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.