State Failing To Screen Social Services Workers Properly, Audit Finds
The example the investigation revealed was that the social services department approved the hiring of an individual before learning the person had received an administrative action for sexually abusing a resident in a nursing facility.
Sacramento Bee:
Audit Slams Background Checks At California Care Facilities
The California Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing Division, which oversees and regulates nearly 75,000 facilities statewide, is charged with ensuring the safety of a wide range of people, including those with disabilities and illnesses, elderly adults and children. It reviews background checks from the state Department of Justice on applicants for jobs at the facilities and decides whether those with criminal convictions can be hired. But auditors found that the state Department of Justice stopped routinely providing social services with sentencing information in 2016 because state law didn’t explicitly require it. (Opsahl, 3/14)