In California, the person watching grandma or grandpa may have a criminal history. Loopholes in the state’s laws and regulations have allowed many people to skip background checks and head straight for work… leaving seniors vulnerable.
Fortunately, the state is doing something to remedy this dangerous situation. In 2009, legislation was passed that made it necessary for any In-Home Support Service professionals to go through a background check.
The upshot is that since the 2009 legislation passed, about 1,000 persons have been either removed from their current positions or have been denied health care positions because of criminal records. The downside is that of those 1,000, around 20% are now going back to work because they did not have physical abuse (not including sexual abuse), elder abuse or public assistance fraud on their records.
The state is continuing to press on with closing any loopholes to protect seniors.
