Illinois Administrative Code › Title 77 - PUBLIC HEALTH › Part 955 - HEALTH CARE WORKER BACKGROUND CHECK CODE › Section 955.110 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
The following terms have the meaning ascribed to them whenever
				the term is used in this Part:
"Act" - the Health Care Worker Background Check Act
				[225 ILCS
				46 ].
"Applicant" - an individual enrolling in a training
				program or seeking employment with a health care employer, whether paid or on a
				volunteer basis, who has received a bona fide conditional offer of
				employment
from a health care employer. (Section 15 of the Act)
"Conditional offer of employment" - a bona fide offer
				of employment by a health care employer to an applicant, which is contingent
				upon the receipt of a report from the Department of Public Health indicating
				that the applicant does not have a record of conviction of any of the criminal
				offenses enumerated in Section 25
of the Act and Section
				955.160 of this Part. (Section
				15 of the Act)
"Contracted or Subcontracted Worker" - an individual who
				provides direct care for clients, patients, or residents or who works for a
				long-term care facility in a position that involves or may involve contact with
				residents or access to the living quarters or financial, medical, or personal
				records of long-term care residents under an arrangement other than as an
				employee.
"Demographic data" - information collected by a livescan vendor
				concerning an applicant, including, but not limited to, name, address, date of
				birth, race, height, and eye color.
"Department" - the Department of Public
				Health
. (Section 15 of the Act)
"Designee" - a person or committee designated in writing by the
				Director.
"Direct care" - the provision of nursing care or
				assistance with feeding, dressing, movement, bathing, toileting, or other
				personal needs, including home services as defined in the Home Health, Home
				Services, and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act.
(Section 15 of the
				Act)
"Director" - the Director of Public Health
.
				(Section 15 of the Act)
"Disqualifying offenses"
-
those
				offenses set forth in Section 25 of the Act
and Section
				955.160 of this Part. (Section
				15 of the Act)
"Educational entity" - a community college, community agency,
				or private business that conducts educational programs in which individuals
				learn the skills to provide direct care services to clients, residents, or
				patients.
"Employee" - any individual hired, employed, or
				retained
,
whether paid or on a volunteer basis, to which the
				Act
and this Part apply as set forth in Section 10 of the Act and
				Section 955.100 of this Part. (Section
				15 of the Act)
"Fee applicant inquiry" - a fingerprint-based criminal history
				records check requested by an agency of the State of Illinois (in this Part,
				the Department of Public Health) through the Illinois State Police. The
				Illinois State Police stores the fingerprints and provides notification back to
				the requesting State agency if there is a new conviction associated with the
				fingerprints.
"Finding" - the Department's determination of whether
				an allegation is verified and substantiated.
(Section 15 of the
				Act)
"Fingerprint-based criminal history records check" - a
				livescan fingerprint-based criminal history records check submitted as a fee
				applicant inquiry in the form and manner prescribed by the Illinois State
				Police
. (Section 15 of the Act)
"Health care employer":
the owner or licensee of any of the
				following:
a community living facility, as defined in the
				Community Living Facilities Licensing Act
;
a life care facility, as defined in the Life Care
				Facilities Act
;
a long-term care facility
;
a home health agency, home services agency, or home
				nursing agency, as defined in the Home Health, Home Services, and Home Nursing
				Agency Licensing Act
;
a hospice care program or volunteer hospice program, as
				defined in the Hospice Program Licensing Act
;
a hospital, as defined in the Hospital Licensing
				Act
;
a nurse agency, as defined in the Nurse Agency
				Licensing Act;
a respite care provider, as defined in the Respite
				Program Act;
an establishment licensed under the Assisted Living and
				Shared Housing Act
;
a supportive living program, as defined in the Illinois
				Public Aid Code;
early childhood intervention programs as described
				in
89 Ill. Adm. Code 500
;
the University of Illinois Hospital,
				Chicago;
programs funded by the Department on Aging through the
				Community Care Program;
programs certified to participate in the Supportive
				Living Program authorized by Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public Aid
				Code;
programs listed by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
				Systems Act as Freestanding Emergency Centers
; or
locations licensed under the Alternative Health Care
				Delivery Act;
a day training program certified by the Department of
				Human Services;
a community integrated living arrangement operated by a
				community mental health and developmental service agency, as defined in the
				Community-Integrated Living Arrangements Licensing and Certification
				Act;
the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, including
				any regional long term care ombudsman programs under Section
				4.04 of the Illinois Act on the
				Aging, only for the purpose of securing background checks
(Section 15
				of the Act);
the Department of Corrections or a third-party vendor
				employing certified nursing assistants working with the Department of
				Corrections; or
a financial management services entity contracted with
				the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities, which
				is not the employer of personal support workers but supports individuals
				receiving participant directed services, to administer the individuals'
				employer authority. A financial management services entity assists participants
				in completing background check requirements, collecting and processing time
				sheets for support workers, and processing payroll withholding, filing, and
				payment for applicable federal, State, and local employment-related taxes and
				insurance.
