Agencies failing to use electronic fingerprinting
TALLAHASSEE (AP) – Criminal background checks on many caregivers for children, the elderly and disabled are being delayed because Florida isn’t taking full advantage of electronic fingerprinting, state officials said Thursday.
In some cases, state law allows convicted felons to work until those checks are completed, which can take up to 12 weeks for paper compared to 24 to 48 hours for electronic. In other cases, background checks are conducted only for Florida convictions, which misses those from other states.
Officials from agencies that screen people who require background checks including those who work in schools, nursing homes, day care centers and mental health facilities, met with Gov. Charlie Crist’s staff to begin solving a problem exposed by media reports.
An investigation by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found more than 3,500 people with criminal records, including rape, robbery and murder, have been allowed to work with the elderly and disabled over the past 20 years through exemptions granted by the state. Hundreds more stayed on the job because employers ignored their criminal records or failed to run background checks.
Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon said his agency needed to make better use of electronic fingerprinting for screening job applicants at day care, mental health, substance abuse and other facilities. About half the checks are done electronically and the others on paper.
Another problem is state law lets day care employees work until their background checks are completed, although teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade must wait until they are cleared.
“I don’t really see the rationale that it’s OK for children 0 to 4 …, but it’s not OK for children 5 to 17,” Sheldon said.
Many of the laws requiring background checks haven’t been changed since being passed before electronic fingerprinting was available, Sheldon said.
Another issue is that his department receives only FBI screenings while state background checks conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement go directly to employers, Sheldon said. It’s then up to them to make sure workers who have committed disqualifying crimes are discharged.
Sheldon’s department does about 125,000 background checks every year with about 2,600 being found to have a disqualifying offense. Of that number, about 650 seek exemptions and 400 to 450 are approved on grounds the applicants have been rehabilitated, Sheldon said.
State law also allows applicants to seek exemptions if at least three years have elapsed since they committed a crime. Sheldon said that means someone with a five-year sentence could apply while still in prison.
Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson said state law requires applicants for jobs in nursing homes, hospitals, outpatient facilities, home health agencies, adult day care centers and similar facilities to submit their fingerprints on paper. She has asked the governor’s office to seek new legislation allowing electronic fingerprinting.
Benson’s agency has completed 154,823 screenings since Jan. 1, received 1,220 requests for exemptions and granted 469. She said for some jobs, such as those at nursing homes, applicants cannot work until their background checks are completed but others can.
The group plans to meet again next week and have recommendations ready by early November.
“If there’s issues out there we want to fix them,” said Eric Eikenberg, Crist’s chief of staff. “This is incredibly important that we do this and that we do it right.”