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Proposed Budget Amendment Protects Seniors From Caregiver Abuse
By
Michael A. Piekarz
Staff Writer
A
federal budget amendment is trying to close a large gap in the pre-employment
screening process used to protect vulnerable seniors from abuse by
criminals working as senior caregivers.
According to the study “Ensuring a Qualified Long-Term Care Workforce:
From Pre-Employment Screens to On-the-Job Monitoring” prepared by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), there is a strong correlation
between a criminal background and incidences of caregiver abuse.
The study found that nurses’ aides with a previous criminal background
that failed to disqualify them from employment had higher rates of substantiated
abuse than nurse aides without a prior criminal history.
Federal and state governments, education and training centers and employers have
created a variety of formal mechanisms aimed at preventing incidences of abuse,
neglect and exploitation in nursing homes and other long-term care settings.
These mechanisms span a wide spectrum and include criminal background checks
as well as certification procedures and on-the-job monitoring.
Current federal guidelines require each state to establish and maintain a registry
of nurse aides which includes certification information and substantiated findings
of abuse, neglect or financial exploitation in nursing homes. Among the screening
mechanisms employed are criminal background checks on prospective employees.
There is a wide variance between the states when it comes to the extent of background
checks. Some states, either through state law or by choice, collect data beyond
the scope mandated through federal requirements for maintaining nurse aide registries.
Other states barely meet required guidelines.
A recent amendment to the Senate FY2009 Budget resolution will set aside $160
million over three years to protect America’s vulnerable seniors from predators
through the creation of a comprehensive nationwide system of background checks
for long-term care workers.
“The current system of state-based background checks is haphazard, inconsistent,
and full of gaping holes,” said Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) chairman of
the Senate Special Committee on Aging. “Last week’s approval of the
amendment marks a milestone in moving this issue forward and in reducing elder
abuse.”
The move was prompted by concerns that thousands of individuals with a history
of substantiated abuse or a criminal record are hired every year to work closely
with exposed and defenseless seniors within our nation’s nursing homes
and other long-term care facilities.
The Senate worried that predators could easily evade detection throughout the
hiring process, securing jobs that allow them to abuse seniors, one of the nation’s
most vulnerable populations both physically and financially.
“Ours is an effort to stop tragedies before they can happen by setting
a national system to keep those who prey on the elderly, chronically ill and
disabled from having access to these vulnerable people,” explained Senator
Pete Domenici (R-N.M.).
The amendment sets aside funding that will be made available upon passage of
the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007 (S.1577). This bill would
establish a nationwide system of background checks to prevent those with criminal
histories and records of substantiated abuse from being hired to work within
long-term care settings.
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Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
