DSHS must do a better job

Parents who entrust their children to the care of others deserve to know that their day care providers are safe individuals, free of a criminal background that would prevent them from supervising children.

Recent incidents and legislative reviews show that the state Department of Social and Health Services could do a much better job investigating the background of child care workers and the background of those individuals dealing with vulnerable adults.

Beginning in 1987, DSHS was required to do criminal background checks on DSHS employees and on community-based providers -- nursing homes, boarding homes, foster homes and day care centers. People with felony convictions more than 10 years old did not have to disclose those crimes.

A bill passed by the Legislature in 2001 required new background checks for DSHS employees and eliminated the 10-year exemption. Of 13,314 employees, DSHS found 27 employees who had criminal records that would prevent them from dealing with vulnerable clients.

A case of rape at the Eastern State Hospital for the mentally ill in 2004 brought even more attention to the issue of background checks.

The 2005 Legislature passed two laws directly related to this issue:

? House Bill 1681 expands the Legislative Joint Task Force on Criminal Background Check Processes and gives those task force members a directive to recommend changes to the way DSHS performs its background checks.

? Senate Bill 5899 requires DSHS to establish rules and set standards for considering in-state and out-of-state convictions in the hiring and promotion process.

In their review, members of the task force have been shocked to learn that not all childcare workers undergo a background check and that the state relies on the honesty of those people being screened to provide accurate information.

People who say they have lived in the state for more than three years are not required to submit fingerprints. They give the state their name and date of birth, and if either one is forged, the system will not turn up convictions.

"If people are giving you bad information, you aren't going to get a good-quality ID," said Sen. Dale Brandland, R-Bellingham.

For two years, state auditors have called upon DSHS to confirm a person's photo identification in person -- instead of accepting a photocopy. Auditors also want those being screened to provide proof of three-year state residency or require fingerprint-based checks by the FBI.

The lawmakers on the task force recognize changes in the law are necessary and that DSHS needs to tighten the process.

"I think you need to solve this issue of three-year residency," Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, told DSHS officials recently. "I think it's reasonable to require this kind of proof."

As Brandland noted, the task of doing complete and accurate background checks will be both complicated and costly. "There are ways to solve this problem, and it will cost money. OK. Bring us the bill," Brandland said.

It's incumbent upon the task force to come up with a reliable background checking system for this state, then find the money to pay for it. Parents and family members of vulnerable adults deserve nothing less.

Source: The Olympian; http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050908/OPINION01/509080342/1005

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