The short answer Ohio requires BCI fingerprint checks (plus FBI for recent arrivals) and multi-database reviews for home health and non-medical home care employees, with tiered exclusionary periods and rehabilitation exceptions under OAC Chapter 3701-60.
What Ohio requires
Ohio
Criminal records check statute. ORC 3701.881 requires home health agencies and providers of in-home care to obtain an Ohio BCI&I fingerprint criminal records check for each applicant providing direct care to older adults or children, with an FBI check required if the applicant has not lived in Ohio for the preceding five years.
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Database review. OAC 3701-60-07 requires pre-hire database checks including the Ohio Nurse Aide Registry, OIG LEIE, the System for Award Management, the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Abuser Registry, and sex offender and Medicaid exclusion databases.
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Tiered exclusionary periods. OAC 3701-60-09 organizes disqualifying offenses into tiers with permanent exclusion for Tier 1 offenses (e.g., murder, sexual offenses) and 10-, 7-, and 5-year exclusionary periods for lower tiers, after which employment is permitted.
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Disqualifying offense list. Disqualifying offenses are those enumerated in ORC 109.572(A), the same core list used across Ohio's care-sector fingerprint programs.
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Medicaid waiver providers. Ohio Department of Medicaid and Ohio Department of Aging waiver rules apply equivalent fingerprint and database check requirements to non-agency and agency home care workers serving waiver consumers, with five-year recheck cycles.
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The federal baseline (applies in every state)
Federal
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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