Criminals in Nursing Homes

More than 90 percent of nursing homes employ one or more people who have been convicted of at least one crime, according to new federal data, and 5 percent of all nursing home employees have at least one criminal conviction, The Times reported on Thursday.

The inspector general said that no federal law or regulation specifically required nursing homes to check federal or state criminal history records for prospective employees. Ten states require a check of F.B.I. and state records…while 33 require a check of state records, and the remainder do not have explicit requirements.

Given the patchwork of requirements, people convicted of crimes in one state have been able to obtain jobs at nursing homes in other states….

Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, who has investigated nursing homes as chairman of the Aging Committee, said: “The current system of background checks is haphazard, inconsistent and full of gaping holes in many states. Predators can easily evade detection during the hiring process, securing jobs that allow them to assault, abuse and steal from defenseless elders.”