(Section 15 of the Act)
"Health Care Facility" - a facility owned or operated by a
				health care employer of the type to which the Act and this Part apply.
"Health Care Worker Registry" - a registry maintained by the
				Department of Public Health or its designee that includes a registry for
				certified nursing assistants pursuant to Section 3-206.01 of the Nursing Home
				Care Act, Section 3-206.01 of the MC/DD Act, Section 3-206.01 of the ID/DD
				Community Care Act, and Section 4-104(19) of the Specialized Mental Health
				Rehabilitation Act of 2013, and that includes background check and training
				information for health care employees and students to whom the Act and this
				Part apply.
"Initiate" - obtaining from a student, applicant, or
				employee his or her social security number, demographics, a disclosure
				statement, and an authorization for
a health care employer, an
				educational entity, or
the Department or its designee to request a
				fingerprint-based criminal history records check; transmitting this information
				electronically to the Department
or its designee
; conducting
				Internet searches on certain web sites
from links provided through the
				Health Care Worker Registry,
and having the student's, applicant 's, or
				employee's fingerprints collected
directly by a livescan vendor
and transmitted electronically to the Illinois State Police.
(Section 15 of the Act)
"Livescan technician" - an individual who is trained to collect
				fingerprints on livescan equipment and who meets any licensing requirements of
				the State or federal government.
"Livescan vendor" - an entity whose equipment has been
				certified by the Illinois State Police to collect an individual's demographics
				and inkless fingerprints and, in a manner prescribed by the Illinois State
				Police and the Department of Public Health, electronically transmit the
				fingerprints and required data to the Illinois State Police and a daily file of
				required data to the Department of Public Health
and who has received
				authorization from the Department under a livescan vendor authorization
				contract to conduct fingerprinting pursuant to the Act and this
				Part
.
(Section 15 of the Act)
"Livescan vendor authorization contract" - a standardized
contract between the Department
and
a
fingerprinting
vendor who has two or more years of experience
				transmitting fingerprints electronically to the Illinois State Police
by which the Department provides
authorization
to the vendor
				to conduct fingerprinting pursuant to the Act and this Part under the terms and
				conditions
defined
in Section
				955.285. (Section 15 of the
				Act)
"Long-term care facility" -a facility licensed by the
				State or certified under federal law as a long-term care facility, including
				without limitation facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the
				Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care
				Act, or the MC/DD Act, a supportive living facility, an assisted living
				establishment, or a shared housing establishment or registered as a board and
				care home
. (Section 15 of the Act)
"Organization providing pro bono legal services" - an
				organization that functions to provide legal services performed without
				compensation or at a significantly reduced cost to the recipient and that
				provides services designed to help individuals overcome statutory barriers that
				would prevent them from entering positions in the healthcare industry.
(Section 33(n) of the Act)
"Parole; Mandatory Supervised Release" - except when a term of
				natural life is imposed, every sentence includes a term in addition to the term
				of imprisonment. For those sentenced under the law in effect before February 1,
				1978, that term is a parole term. For those sentenced on or after February 1,
				1978, that term is a mandatory supervised release term.
"Rehabilitation waiver" - a waiver that the Department grants
				based solely upon the results of a fingerprint-based criminal history records
				check without a waiver application being submitted to the Department.
"Resident" - a person, individual,
client,
				consumer
or patient under the direct care of a health care employer or
				who has been provided goods or services by a health care employer.
(Section 15 of the Act)
"Staffing agency" - any individual or business entity
whose profession is job counseling
(Section 60 of the Act), or
				that contracts or subcontracts its workers or services to a health care
				employer.
"UCIA criminal history records check" - a check of criminal
				history information conducted by the Illinois State Police in accordance with
				the Illinois Uniform Conviction Information Act (UCIA).
"Web application" - a computer program on the Department's
				intranet that is titled "HCW Background Check Registry" and is accessed by
				signing in through the Department's secure web portal. This program is used to
				initiate fingerprint-based criminal history records checks pursuant to the Act
				and this Part.
"Workforce intermediary" - an organization that
				functions to provide job training and employment services. Workforce
				intermediaries include institutions of higher education, faith-based and
				community organizations, and workforce investment boards.
(Section
				33(n) of the Act)