Go Beyond the Minimum
If your screening program only checks the boxes your state requires, you could be missing critical information about the people entering your clients’ homes. Here’s why and what you can do about it.
Why State Minimums Leave You Exposed
Most state-mandated screening requirements rely on state repositories and FBI records. For in-home health businesses, where your employees are entering vulnerable clients’ homes, the gaps in these systems carry real risk.
People move. Records don’t follow.
The average American moves 11.7 times in their lifetime.5 A single state check may miss criminal history in other jurisdictions entirely.
State repositories are incomplete.
County-level participation in state repositories is not uniform. Some counties report inconsistently or not at all.2
FBI criminal history has significant gaps.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, nearly half of all final criminal dispositions are missing from FBI records.2 While reporting has improved, significant gaps remain. FBI records also lack civil records, motor vehicle records, and other information that could reveal patterns of risky behavior.
Single state tunnel vision.
Many state requirements only check their own repository, not neighboring states.6 An applicant who moved across state lines with a criminal record could clear the check entirely.
No civil, driving, or credential checks.
Most state minimums focus exclusively on criminal records. They don’t check civil court history, motor vehicle records, professional license status, healthcare sanctions, or credential verification, all of which can reveal patterns of risky behavior that a criminal check alone will miss.
No continuous monitoring.
Without continuous monitoring, a one-time background check is just a snapshot. State minimums typically don’t require ongoing screening after hire, meaning an employee who commits a crime after being hired may continue working with vulnerable clients indefinitely.
The State Minimum Is Not a Legal Shield
Many employers assume that meeting their state’s screening requirements protects them from liability. That may not be the case.
Negligent hiring claims are generally evaluated based on whether the employer exercised “reasonable care” in the hiring process, not simply whether they met a regulatory minimum.7 In practice, this means that if a more thorough screening would have revealed a risk that the state minimum missed, the employer may still face liability.
Only 12 states have passed laws that attempt to limit employer liability for negligent hiring, and those protections vary widely in scope and applicability.7 For in-home health businesses, where employees enter vulnerable clients’ homes, often unsupervised, the expectations around due diligence tend to be higher.
A more comprehensive screening program does not eliminate legal risk, but it can help demonstrate that your organization took reasonable steps to protect your clients and your business.
A Smarter Way to Screen
Every in-home health business has different risks. The screening needs of a homecare franchise with caregivers in clients’ homes every day are not the same as a corporate staffing agency. That’s why we don’t offer one-size-fits-all packages.
We work with you to build a screening program tailored to your business, drawing from county, state, federal, and national repositories across criminal, civil, identity, healthcare sanctions, driving records, professional licenses, drug screening, and more.
The result is a complete, accurate picture of every applicant, not just what the state minimum requires.
What Makes Us Different
Industry Experience
We’ve helped hundreds of in-home health businesses make smarter hiring decisions.
Comprehensive Screening
Criminal, civil, MVR, licenses, OIG/GSA sanctions, drug screening, social media, and more, tailored to your needs.
Fast and Compliant
Results in 1 to 3 business days. FCRA compliant with built-in adverse action support.
Easy-to-Use Platform
Enter a candidate’s name and email to get started. Order, track, and review results from a single dashboard. No integration required.
Let’s Build a Smarter Screening Program
Over the years, we’ve helped hundreds of in-home health businesses make better, more informed hiring decisions. We’d love to do the same for you.
Critical Research is not a law firm and this content is not legal advice. We encourage employers to consult with qualified legal counsel regarding their specific obligations and exposure.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Criminal History Records: Additional Actions Could Enhance the Completeness of Records Used for Employment Related Background Checks.” GAO 15 162, February 2015.
- National Employment Law Project, “Faulty FBI Background Checks for Employment.”
- AccuSource, 2023 Credential Verification Report.
- U.S. Census Bureau, “Calculating Migration Expectancy Using ACS Data.”
- Connecticut General Assembly, Office of Legislative Research, “States’ Criminal Background Check for Long Term Care.”
- Certiphi Screening / ClearStar, “An Update on ‘Negligent Hiring’ Claims: What the Employer ‘Should Have Known.'”