and families client or guardian of 1
a department of social and health services or department of children, 2
youth, and families client may choose to hire or engage to provide 3
services to himself or herself or another vulnerable adult, juvenile, 4
or child and who might be eligible to receive payment from the 5
department of social and health services or the department of 6
children, youth, and families for services rendered.7
(i) "Transitional care facility" means the staff secure and 8
voluntary facility offering specialized treatment and habilitative 9
interventions for eligible youth. A transitional care facility is a 10
state-operated residential treatment facility for children with 11
developmental disabilities.12
(j) "Unsupervised" means not in the presence of:13
(i) Another employee or volunteer from the same business or 14
organization as the applicant; or15
(ii) Any relative or guardian of any of the children or persons 16
with developmental disabilities or vulnerable adults to which the 17
applicant has access while they are employed or involved with the 18
business or organization.19
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p. 8 HB 1490