Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D., signed into law a bill authorizing the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services’ (KDADS) Health Occupations Credentialing program to conduct national fingerprint-based background checks on individuals seeking to work in adult care homes or home health agencies.

“This bill is a common-sense measure that will help to protect vulnerable Kansans,” explained Governor Colyer. “I was pleased to sign this important legislation because it closes a loophole that could allow caretakers to victimize disabled or elderly Kansans.”

The bill amends three existing criminal record-check statutes to align all the offenses and time frames that disqualify or prohibit an individual from working in any of those health care settings and sets a length of time after conviction of a disqualifying crime must pass before the individual is eligible to be employed in those settings.

Alignment of the prohibited offenses and time frames creates parity for all potential workers because all are held to the same standards.