CS/SB 1992 — Background Screening
by Budget Committee; Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee; and Senator Storms
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee (CF)
The bill makes a number of changes to background screening requirements, primarily pertaining to individuals who work with Florida’s vulnerable populations. Those changes include:
- Exempting from fingerprinting and screening requirements, mental health personnel working in a facility licensed under ch. 395, F.S., who work on an intermittent basis for less than 15 hours a week of direct, face-to-face contact with patients, except that individuals working in a mental health facility where the primary purpose is the mental health treatment of minors must be fingerprinted and meet screening requirements;
- Revising the list of professionals to include law enforcement officers so that officers are not required to be refingerprinted or rescreened if they are working or volunteering in a capacity that would otherwise require them to be screened;
- Exempting, from the definition of “direct service provider;” individuals who are related to the client, the client’s spouse, and volunteers who assist on an intermittent basis for less than 20 hours of direct, face-to-face contact with a client per month;
- Exempting, from any additional Level 2 background screening requirements, an individual who was background screened pursuant to an Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) licensure requirement if they are providing a service within the scope of their licensed practice;
- Allowing the Department of Elderly Affairs (DOEA) to adopt rules to implement a schedule to phase in the background screening of individuals serving as direct service providers on July 31, 2010. The phase in must be completed by July 1, 2012;
- Specifying that employers of direct service providers previously qualified for employment or volunteer work under Level 1 screening standards, and individuals required to be screened according to the Level 2 screening standards, shall be rescreened every five years, except in cases where fingerprints are electronically retained and monitored by the Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE);
- Removing a provision relating to criminal offenses that was inadvertently applied to theDOEA;
- Requiring fingerprint vendors to meet certain technology requirements;
- Establishing a July 1, 2013, date for retention of prints for persons screened under ch. 435, F.S.;
- Allowing an employer to hire an employee for the purpose of training and orientation before the employee completes the screening process. The employee may not have direct contact with vulnerable persons until the screening process is complete;
- Providing personnel of a qualified entity, as defined in ch. 943, F.S., with the ability toapply for an exemption from disqualification from being employed;
- Establishing a rescreening schedule for individuals required by the AHCA to be screened;
- Requiring the Board of Nursing to waive background screening requirements for certain certified nursing assistants; and
- Requiring the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the AHCA, the DOEA, the Department of Health, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and the Department of Law Enforcement to establish a statewide background screening workgroup, providing duties of the workgroup, and requiring a report to the Legislature by November 1, 2011.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2011.
Vote: Senate 39-0; House 106-0