Pennsylvania enhances protection for older and disabled adults

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will soon require electronic fingerprinting for people who work in home care and long-term care settings. The requirement will cover those applying to work in a long term care facility or home health agency, the state Department of Aging announced this week, and as of June 4, background checks submitted manually will no longer be accepted.

“In addition to enhancing the protections provided to our older adults, electronic fingerprinting will help us to more quickly process background checks,” said Secretary of Aging Brian Duke. “This is important because it will help people obtain jobs in Pennsylvania’s valuable health care industry.”

Prior to the new requirement, the department processed fingerprints manually. It is teaming up with Cogent Systems to provide the processing, which can be done through online registration.

The Older Adults Protective Services Act requires applicants working in long term care and home care capacities to undergo criminal background checks and the fingerprinting is another step toward this protective measure, the department said.