Edwards and Dudrey: What workers and businesses should know about the Oregon DHS background check process

Attorneys Amy Edwards and John Dudrey authored an article for the Portland Business Journal titled “What workers and businesses should know about the Oregon DHS background check process,” published November 1, 2018. The article discusses how Oregon Department of Human Services’ (DHS) mandatory background check requirements apply to operators of licensed care facilities in the state.

The authors outline:

• Which personnel will be subject to a background check before being allowed to provide services through a DHS- or Oregon Health Authority (OHA)-licensed, certified, registered or otherwise regulated qualified entity (QE).
• The steps in the background check process.
• Possible outcomes of the process — an approval, a conditional approval, or a denial for the subject individual (SI) to work at a QE. The denial may be appealed in a hearing.

Edwards and Dudrey conclude: “Finally, a background check must be conducted every time an SI is hired, changes positions within the QE, or has a change in circumstances (i.e., an intervening criminal incident). Thus, it is important for SIs and QEs to ensure that they have a good tracking system to ensure compliance.”