(1)(a) Except as provided in subsection (2), level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435 is required for direct service providers. Background screening includes employment history checks as provided in s. 435.03(1) and local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies.
(b) For purposes of this section, the term “direct service provider” means a person 18 years of age or older who, pursuant to a program to provide services to the elderly, has direct, face-to-face contact with a client while providing services to the client and has access to the client’s living areas, funds, personal property, or personal identification information as defined in s. 817.568. The term also includes, but is not limited to, the administrator or a similarly titled person who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the provider; the financial officer or similarly titled person who is responsible for the financial operations of the provider; coordinators, managers, and supervisors of residential facilities; volunteers; and any other person seeking employment with a provider who is expected to, or whose responsibilities may require him or her to, provide personal care or services directly to clients or have access to client funds, financial matters, legal matters, personal property, or living areas.
(2) Level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435 and this section is not required for the following direct service providers:
(a) Licensed physicians, nurses, or other professionals licensed by the Department of Health who have been fingerprinted and undergone background screening as part of their licensure if they are providing a service that is within the scope of their licensed practice.
(b) Relatives. For purposes of this section, the term “relative” means an individual who is the father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandfather, grandson, granddaughter, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister of the client.
(c) Volunteers who assist on an intermittent basis for less than 20 hours per month and who are not listed on the Department of Law Enforcement Career Offender Search or the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.
1. The program that provides services to the elderly is responsible for verifying that the volunteer is not listed on either database.
2. The provider shall forward the volunteer information to the Department of Elderly Affairs if the volunteer is not listed in either database specified in subparagraph 1. The department must then perform a check of the clearinghouse. If a disqualification is identified in the clearinghouse, the volunteer must undergo level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435 and this section.
(3) Refusal on the part of an employer to dismiss a manager, supervisor, or direct service provider who has been found to be in noncompliance with standards of this section shall result in the automatic denial, termination, or revocation of the license or certification, rate agreement, purchase order, or contract, in addition to any other remedies authorized by law.
(4) An employer of a direct service provider who previously qualified for employment or volunteer work under Level 1 screening standards or an individual who is required to be screened according to the level 2 screening standards contained in chapter 435, pursuant to this section, shall be rescreened every 5 years following the date of his or her last background screening or exemption, unless such individual’s fingerprints are continuously retained and monitored by the Department of Law Enforcement in the federal fingerprint retention program according to the procedures specified in s. 943.05.
(5) The background screening conducted pursuant to this section must ensure that, in addition to the disqualifying offenses listed in s. 435.04, no person subject to the provisions of this section has an arrest awaiting final disposition for, has been found guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, or has been adjudicated delinquent and the record has not been sealed or expunged for, any offense prohibited under any of the following provisions of state law or similar law of another jurisdiction:
(a) Section 409.920, relating to Medicaid provider fraud.
