Friday, August 29, 2014

Important Information Regarding a Change in Background Check Requirements for Home Care Agencies

New state law (House Bill 1360) requires background checks for the managers and administrators of home care agencies effective July 1, 2014. Managers or administrators are now required to submit a complete set of fingerprints to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the purpose of obtaining a criminal history record check utilizing the records of the CBI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

"Manager" or "administrator" is defined within the bill as any person who supervises the day-to-day operations of a home care agency. In other words, an agency "administrator" is the person who assumes authority for the operation of a medical/skilled (Class A) agency and a "manager" is the person who supervises the provision of personal care services of a non-medical/personal care (Class B) agency.

Submitting Background Checks to CBI
- Initial, Renewal, and Change of Ownership Applications. Since the background check for administrators and managers is now a condition of licensure, the Department will issue licenses after receiving and reviewing background check results. 

To be in compliance with the new requirement, please submit fingerprints for your manager or administrator to CBI prior to or at the same time you submit your license application. (For initial, renewal and change of ownership applications submitted between July 1 2014 and the receipt of this communication, the Department will contact you regarding this requirement.) Since the processing of background checks by CBI and the Department can take upwards of three weeks, you may want to submit the fingerprints to CBI as soon as practicable. 

- Change of Administrator. The new law also requires that whenever there is a change of administrator or manager, you must submit fingerprints to CBI within 10 days of the change. You can report a change of administrator through your agency's portal account under the link "Facility Contact Information."

Instructions for completing the background check process, including a sample fingerprint card and a listing of locations where fingerprinting is conducted can be found on the provider resources page for Home Care Agencieson the department's website. 

The new law made some changes regarding background checks to owners as well. We will be sending information on this in upcoming communications. 

Please contact the Licensure Customer Assistance Line at (303) 692-2836 with questions.