Background Screening > Clearinghouse Information and Benefits

The Clearinghouse is a Web-based system designed to share background screenings between specified agencies: the Department of Health, Department of Children and Families, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation within the Department of Education, Agency for Health Care Administration, Department of Elder Affairs, Department of Juvenile Justice, and Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

Changes in law passed during the 2012 legislative session significantly modify background screening for many service providers regulated by a variety of state agencies including health care providers licensed by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

House Bill 943 created a “Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse” or “Clearinghouse.” The purpose of the Clearinghouse is to provide a single data source for background screening results of persons required to be screened by law for employment in positions that provide services to children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. The Clearinghouse will allow the results of criminal history checks to be shared among specified agencies when a person has applied to volunteer, be employed, be licensed, or enter into a contract that requires a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history check. (Section 435.12, Florida Statutes).

Benefits

• Reduced background screening costs
  • Free screenings for some individuals
    • Agency Reviews - Providers can request a free ‘Agency Review’ for individuals that have already been screened through the Clearinghouse, regardless of which State agency conducted the existing Clearinghouse screening, thereby avoiding the initial cost of fingerprinting new applicants already in the system
    • 90-Day Lapse Screenings - Once screened through the Clearinghouse, if an individual has a 90-day lapse in employment, the provider is only required to pay for a new national criminal history check (currently $14.75), rather than another full-price screening
    • When providers screen an individual through the Clearinghouse, the system retains the person’s fingerprints.
    • This allows the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to notify each state agency that has screened the individual of subsequent arrests.
    • The state agency reviews the person’s arrest charge(s), makes a new eligibility decision, and notifies the provider via email to check the Clearinghouse results portal for the person’s new eligibility.

    The Clearinghouse will save screening costs and applicant/employee resources when the person undergoing screening meets even one of the following conditions:

    • The individual has maintained continuous employment for five years and needs a re-check.
    • The person is required to have two screenings under different state agencies or funding programs (e.g., one for Medicaid enrollment and one for APD-required provider employment).
    • The individual changes employment from one type of provider or program to another (e.g., works for a day program for people with developmental disabilities and moves to a group home or works for a hospital and moves to a pharmacy).
    • The individual leaves employment and returns after 90 days (requires a national check only).
    • The individual is employed by and/or volunteers with multiple providers/facilities.