Candidate Support
Contact Sales
Customer Support
Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) caregiver background check system Guardian was created “to help home and community care providers, foster care families, and even nannies and babysitters who apply for clearance” but some “couldn’t hire workers while grappling with a glitchy state system designed to automate criminal background checks,” the Associated Press (AP) reported on CBS Channel 13 in Sacramento, California.
The AP reported on CBS Channel 13 that the CDSS caregiver background check system Guardian is a “self-service tool is supposed to allow employers and employees to plug in prospective hires’ identifying information to run background checks through criminal and child abuse databases; seek exemptions for minor or outdated problems that shouldn’t bar their hiring; and add or remove employees associated with their agency.”
However, “only 38% of California’s nearly 60,000 licensed facilities are using the Guardian tool since it went live in January, while the rest find workarounds or remain frustrated. The department had promised that the $788,650 portal ‘will ensure background checks are completed faster and more efficiently, while making the process easier for applicants and agencies,’” the AP reported on CBS Channel 13 on April 10, 2021.
“Instead, frustrated employers said they couldn’t log on, couldn’t get answers through Guardian about why the portal wasn’t working, and couldn’t get help from equally stumped state workers,” the AP reported on CBS Channel 13, while a CDSS spokesman said in a statement that the agency “is actively working with our vendor to resolve some early technical issues … so that all applications can be processed in a timely manner.”
Any health care professional knows there can be dire consequences if a patient is harmed, either because an employee was unsuitable or did not have the credentials claimed or privacy is compromised. To help with this problem, two hiring risk experts will present a webinar on health care background screening to help attendees gain an understanding of the proper process specific to background checks for medical professionals.
Attorney Lester Rosen, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of leading global background check firm Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), and Dawn Standerwick, ESR Vice President of Strategic Growth, will present a live webinar titled “Update to Health Care Background Screening and How to Reduce Hiring Risk” on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time / 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Failures in hiring can result in lawsuits, investigations, and a loss of public trust. This webinar will provide an overview of critical aspects of health care background screening processes in order to reduce risk in hiring. The information is directed to intermediate attendees but may also be valuable to individuals with responsibility for hiring, including health care executives who oversee that function. To register for the webinar, click here.
Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – which was ranked the number one background screening firm by HRO Today in 2020 – provides health care background screening that helps hospitals, nursing homes, and health care provider industries promote safe and caring environments to protect vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and people with special needs. To learn more about ESR, visit www.esrcheck.com.
NOTE: Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) does not provide or offer legal services or legal advice of any kind or nature. Any information on this website is for educational purposes only.
© 2021 Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – Making copies of or using any part of the ESR News Blog or ESR website for any purpose other than your own personal use is prohibited unless written authorization is first obtained from ESR.
