Connecticut lawmakers are mulling a bill that would require those who work with the elderly -- including home health aides -- to undergo statewide background checks.
Late last year, the state received $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help establish a comprehensive, statewide background check program for employees of long-term care facilities.
Under Connecticut's proposed legislation, potential employees would need to be vetted in several ways, including through a review of the registry of nurse's aides maintained by the state Department of Public Health and through checks of state and national criminal history records. Workers' records would be reviewed for convictions of "disqualifying offenses," which include health-care fraud and neglect or abuse of patients in connection with the delivery of health-care services.
In Connecticut, such checks aren't required for workers in most sectors of long-term care, including nursing homes and home health aides.