103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3661

 

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
225 ILCS 46/5
225 ILCS 46/10
225 ILCS 46/15
225 ILCS 46/80 new

    Amends the Health Care Worker Background Check Act. Provides that the Act applies to all employees, volunteers, interns, unpaid personnel, and agents of comprehensive community mental health centers. Makes conforming changes. Defines the term "comprehensive community mental health center". Changes the definition of "direct care". Allows the Department of Public Health to adopt rules to implement the Act as it relates to comprehensive community mental health centers.


LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3661LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Health Care Worker Background Check Act is
5amended by changing Sections 5, 10, and 15 and by adding
6Section 80 as follows:
 
7    (225 ILCS 46/5)
8    Sec. 5. Purpose. The General Assembly finds that it is in
9the public interest to protect the citizens of the State of
10Illinois who are the most frail and who are persons with
11disabilities from possible harm through a criminal background
12check of: (1) certain health care workers; (2) and all
13employees of licensed and certified long-term care facilities
14who have or may have contact with residents or have access to
15the living quarters or the financial, medical, or personal
16records of residents; and (3) employees, volunteers, interns,
17unpaid personnel, and agents of comprehensive community mental
18health centers certified by the Department of Human Services.
19(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
 
20    (225 ILCS 46/10)
21    Sec. 10. Applicability. This Act applies to:
22        (1) all individuals employed or retained by a health

 

 

SB3661- 2 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1    care employer as home health care aides, nurse aides,
2    personal care assistants, private duty nurse aides, day
3    training personnel, or an individual working in any
4    similar health-related occupation where he or she provides
5    direct care or has access to long-term care residents or
6    the living quarters or financial, medical, or personal
7    records of long-term care residents; .
8        (2) This Act also applies to all employees of licensed
9    or certified long-term care facilities who have or may
10    have contact with residents or access to the living
11    quarters or the financial, medical, or personal records of
12    residents; and
13        (3) all employees, volunteers, interns, unpaid
14    personnel, and agents of comprehensive community mental
15    health centers.
16(Source: P.A. 94-665, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
17    (225 ILCS 46/15)
18    Sec. 15. Definitions. In this Act:
19    "Applicant" means an individual enrolling in a training
20program, seeking employment, whether paid or on a volunteer
21basis, with a health care employer who has received a bona fide
22conditional offer of employment.
23    "Conditional offer of employment" means a bona fide offer
24of employment by a health care employer to an applicant, which
25is contingent upon the receipt of a report from the Department

 

 

SB3661- 3 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1of Public Health indicating that the applicant does not have a
2record of conviction of any of the criminal offenses
3enumerated in Section 25.
4    "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
5    "Direct care" means
6        (1) the provision of nursing care or assistance with
7    feeding, dressing, movement, bathing, toileting, or other
8    personal needs, including home services as defined in the
9    Home Health, Home Services, and Home Nursing Agency
10    Licensing Act; or
11        (2) the normal clinical and non-clinical interactions
12    that an employee may have when interacting with a client,
13    patient, or resident.
14    The entity responsible for inspecting and licensing,
15certifying, or registering the health care employer may, by
16administrative rule, prescribe guidelines for interpreting
17this definition with regard to the health care employers that
18it licenses.
19    "Comprehensive community mental health center" means an
20entity certified by the Department under 59 Ill. Adm. Code
21132.
22    "Director" means the Director of Public Health.
23    "Disqualifying offenses" means those offenses set forth in
24Section 25 of this Act.
25    "Employee" means any individual hired, employed, or
26retained, whether paid or on a volunteer basis, to which this

 

 

SB3661- 4 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1Act applies.
2    "Finding" means the Department's determination of whether
3an allegation is verified and substantiated.
4    "Fingerprint-based criminal history records check" means a
5livescan fingerprint-based criminal history records check
6submitted as a fee applicant inquiry in the form and manner
7prescribed by the Illinois State Police.
8    "Health care employer" means:
9        (1) the owner or licensee of any of the following:
10            (i) a community living facility, as defined in the
11        Community Living Facilities Licensing Act;
12            (ii) a life care facility, as defined in the Life
13        Care Facilities Act;
14            (iii) a long-term care facility;
15            (iv) a home health agency, home services agency,
16        or home nursing agency as defined in the Home Health,
17        Home Services, and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act;
18            (v) a hospice care program or volunteer hospice
19        program, as defined in the Hospice Program Licensing
20        Act;
21            (vi) a hospital, as defined in the Hospital
22        Licensing Act;
23            (vii) (blank);
24            (viii) a nurse agency, as defined in the Nurse
25        Agency Licensing Act;
26            (ix) a respite care provider, as defined in the

