State to Begin Background Checks of Home Care Workers

Department of Community Health Director James Haveman and Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan announced that the State would begin background checks for in-home workers. These tests will begin on October 1 and will be funded by the State. The announcement came after a critical audit for the State’s Medicaid Home Help Program for elderly and vulnerable adults was released. Only a few legal infractions such as drug abuse or patient abuse will disqualify an individual in working as a home care worker. The information from the background checks will be shared with the family members of patients.

During the audit it was discovered that a projected $160 million, or almost 18 percent of the programs funds, were misused. This number has been disputed by both Haveman and Corrigan who stated that only $1 million needs to be collected by the State. The audit also revealed thousands of employees who had felony convictions including 572 with violent crimes.

According to Ms. Corrigan, the State has already begun implementing a policy to ensure participants safety even though this policy will not be enacted until October 1. Mr. Haveman added that the program was very important to the state as it has over 67,000 participants and allows for the state to save $50 million for every 1,000 people who are able to stay in their own home.

While there are some federal guidelines as to who cannot be a home care helper due to criminal behavior, Ms. Corrigan said that the Legislature might want to look into creating a more expansive list of exclusions for workers. Mr. Haveman said that while only a small percentage of the employees have criminal pasts, the background check will allow them to make the decision on whether or not they want to have an in-home helper with a criminal history.

posted by PAA Online , Thursday, July 3, 2014 10:36 AM
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