(1) This section applies to any individual associated with the licensee or boarding home who may have unsupervised access to residents, including but not limited to:
(a) Employees;
(b) Managers;
(c) Volunteers who are not residents;
(d) Contractors; and
(e) Students.
(2) The boarding home must:
(a) Ensure any individual associated with the licensee or boarding home who may have unsupervised access to residents has had a background check of conviction records, pending charges and disciplinary board decisions completed within the past two years, and is repeated every two years thereafter, and that individual has not been:
(i) Convicted of a crime against children or other persons as defined in RCW
43.43.830 or
43.43.842;
(ii) Convicted of crimes relating to financial exploitation as defined in RCW
43.43.830 or
43.43.842;
(iii) Found in any disciplinary board final decision to have abused a vulnerable adult as defined in RCW
43.43.830;
(iv) The subject in a protective proceeding under chapter
74.34 RCW;
(v) Convicted of criminal mistreatment; or
(vi) Found by the department to have abandoned, abused, neglected or exploited a minor, or abandoned, abused, neglected, exploited, or financially exploited a vulnerable person, provided the individual was offered an administrative hearing to contest the finding, and the finding was upheld, or the individual failed to timely appeal the finding.
(b) Not hire or retain, directly or by contract, or accept as a volunteer, any individual prohibited from having unsupervised access to residents under (a) of this subsection, except as provided in subsection (6) of this section and RCW
43.43.842.
(3) Prior to first starting his or her duties, the boarding home must:
(a) Require each prospective employee, manager, volunteer, contractor and student associated with the licensee or boarding home who may have unsupervised access to residents to disclose, consistent with RCW
43.43.834(2), whether he or she:
(i) Has been convicted of a crime, including any of the following as defined in RCW
43.43.830:
(A) All crimes against children or their persons;
(B) All crimes relating to financial exploitation; and
(C) All crimes relating to drugs;
(ii) Has had findings made against him or her in any civil adjudicative proceeding as defined in RCW
43.43.830; or
(iii) Has both convictions for (i) and findings made against him or her under (ii).
(b) Require each individual making the disclosures required in subsection (3)(a) of this section:
(i) To make the disclosures in writing;
(ii) To swear under penalty of perjury that the contents of the disclosure are accurate; and
(iii) To sign the disclosure statement.
(4) Prior to first starting his or her duties, the boarding home must take one or more of the following three actions for each prospective employee, manager, volunteer, contractor and student associated with the licensee or boarding home who may have unsupervised access to residents:
(a) Initiate a background check on the individual through the department, which includes taking the following actions:
(i) Informing the individual that a background check is required.
(ii) Requiring the individual to complete and sign a DSHS background authorization form prior to the individual having unsupervised access to residents;
(iii) Submitting all background check authorization forms to the department's:
(A) Aging and disability services administration with the initial application for licensure; and
(B) Background check central unit for currently licensed boarding homes.
(iv) Verbally informing the named individual of his/her individual background check results and offering to provide him or her a copy of the background check results within ten days of receipt.
(b) Obtain from the individual's prior employer a copy of the completed criminal background inquiry information for the individual, subject to the following conditions:
(i) The prior employer was a nursing home licensed under chapter
18.51 RCW, a boarding home licensed under chapter
18.20 RCW, or an adult family home licensed under chapter
70.128 RCW;
(ii) The nursing home, boarding home or adult family home providing completed criminal background inquiry information for the individual is reasonably known to be the individual's most recent employer;
(iii) No more than twelve months has elapsed from the date the individual was employed by the nursing home, boarding home or adult family home and the date of the individual's current application;
(iv) The background inquiry for the individual is no more than two years old; and
(v) The boarding home has no reason to believe the individual has or may have a disqualifying conviction or finding as described in RCW
43.43.842.
(c) When using staff persons from a home health, hospice, or home care agency licensed under chapter
70.127 RCW, or a nursing pool registered under chapter
18.52C RCW, the boarding home must establish, maintain and follow a written agreement with the agency or pool to ensure the requirements of subsection (2) of this section are met for the agency or pool staff who may work in the boarding home.
(5) The boarding home must ensure that all disclosure statements, and background check results obtained by the boarding home, are:
(a) Maintained on-site in a confidential and secure manner;
(b) Used for employment purposes only;
(c) Not disclosed to any individual except:
(i) The individual named on the background check result;
(ii) Authorized state and federal employees;
(iii) The Washington state patrol auditor; and
(iv) As otherwise authorized in chapter
43.43 RCW.
(d) Retained and available for department review:
(i) During the individual's employment or association with a facility; and
(ii) At least two years following termination of employment or association with a facility.
(6) The boarding home may conditionally hire, directly or by contract, an individual having unsupervised access to residents pending a background inquiry, provided the boarding home:
(a) Obtains a criminal history background check authorization form from the individual prior to the individual beginning work;
(b) Submits the criminal history background check authorization form to the department no later than one business day after the individual started working; and
(c) Has received three positive references for the individual.
(7) The department may require the boarding home or any other individual associated with the boarding home who has unsupervised access to residents to complete additional disclosure statements or background inquiries if the department has reason to believe that offenses specified under RCW
43.43.830 have occurred since completion of the previous disclosure statement or background inquiry.
[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.20 and 74.34 RCW. 09-01-052, § 388-78A-2470, filed 12/10/08, effective 1/10/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.20.090 and chapters 18.20 and 74.34 RCW. 08-05-099, § 388-78A-2470, filed 2/15/08, effective 3/17/08. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.20.090. 06-01-047, § 388-78A-2470, filed 12/15/05, effective 1/15/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.20.090 (2004 c 142 § 19) and chapter 18.20 RCW. 04-16-065, § 388-78A-2470, filed 7/30/04, effective 9/1/04.]