 

 

SB3661- 5 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1        Respite Program Act;
2            (ix-a) an establishment licensed under the
3        Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act;
4            (x) a supportive living program, as defined in the
5        Illinois Public Aid Code;
6            (xi) early childhood intervention programs as
7        described in 59 Ill. Adm. Code 121;
8            (xii) the University of Illinois Hospital,
9        Chicago;
10            (xiii) programs funded by the Department on Aging
11        through the Community Care Program;
12            (xiv) programs certified to participate in the
13        Supportive Living Program authorized pursuant to
14        Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public Aid Code;
15            (xv) programs listed by the Emergency Medical
16        Services (EMS) Systems Act as Freestanding Emergency
17        Centers;
18            (xvi) locations licensed under the Alternative
19        Health Care Delivery Act;
20        (2) a day training program certified by the Department
21    of Human Services;
22        (3) a community integrated living arrangement operated
23    by a community mental health and developmental service
24    agency, as defined in the Community-Integrated Living
25    Arrangements Licensure and Certification Act;
26        (4) the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program,

 

 

SB3661- 6 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1    including any regional long term care ombudsman programs
2    under Section 4.04 of the Illinois Act on the Aging, only
3    for the purpose of securing background checks;
4        (5) the Department of Corrections or a third-party
5    vendor employing certified nursing assistants working with
6    the Department of Corrections; or
7        (6) a financial management services entity contracted
8    with the Department of Human Services, Division of
9    Developmental Disabilities, which is not the employer of
10    personal support workers but supports individuals
11    receiving participant directed services, to administer the
12    individuals' employer authority. A financial management
13    services entity assists participants in completing
14    background check requirements, collecting and processing
15    time sheets for support workers, and processing payroll,
16    withholding, filing, and payment of applicable federal,
17    State, and local employment-related taxes and insurance;
18    or
19        (7) a comprehensive community mental health center
20    certified by the Department.
21    "Initiate" means obtaining from a student, applicant, or
22employee his or her social security number, demographics, a
23disclosure statement, and an authorization for the Department
24of Public Health or its designee to request a
25fingerprint-based criminal history records check; transmitting
26this information electronically to the Department of Public

 

 

SB3661- 7 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1Health; conducting Internet searches on certain web sites,
2including without limitation the Illinois Sex Offender
3Registry, the Department of Corrections' Sex Offender Search
4Engine, the Department of Corrections' Inmate Search Engine,
5the Department of Corrections Wanted Fugitives Search Engine,
6the National Sex Offender Public Registry, and the List of
7Excluded Individuals and Entities database on the website of
8the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to
9determine if the applicant has been adjudicated a sex
10offender, has been a prison inmate, or has committed Medicare
11or Medicaid fraud, or conducting similar searches as defined
12by rule; and having the student, applicant, or employee's
13fingerprints collected and transmitted electronically to the
14Illinois State Police.
15    "Livescan vendor" means an entity whose equipment has been
16certified by the Illinois State Police to collect an
17individual's demographics and inkless fingerprints and, in a
18manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police and the
19Department of Public Health, electronically transmit the
20fingerprints and required data to the Illinois State Police
21and a daily file of required data to the Department of Public
22Health. The Department of Public Health shall negotiate a
23contract with one or more vendors that effectively demonstrate
24that the vendor has 2 or more years of experience transmitting
25fingerprints electronically to the Illinois State Police and
26that the vendor can successfully transmit the required data in

 

 

SB3661- 8 -LRB103 38680 RTM 68817 b

1a manner prescribed by the Department of Public Health. Vendor
2authorization may be further defined by administrative rule.
3    "Long-term care facility" means a facility licensed by the
4State or certified under federal law as a long-term care
5facility, including without limitation facilities licensed
6under the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health
7Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or
8the MC/DD Act, a supportive living facility, an assisted
9living establishment, or a shared housing establishment or
10registered as a board and care home.
11    "Resident" means a person, individual, or patient under
12the direct care of a health care employer or who has been
13provided goods or services by a health care employer.
14(Source: P.A. 102-226, eff. 7-30-21; 102-503, eff. 8-20-21;
15102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 103-303, eff.
161-1-24.)
 
17    (225 ILCS 46/80 new)
18    Sec. 80. Rulemaking. The Department may adopt rules to
19implement this Act as it relates to comprehensive community
20mental health centers, including allowing waivers of
21background check requirements for employees with lived
22expertise.