Adult foster care facilities check workers’ criminal records

The section says facilities and staffing agencies must check records before giving covered workers unsupervised access to residents. It covers employees and independent contractors who have direct access to residents, including access to residents’ property or personal information. The check must follow the section’s requirements. The section includes an exception for some independent contractors whose work is not under facility control or ongoing and directly connected to residents. The check must happen before the facility employs or contracts with a person who has direct access to residents, unless the facility uses the conditional employment process.

The section bars facilities from employing or contracting with people who have specified convictions or findings, within the stated time limits. The restrictions apply to workers with regular direct access to residents or who provide direct services to them. The text lists different lookback periods for different offenses, including 15 years for certain felonies, 10 years for other felonies, and shorter periods for certain misdemeanors. Some offenses have separate rules for licensed health professionals or people who were under specified ages at conviction. The listed time periods are measured before the job application or independent contract.

A facility may conditionally employ an applicant while checks are pending, but must follow the listed safeguards. This option applies when a facility decides it needs to employ or contract with a person before receiving the required check results. The applicant must sign statements about relevant convictions and findings and agree to termination if the check does not confirm them, unless the applicant proves the information is wrong. The facility must request the checks. The applicant generally must be supervised; unsupervised access is allowed only after a clear public-record search and a statement of uninterrupted Michigan residence for the previous 12 months. If fingerprints are required for the limited unsupervised-access option, the applicant must provide them within 10 business days after conditional employment begins.