Background Check Requirements for Home Care Workers in Illinois

Health Care Worker Background Check Act. 225 ILCS 46 requires fingerprint-based Illinois State Police checks, transmitted through licensed livescan vendors, for unlicensed direct care employees of health care employers, including agencies licensed under the Home Health, Home Services, and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act. Source ↗

Health Care Worker Registry. Results post to the IDPH Health Care Worker Registry, which employers must check before hire; the registry consolidates CNA certification, background check status, and administrative findings of abuse, neglect, or theft. Source ↗

Disqualifying convictions and waivers. The Act lists disqualifying convictions (from battery and theft to violent and sexual felonies); a person with a disqualifying conviction cannot be employed unless IDPH grants a written waiver based on rehabilitation evidence. Source ↗

Home services workers. Placement agencies and home services agencies licensed by IDPH must apply the same screening to workers placed in private homes, and registry findings of misconduct bar employment statewide. Source ↗

No universal federal mandate. There is no federal law requiring criminal background checks for private-pay home care workers; requirements are set state by state. HHS OIG found wide variation in state home health background check requirements, and Medicare Conditions of Participation for home health agencies defer to state law on screening. Source ↗

National Background Check Program (ACA Section 6201). Section 6201 of the Affordable Care Act created the CMS National Background Check Program, which awarded grants to more than 25 states to build fingerprint-based, comprehensive background check systems for direct patient access employees of long-term care providers, including home health agencies and personal care providers. Source ↗

FCRA obligations. When an agency uses a consumer reporting agency (third-party background check vendor), the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a standalone written disclosure, the applicant's written authorization, and the pre-adverse action / adverse action notice process (copy of the report and Summary of Rights) before rejecting a candidate based on the report. Source ↗

OIG exclusion list (LEIE). Home care providers that bill Medicare or Medicaid must not employ or contract with individuals excluded from federal health care programs. HHS OIG maintains the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE); CMS and state Medicaid agencies expect screening at hire and monthly thereafter, and payments tied to excluded persons are subject to recovery and civil monetary penalties. Source ↗