Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Division 05 - Health Facility Services › Rule 007.05.97-003 - Emergency Declaration - Rules and Regulations to Implement Act 990 of 1997: Criminal Background Checks for Home Health and Hospice Operators

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SECTION I.
			 AUTHORITY
These rules and regulations requiring criminal record checks
				for employees of home health and hospice facilities in the State of Arkansas
				are duly adopted and promulgated by the Arkansas State Board of Health pursuant
				to the authority expressly conferred by laws of the State of Arkansas in Act
				990 of 1997.
These rules and regulations shall be promulgated as a
				supplement to the licensure manuals for home health and hospice
				facilities.
SECTION II.
			 PURPOSE
The purpose of these sections is to provide direction to home
				health or hospice agencies in the state of Arkansas as it relates to criminal
				record checks on current or potential employees.
SECTION III. DEFINITIONS
Bureau
means the Identification Bureau
				of the Department of the Arkansas State Police.
Care
means treatment, services,
				assistance, education, training, instruction, or supervision for which the
				care-giving person or entity is reimbursed either directly to or by arrangement
				with a home health or hospice agency.
Department
means the Arkansas
				Department of Health.
Determination
means a Department's
				determination that an applicant or employee is or is not disqualified from
				employment or that a home health or hospice is disqualified from licensure
				based on the criminal history of the operator.
Division
means the Division of Health
				facility Services, Arkansas Department of Health
Elderly
means persons aged
65
or older.
Employee
means any person who provides
				caxe to individuals on behalf of, under the supervision of, or by arrangement
				with a home health or hospice agency or any person employed by a home health or
				hospice agency, unless the person is a family member, a volunteer or works in
				an administrative capacity.
Felony conviction in the criminal history
				report
means a conviction on any of the major crimes listed in ACT
				990 of 1997, Section 5, subsection b (Attachment I).
Home Health Agency
means a service as
				defined by A.C.A. §
									20-10-801
				whether or not the agency has applied for or possesses any license necessary
				for operation.
Hospice Agency
service as defined by
				A.C.A. §
									20-7-117
				whether or not the agency has applied for_or possesses a license.
Individuals with disabilities
means persons who require assistance to perform one or more of the
				following tasks of daily living: feeding, mobility, toileting, or
				medication.
Index
means the database,
				maintained by the Bureau, of criminal records checks that have been conducted
				on applicants for employment with and employees of home health or hospice
				agencies.
National criminal history check
means a review of national criminal records maintained by the Federal
				Bureau of Investigation based on fingerprint identification or other positive
				identification methods.
Provisional License
means
				a forty-five day license issued to a home health or hospice agency whose
				operator has been found to have a felony conviction in the criminal history
				report.
Operator
means a person
				responsible for the day to day operation of the home health or hospice
				agency.
Report
means a statement
				of the criminal history of an applicant, employee, or operator issued by the
				Bureau.
State criminal history check
means a review of state c
rimin
al records
				conducted by the Bureau.
SECTION
			 IV. HOME HEALTH OR HOSPICE AGENCIES
A. All home health and hospice agencies must
			 comply with these regulations as they apply to that type of agency. If an
			 operator or agency fails or refuses to cooperate in obtaining criminal record
			 checks, such circumstances shall be grounds to deny or revoke the home health
			 or hospice agency's license.
B. Any
			 unlicensed agency providing home health or hospice services violating these
			 rules and regulations shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for each
			 violation according to Act 990 of 1997.